I have to share a true story in this regard. My good friend Warren in Tulahoma, Tennessee has a weekly meal routine where Friday's evening meal is always red beans and rice. It didn't matter what his wife served the other 6 days of the week, but Friday was ALWAYS red beans and rice.
Well, his church had hired a new pastor (a single man), and they had invited him to their home for dinner on...you guessed it, Friday night. Try as she might, the wife could not get Warren to budge off of his red beans and rice, saying "If the man is worth his salt, he'll eat whatever we put in front of him. Friday is STILL red beans and rice."
The new pastor arrived and he sat with Warren on the porch sipping a glass of sweet tea while the wife finished getting the dinner ready. She called them in to eat, and proceeded to apologize for the simplicity of the meal, explaining the ritual and Warren's unwillingness to allow her to make something a bit fancier. To her amazement, the pastor said that red beans and rice was HIS FAVORITE MEAL, and nobody had made it for him since arriving in the new town, making instead every sort of heart stopping meal you could imagine. Nobody had thought to ask what HE would like, but were all concerned with showing off their skill in the kitchen.
Warren smiled and said "I KNEW there was something I liked about you the first time we met. Now I know what it is."
I think that if you want to impress, then ask your guest what they would like for you to make for them, then put your heart and soul into making it the best you can. You will impress them with how much you care about them, by trying to fulfill their desire.
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