Appetizer calculator

It turns on whether the appetizers are the meal. When dinner follows, about five to seven bites a guest over two hours takes the edge off. When the appetizers are dinner — nobody eats afterwards — plan twelve to fifteen pieces a guest over three to four hours, with at least two kinds that are genuinely filling, and a dessert. That is roughly twice the food, which is why the question matters more than the headcount.

Heavy appetizers — heavy hors d'oeuvres — are bites meant to replace dinner rather than lead into it: sliders, skewers, crab cakes, samosas, arancini, anything with meat, fish, egg or real weight to it. A tray of crostini and a cheese board is a pre-dinner spread, however long the party runs.

For 50 guests over three hours with no dinner afterwards, the calculator gives about 700 pieces across six kinds — around 80 of each of three filling bites and 160 of each of three lighter ones — plus about 4 kg of board and 46 desserts. If dinner follows, the same crowd needs about 350 lighter bites: half the pieces, and about a third of the food, because none of it is the filling kind.

Four to six kinds for most parties. More kinds do not mean more food per person when dinner follows — people take a little of each — but when the bites are dinner, every extra kind adds most of a portion, because guests go back for all of them. Past eight, the work goes up faster than anybody notices the variety.

Cooked and ready to serve. A filling bite is counted at about 40 g and a canapé at about 20 g; boards are given by weight because nobody counts cheese in pieces.