A Matter of Taste
Posted on | May 18, 2010 | 1 Comment
In the beginning, there were banquet menus – “You want the prime rib? $20 dollars per person extra.. or you can do the chicken they served at the Hackenshlafer wedding, it’s all inclusive”.
Yes, so quaint…
As I’ve often shared, when I attended the Culinary Institute of America, most of the students had the choice of enrolling in either an auto mechanics program or cooking school to stay out of a juvenile detention center.
Now of course, the world is populated with foodies and celebrity chefs, everyone I encounter has an excruciatingly specific knowledge of the differences between sauteeing and pan frying, and are more than happy to share it with me. For our purposes here, I’m going to stick to designing menus for weddings and other social events.
I’ll go on record that I agree with the majority of caterers who won’t do a formal tasting before they have the job. Of course there can be mitigating circumstances where I’ll ask for just that, but for the most part I feel it’s like asking me to do a mini party gratis as an audition (guess my answer?).
The point of a tasting is to suss out what actually can be served, what works together and to try items that have at least an approximation of the look and taste they will have AT THE EVENT.
So, what else can I share with you about tastings?
A tasting SHOULD be:
- A chance for the hosts, event producer and catering person in charge to bond and get a clue into each others tastes and style (with lots of chances for you to get insights that have nothing to do with food). This is the FUN part and should be treated that way, but take good notes.
- A time to assess how many pig products one can rationally serve at one meal or to debate the nuances of “kosher style”.
- Hopefully, a wine tasting (mood-enhancing), even if it’s not the specific wine you will eventually serve, you should come up with something that complements the meal at a price point that makes sense for this specific client.
- An opportunity to marvel at the clever and beauteous ways that the caterer (or restaurant/banquet staff) has designed the various plates.
What a tasting SHOULDN’T BE:
- A time for the chef to show that he can cook risotto for four people in his restaurant kitchen (we kind of already assume that) – but a time to address how it might be done for 200 guests on buffet lines.
- The time for the event producer to pontificate on a meal at Per Se (unless of course the tasting is at Per Se) and for her to supply Mr. Keller’s a la minute recipe to be replicated for a birthday party in a field for 2000.
- A haphazard (“oh, great, we have to do a tasting” sort of thing,) where it’s rote, and the clients are expected to just sign off on everything and go their merry way. If the food is wrong – too salty, unattractive or just plain misconstrued for the event – then there has to be another tasting, because (as we are all painfully aware) chances are pretty good, the foods not going to get any better “day of”.
Some shots from a real-live hors d’oeuvres tasting with the marvelous Olivier Cheng Catering and their Chef Jennie (note all the pens on the table)..
No Lipstick On Pigs Please
Posted on | May 4, 2010 | 2 Comments
I was at a very, very, oh sooo very, hip new restaurant last night for the second time and social buzz addict that I am combined with the fact that there’s a fameuse chef and all I couldn’t quite figure out why I wasn’t just completely seduced by the place. It hit me when the very handsome Latin runner said “Bon Appetit” while he delivered the sliders.
Remember when you were first taught the definition of incongruous? No? Well, I do. It was with a cartoon of a big fat lady walking her teeny tiny dog- and that’s the image I was stuck on last night.
It might not be immediately obvious to you that I’m raving about this topic for a reason, but hang in here for a bit, there’s a point here. How many events don’t work because they have not been produced to be compatible with the guests’ expectations, because there are too many elements that are incongruous. Some examples?
I had a bride several years ago who fancied herself in line to the throne and insisted on not only having fox sleeves sewn to her gown, but that her guests wear extremely formal attire. What’s the problem you ask? Well, the entire sun-stroked ceremony took place on an excruciatingly hot beach in Spain.
I have seen clever (and messy) interactive food stations positioned at events where the women are in spike heels and evening gowns.
I’ve made pleas to clients about a stand-around cocktail party not being sensible for four hours, and that a wedding where most of the guests don’t know each other requires a well thought out seating plan not the “oh, let everyone sit where they want” approach.
An ornate fourteen pound card stock invitation doesn’t make sense for a hayride- get it?
I recently saw a beautiful old world hotel ballroom half-heartedly turned into a tawdry 70s disco for a party- I swore that the space itself was mortified.
