Welcome friends with an aperitif, before serving up a home-cooked feast, without spending precious socialising time in the kitchen.

Chef James Ramsden first honed his skill for creating exciting, tasty food without fuss at his popular supper club, The Secret Larder. He now runs two critically acclaimed restaurants, including Observer Food Monthly Awards Best Restaurant 2017 Pidgin and its younger sister, Magpie; and hosts the hit podcast series The Kitchen is on Fire.

Here, he shares the secret to preparing meals for guests. The key is simple: make it in advance. With 150 creative and stress-free recipes for easy entertaining, there are a range of fresh, modern ideas from pre-dinner nibbles to mouth-watering mains and cocktails to toast the lot.

Chapters include:

Small nibbles; Soups; Mains; Vegetables and sides; Puddings; Little sweet things; Drinks; and Menu suggestions

‘This is a book you really want. No fifteen-minute magic or culinary sorcery, just practical, staged cooking of the most sumptuous dishes.’ Yotam Ottolenghi

‘It’s fantastic. I want to cook every single thing in it.’ India Knight

‘Everything you could want from a cookbook: useful, beautiful, delicious.’ Dolly Alderton