With the worst of the pandemic behind us, one thing is clear in the dining world right now: More than ever, people want to connect over good food, and not just at restaurants. 

It seems the dinner party is back, reborn a couple of years ago in order to bring people together in a comfortable space. 

This isn’t your parents’ dinner party. Dinnerware is sometimes mix-matched or chipped, they take place in cramped apartments without dining rooms, and maybe it playfully calls for a theme around a particular food, like soup or tinned fish.

Some people in Boston and other cities have made a business out of it. Supper clubs are not a new concept and are slightly different from dinner parties — though these words are sometimes used interchangeably depending on the organizer. Both dinner parties and supper clubs can be as casual as a potluck-style setting, or maybe the host is in control of a more elaborate menu. Sometimes supper clubs are helmed by professional chefs, cooking up prix fixe menus in a rented space.

Also depending on the event and the host, they’re an opportunity to meet strangers.

The Harvard Crimson reported from the scene of a supper club in December called Dinner with Friends in Boston, in which its host typically charges $30 for the seven or eight guests to attend the intimate dinner. 

There’s also the Aperitivo Society, which does a mix of assisting people hosting dinner parties at their homes and holding private supper club events at restaurants. The latter is often organized in a way where guests who do not know each other come together.

Then there are chefs like Kendall DaCosta, who hosts a monthly supper club called Out of Many One People, a way to cook creatively without a brick-and-mortar space. 

If paying for someone else to do the work isn’t what you’re looking for, there are plenty of tips out there right now for how to throw your own dinner party, from simple to elaborate. There are even stores and TikTok accounts all about helping people get the aesthetic of a dinner party just to their liking.

We want to know: Are you into this dinner party or supper club craze? Answer our poll below, and tell us your thoughts in the form.

Heat scored a franchise playoff record 23 3-pointers against the Eastern top seed, as Thunder sank Pelicans in the West.

The Miami Heat unleashed a barrage of three-pointers to score a series-levelling 111-101 upset over the top-seeded Boston Celtics in their NBA Eastern Conference playoff duel.

Eighth-seeded Miami, playing without the injured Jimmy Butler, produced a battling performance on Wednesday to tie the best-of-seven series at 1-1 as the teams head back to Florida for game three on Saturday.

Tyler Herro led the Miami scoring with 24 points, part of a balanced offensive effort that saw all five Heat starters post double-digit points.

But the key to the Miami victory was their accuracy from long range, with the Heat draining 23 three-pointers from 43 attempts compared with Boston’s 12 of 32.

Herro knocked down six threes while Caleb Martin added five to his tally of 21 points.

Bam Adebayo also finished with 21 points while Jaime Jaquez Jr added 14 and Nikola Jovic 11.

#HEATWin Final (Game 2) – Miami 111, Boston 101

🔥 Herro: 24pts, 14ast, 5reb, 6 3PM
🔥 Adebayo: 21pts, 10reb
🔥 Martin: 21pts, 5 3PM
🔥 Jaquez Jr.: 14pts, 3 3PM
🔥 Jović: 11pts, 9reb, 6ast, 3stl, 3 3PM pic.twitter.com/xXcTmtX8UF

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) April 25, 2024

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Boston, meanwhile, were led by 33 points from Jaylen Brown, with Jayson Tatum finishing with 28 in a losing effort.

The win was all the more unexpected given Miami’s 20-point drubbing by Boston in game one on Sunday – something Herro said had motivated the Heat for game two.

“We lost badly in game one and everybody responded tonight, and that’s all you can ask for from a group of guys,” Herro said afterwards.

It was another trademark display of defiance from Miami, who are aiming to emulate their playoff run of last season when they reached the NBA Finals after entering the postseason via the play-in tournament.

“We don’t even want to mention last year, this year is a whole new year,” Herro said.

Boston star Tatum, meanwhile, said the Celtics had expected a backlash after their comfortable game one victory.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Tatum said.

“There’s a lot of history between these two franchises, especially recently.

“Regardless of seeding or who’s in or who’s out – it’s the playoffs … we’ve got a chance to play another one on Saturday – should be a fun one.”

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shows full command of the floor and leads the @okcthunder to a 2-0 series lead!

Chet Holmgren: 26 PTS (9-13 FGM), 3 3PM, 7 REB
Jalen Williams: 21 PTS, 5 REB, 7 AST
Lu Dort: 15 PTS, 4 3PM

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Game 3: Saturday, 3:30pm/et on TNT pic.twitter.com/K5Cah3xmsL

— NBA (@NBA) April 25, 2024

Oklahoma City Thunder 124-9 New Orleans Pelicans

While the Eastern Conference top seeds were left licking their wounds, there were no such problems for Boston’s Western Conference counterparts Oklahoma City.

The number one ranked Thunder took a commanding 2-0 lead in their first-round series against the eighth-seeded New Orleans Pelicans with an emphatic 124-92 thrashing.

The Thunder took the lead early in the first quarter and were in complete control throughout, holding a double-digit advantage from the second quarter onwards which reached 34 points at one stage late in the fourth quarter.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the scoring for Oklahoma City, finishing with 33 points from 13-of-19 shooting from the field.

Chet Holmgren added 26 points while Jalen Williams chipped in with 21. Luguentz Dort added 15 points including four three-pointers.

The result was in stark contrast to game one, which went down to the wire before Oklahoma City prevailed 94-92 on Sunday.

“Within a seven-game series, we’ve just got to take it day by day and try to get better every day,” Gilgeous-Alexander said afterwards.

“And I think that’s what we did tonight. We definitely had a better performance than we did in game one and that’s our goal. So we’ll take it.”

The series now heads to game three in New Orleans on Saturday.

BOSTON — The Celtics didn’t do themselves any favors on Wednesday night, dropping Game 2 in a shocking 111-101 loss at TD Garden.

With the loss, Boston’s knotted up at 1-1 with Miami.

Check out the full box score here.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Boston came out swinging and so did Miami.

Before the Eastern Conference foes met at center court, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra explained how it’d be up to Miami to find ways to compete with the elite (and healthy) Celtics offense. That hunt was successful in the first half as the Heat discovered their hot hand from three, shooting 13-of-24, but still trailing Boston 61-58 entering the third quarter.

Jaylen Brown’s solo 11-3 run to end the first half proved one thing: Miami can knock down threes at a high rate at any given point, but if the Heat don’t defend, it won’t bridge the talent gap keeping them at bay from the Celtics.

Miami’s Caleb Martin, who threw himself at the center of the Game 1 controversy, played the villain’s role again. Martin filled a scoring (21 points) and toughness void that was missing from Miami to start the series, eliminating any chance of Boston easy-breezing its way to a win. Miami took its first lead of the series after failing to do so once in Game 1 and ran with the confidence it produced.

Meanwhile, the Celtics didn’t have an easy time matching the Heat in the physicality department. Boston didn’t have it last season when it came to Miami and the postseason, and even with the awareness of its importance, the Celtics still flopped when the going got rough.

Boston’s biggest lead (6) never matched Miami’s (12).

STARS OF THE GAME
— Brown led the Celtics with a game-high 33 points, shooting 13-of-22 with seven rebounds, one steal and one block.

— Miami’s Tyler Herro came through with a stellar double-double performance, scoring 20 points while logging 14 assists.

— Jayson Tatum flirted with a double-double of his own, scoring 26 points while grabbing eight rebounds for the Celtics.

UP NEXT
Having failed to protect its home-court advantage, Boston will pack up and fly to Miami to continue the best-of-seven duel in Game 3 on Saturday night. Tip-off from Kaseya Center is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET.