Hands mopping up olive oil with pieces of bread

Alexina Anatole's Apéro hour

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Serve up Alexina's make-ahead dishes for a relaxed French-inspired drinks gathering with friends

Discover how to transform apéro hour into an effortless entertaining menu, then check out more entertaining ideas, party food platters and spritz recipes, then browse more of Alexina's recipes.

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Alexina says "France has a hosting secret and it’s all about creating maximum joy with minimum fuss. I’m sure you already know about l’heure de l’apéro – that golden hour before dinner with a glass of rosé and a few snacks: radishes with salted French butter, tapenade on little toasts… but did you know that apéro hour can quietly become dinner? In France, this is called apéro dînatoire and it stretches the apéro hour approach. Think chilled drinks, a selection of small plates (often shop-bought) and a handful of beautiful things on the table. No three courses, no elaborate table settings, no hard deadlines. Having grown up in Paris, I’m convinced this is one of the most underrated ways to have people over, and these effortless recipes are built for exactly that."

Alexina Anatole's Apéro sharing dishes

Vermouth spritz

A spritz made with dry vermouth rather than Aperol is a more grown-up proposition: fresher, less sweet and far more food-friendly. The orange bitters do quiet but important work here – a few dashes is all it takes to tie everything together.

Three glasses of vermouth sprtiz with citrus peel, next to a pot of olives

Provençal bread dipping oil

This is inspired by the tapenade-adjacent things you’ll find on tables in the south of France – a little dish of something intensely flavoured to eat with bread while you wait. Dried figs bring a subtle sweetness that balances the brininess of the olives and capers, and raspberry vinegar cuts through the richness of the oil. It comes together in minutes and improves as it sits.

Two bowls of olive oil with herbs, and torn pieces of bread

Watermelon, lime and feta checkerboard salad

Watermelon loves to marinate so do give it at least a couple of hours to do so – or you could even complete this step up to a week in advance, it will be all the better for it. The checkerboard presentation is optional but genuinely worth the extra few minutes: it makes an already beautiful salad feel particularly special.

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Checkerboard-style sliced watermelon and feta topped with basil leaves

Salty peach cheesecake

This is a deconstructed cheesecake: all the components layered loosely in a glass, making it more forgiving and quicker to pull together. Cloves and peaches share flavour compounds, which means the spice doesn't overpower so much as amplify the fruit – the peaches end up tasting more peachy. White miso adds depth and ensures it isn’t too sweet.

Three raised glass dessert bowls of peach cheesecake

Authors

Alexina Anatole in a while apron holding a bowl of green matcha tiramisu

Alexina Anatoletalent resident

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