Congruency is something that makes us humans comfortable. This is not to say that juxtaposing seemingly wildly incompatible concepts can’t work fabulously and be just the thing that makes the event transcend the ordinary. Humor is all about these kinds of contrasts (I just saw a Twitpic of Anna Wintour and Lady Gaga engrossed in conversation at The Met ball tonight that had me howling).
But it takes a skilled pro to think about what’s going into the mix, what works together and what doesn’t… Someone with enough knowledge and clarity and energy to work on these details and to make sure that if an American/Italian menu is being served in a downtown hipster environment, maybe the staff should be trained to say something other than Bon Appetit.
Ceci n’est pas un cigare…
Posted on | April 27, 2010 | 2 Comments
Last week a zillion of us industry folk were invited to a blow-out event for Creative Edge Parties’ 20th anniversary. While all sorts of merriment and corporate espionage ensued, that isn’t the topic of this post. The topic today is Trompe L’oeil, and how it can be used so wonderfully at events.
The appetizer course was a tomato tartar, that looked in every way as if it were a steak tartar. The consistency, color (with capers visible in the mix), and even topped with a “raw” egg blew us all away when we tasted and realized it was in fact, as advertised, all vegetarian. Clever, simple, delicious and chat provoking. It made me think of a fabulously fun meal that we had at Moto in Chicago last year where the chef’s intent is brain twisting, and he’s really, really good at it; the “cigar with ashtray” on the menu is actually a Cuban beef roll, and the menu itself is printed on something that tastes exactly like a tortilla chip and you are encouraged to eat it, after reading it, along with the wonderful guacamole that is placed at your table.
Sometimes a cigar isn't - cuban beef at Moto
When utilized by someone with artistic restraint, these kinds of sensory tricks amuse and engage guests. Thrillist last week featured a company called style-your-door.com that sells photo film images for closets. The images, which you cut and paste to the outside of closet doors are, because of the process, incredibly realistic- how cool would this be on an otherwise blah closet door in a hallway?
…and of course, we have all seen fabulously realistic murals and faux finishes in peoples homes done by commissioned artists.
I am scheming as to how these could be incorporated into tent decor…
…these are from an artist, J Cochran.
So, I’ve been thinking, wouldn’t it be fun to do a party where nothing is as it seems (I mean even more so than usual)? Now, I have to find the right client…
Real Simple’s 15 Minutes and You’re Done
Posted on | April 20, 2010 | 6 Comments
I was asked several months ago if I would be one of the presenters for Real Simple Magazine’s 10th Anniversary Celebration that was held in Vanderbilt Hall at Grand Central Station last week. The concept was for each presenter to provide “various tips and tricks for people to simplify their lives” and and it was titled “15 minutes and You’re Done”. I was in rather rarefied company; everyone from Norma Kamali to David Burke demonstrated how easily they could pretty much do anything.
My inclusion in this struck me as pretty hilarious, considering I specialize in making things complicated personally and working on things that are absurdly complicated professionally, but how could i refuse – really?
It turned out to be a very good exercise in distilling the essence of home entertaining for a specific audience. I offered my ideas on what to have as your “par stock” or basics at hand, if you decide at 4 in the afternoon that you’d like to have some guests for dinner or drinks at 7 that night. The list follows, now maybe I might consider using it…
*a floral knife- there is no substitute for this dangerously sharp implement (this way you can pick up flowers from the corner market on the way home and arrange them sort of artfully)
*a selection of vases
*a table runner and or placemats (saves the pain of ironing a cloth as the doorbell is ringing)
*a lucite pitcher and glasses- festive and unbreakable, really useful if you have outdoor space- we like this one
*ingredients for a Sangria (no recipe necessary just taste and test-lemonade, white wine, juice, fruit, whatever)
*some good quality frozen hors d’oeuvres
*an assortment of candles- both LED and wax
*a programmed iPod on the ready
I’m curious, what items do you keep on hand in case you want to entertain? (Lingerie is not an acceptable response, by the way.)
David Burke on the BIG stage
Lea and I posing before the crowd surrounds us
All photos taken by our amazing blog designer and chronicler, Bridget Williams, bdub-ny.com
Breakfast in bed for 275 please…
Posted on | April 14, 2010 | 11 Comments
I recently worked with a couple who had an aversion to the “next day brunch”. I have to admit after listening to them describe it - “everyone is hungover and has dragged themselves out of bed to see the bride looking less pretty than she did the night before and the recycled flowers looking mostly dead” – I could see their point.
