I live alone, but for holidays it depends on how many people. Smaller groups food is on the table, but for larger groups food is in the kitchen and it is buffet style. There usually barely enough room for all the plates, much less the food.
Brian
It depends on what we’re having. For most dinners, I put food on everyone’s plates and we sit at the table. If anyone wants seconds, they get up and get it. This arrangement is really a function of having a couple kids - I want to make sure they’re getting a mix of what’s served, which was really more of an issue when they were smaller and would automatically reject anything they hadn’t tried before. Now that they’re getting bigger and aren’t as picky, I should probably stop doing it this way.
If we’re having tacos or fajitas, or something like that that requires self-assembly, all the serving bowls go on the table and we do our own.
Mix and match here, too. Sometimes it’s plated up and put on the dining table, sometimes we plate our own in the kitchen, sometimes the food is put in warmed ramekins and they’re put on the table, sometimes one of my concubines hand feeds me grapes.
You could have an expandable table, you’d still need a large room but less surface for clutter when not in use. You’d also have somewhere to spread the blueprints of the Vegas casino safe 