Less Is More
When big restaurant chains like Carrabba’s, T.G.I. Friday’s, and the Cheesecake Factory are offering smaller-portion entrée options, it’s official: More is no longer more. “The idea is to keep them wanting more,” says chef, cookbook author, and TV personality David Rocco, who served as the creative director of the Supper Club private cast dinners program at the Toronto Film Festival last year. “Even though these stars and directors were eating, they were still working, so it was important not to weigh them down and make them sleepy,” he says. “No one wants to leave a lot on their plate, because it looks rude—like they didn’t enjoy it.” The same principle holds true for dessert. “Gone are the days of one big slab of cheesecake,” says Rocco. “I like to serve an assortment of desserts in little shooter glasses. You have little bite-size portions of several different options and place them in the middle of the table, so people can sample a variety of desserts.”
Chefs as Entertainment
Celebrity caterer Tony Conway of Atlanta’s A Legendary Event notes that his clients (who include Elton John, Tyler Perry, and Jane Fonda) are moving away from passed hors d’oeuvres and toward chef-attended stations at their events. “People love all the food shows on TV right now, and they want to see the chefs in the room working with the food,” says Conway. “So even if it’s as simple as an heirloom tomato soup with grilled cheese triangles, the chef is there talking about how they made the soup while he’s carving the crust off the bread and handing it to the guest.”
Special Diets Welcome
“There are far more vegan and vegetarians diners now than ever before,” says Los Angeles chef and restaurateur Suzanne Goin. So as Goin planned the menu for the 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards this coming January (this will be her third year as chef for the event), she made sure to include plenty of vegetables and meat-free sides for those not eating the grilled chicken breasts and slow-roasted wild salmon entrées. The standard salmon plate will be served with a spicy carrot salad, yellow beets, and an Indian-spiced yogurt sauce, while its vegan substitute will include Indian-style salsa and chickpeas, and will be served without the sauce. Goin will also serve roasted root vegetables over saffron couscous with persimmon salsa, so those not eating meat will still have a hearty meal. “It’s about catering to how the Hollywood crowd eats,” she says. “That means clean flavors, lots of vegetables, healthy, but just as importantly, visually stimulating.”
“We have more special requests across the board now,” says Deborah Lowery, whose Ladyfingers Catering in Louisville, Kentucky, has been catering the Barnstable Brown Party, one of the largest annual parties at the Kentucky Derby, for eight years. “Whether it’s vegan or gluten-free, we have to have a variety of options now to please every special request.” This means a vegetarian entrée of bowtie pasta tossed with baby spinach, roasted garlic, grilled artichoke, sundried tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese. Plus, plenty of side dishes such as grilled asparagus and mashed potatoes with roasted garlic, caramelized onion, horseradish, and blue cheese.
Modest Luxury
“My clients are saying more and more that they want exquisite food and service without looking so opulent that guests will feel uncomfortable if they are having hard economic times,” says Conway. “I’m still doing over-the-top events with three different kinds of entertainment and a million flowers, but there’s always that conversation of diplomacy and being more mindful of where we should show our ’wow factor’.” Translation: While affluence will certainly never go out of style, in a time when even the most financially stable individual may be feeling the pinch, it’s how you show it that counts. “People are still serving top-shelf liquor, but you won’t see the bottles on display anymore,” shares Conway. “Now, instead of having servers walk around with bottles of Cristal, the champagne flutes are filled in the back, and brought out to the guests.” But one element people aren’t giving up is impeccable service. “If an event had 50 servers last year, the same type of event will still have 50 servers now,” says Conway. “Excellent service is a non-negotiable across the board.”
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.