Party Trends

Grace Under Fire

Another trend that will never go out of style is being a gracious host—even if a guest doesn’t return the favor. “Ten minutes before service at one of the Supper Club dinners, we had a publicist come up to us with crazy requests for his client,” recalls Rocco. “It was extremely limiting—no oils, no butter, no creams, no citrus, no tea—and difficult to meet the demands in such a short amount of time with what we had on hand.” Of course, Rocco and his staff still managed to serve the difficult diner (“There were a lot of greens on the plate,” laughs Rocco), and while they didn’t receive any feedback after the meal (strike two for this thoughtless actor), Rocco was satisfied knowing he’d served a high-quality meal to everyone at the dinner.

Of course, sometimes grace can come into play even before the guests arrive when you’re faced with challenging logistics. “I’ve done many high-profile events, but this is different, because it’s televised,” says Goin of the SAG Awards. “We can’t service during the show, and they even film as the guests walk in, so the food has to be on the table well in advance.” This means devising a multicourse meal that can be served on one plate, and is tasty at room temperature. “Not a lot of fish tastes good at room temperature, but this year, we’ll cook salmon at 300 degrees in a humidified oven, so it’s moist and custardy,” shares Goin. “It’s versatile and tastes great with different garnishes, sauces, and vegetables.” And Goin’s creative thinking in the face of difficult circumstances has paid off. “Everyone has been very enthusiastic about our menus each year, and the SAG Awards is now known for having better food than any other awards show,” she says.

Gone South

“Southern food is back,” says Conway. “We’re using lots more grits now instead of polenta, which has been popular in recent years, and lots of bacon.” Conway has found that even his celebrity clients are asking for Southern and soul food classics and comfort food in general. “It may be reworked, like a vegetarian meatloaf or a three-cheese macaroni and cheese with white-truffle shavings, but even the most high-profile clients are wanting that Southern comfort food. You would not believe the people who have asked for fried chicken at their events!” Of course this resurgence is no surprise to Lowery, who has always served authentic Kentucky fare at the Barnstable Brown Party. “Our Kentucky corn pudding is a huge crowd-pleaser,” she says. “We’ve had celebrities just stand at the buffet and keep eating it. Michael Jordan even went through four different buffet lines, because he didn’t want the servers to know he was coming back for fourths!”

Emily L. Foley is an Atlanta-based freelancer who writes about the most important things in life: fashion, beauty, and food. Her work has appeared in publications such as Food Network Magazine, US Weekly, and Hemispheres. She recently wrote about chefs’ tattoos for Gourmet Live.