They did, however, have a lot of out-of-town guests and I always feel that when you drag people to your wedding far far away, it does behoove you to host them for their entire stay.
We came up with a really wonderful solution (and with creative ideas being harder and harder to come by these days, I was truly delighted when this one popped up in the middle of the night).
We decided to build a “Breakfast to Go” bar, a combination of party favor and the makings of Sunday morning breakfast in bed. We offered organic bloody mary mix with mini iced vodka bottles, and Illy Cappuccino in the can on ice as well. Guests could choose an assortment of the best New York has to offer of bagels (Murray’s), donuts (Donut Plant), pain au chocolat, croissants and brioche (Balthazar), with an assortment of jams, butter and cream cheese and have it all packed up for them in an insulated bag by cheerful and model-y waitstaff. You’ve got to admit, makes you re-think brunch the day after, doesn’t it?
And they all left happily ever after…
Posted on | April 13, 2010 | 3 Comments
Eventista here, and I’ve had endings on my mind a lot of late (no, not of the romantic sort).
When I was a baby eventiste, I worked in a restaurant for a gentlemen who was obsessed with all of us saying “good night” and “thank you” whenever a guest left. It was so ingrained in us that often to this day, and to my companions’ severe embarrassment, I’ll say it to people leaving a restaurant where I am dining. Turns out maybe my boss wasn’t that crazy after all.
In Tom Peter’s wonderful new book, The Little Big Things (he also wrote the pivotal In Search Of Excellence in 1982), he cites results from a study by a Nobel prizewinner about our memories and how selective they are, “No matter how extended an event (party, commercial transaction), we form our view and make our evaluation based – with dramatic skew – on the most intense moments and the final moments.”
Mr. Peters continues that hard data supports this “final moment” evidence: “We might attend a brilliant four-hour dinner party, yet three months later only remember that two guests exchanged heated remarks on the way out.”
Wow! Think of the implications to us in the event world if it’s true that a sub-standard dessert can take down an entire five-star dining experience. It means that an extravagant party favor given to a departing guest would mean very little, if minutes later they can’t get their car out of the lot or the garage attendant is surly. It means that no matter how breathtakingly beautiful the ceremony was, if the exit from the wedding many hours later takes guests through the same room, but now it’s half broken-down and the busboys are having dinner there, that’s the image that will remain.
The same boss would never let us strip a tablecloth until the very last guest had left the dining room. It used to drive us all batty, particularly when it was in the wee hours of the morning and we knew that by then they were so loaded we could have put the tablecloths on their heads and they wouldn’t have known the difference. In retrospect, maybe he was right about that too.
Do you pay as much attention to the end of an event as you do to the beginning?
Salesmanship 101- Sell the sizzle (even if you dont have a steak)
Posted on | April 8, 2010 | 2 Comments
On site visits with a bride last week (never been one of my favorite parts of the gig, but she is lovely and it’s always educational), I was absolutely dumbfounded by the disparity of the “sales” people we met with. I’m talking spiffy, expensive places, you realize.
At a big, fancy schmancy, old school hotel, (which I thought would be too traditional for this couple but wanted them to see) someone came in on their day off to meet with us.
He was engaged, engaging, honest about the shortcomings of the venue and seemed really excited to give us all the tour (Academy Award-worthy, I know, but he had me). He was even bizarrely gleeful about the new photos that he had taken of the various spaces. He chatted about new menus and food ideas, showed off the china and silver, was truly charm personified. No question that even though it’s unlikely we would choose the space for THIS event, we will absolutely think about using it for something else. And more important: all of us with our big mouths will talk about the obvious change in attitude there and how they have really stepped up their game- get it?
At a well known and very “fabulous” banquet space (which I deemed appropriate solely for the reception), we were greeted by a porter with “you have appointment?” When the banquet person appeared (someone I’ve known for ages), he was fine- just fine- ran through the gamut of, “How many guests?” yawn, “What season?” yawn, “Typically 3 courses, 4 hours, we put the ceremony there, turn the room..” yawn. Me now, “Oh, as I said before we don’t like to turn rooms, we will be having the ceremony elsewhere if we book here.” Him again, “Hmm, well everybody just puts the ceremony there, I mean, why schlep around? Anyway, stage goes there,” yawn, “30 rounds of 8 or 10..” yawn. And finally, “Hey, remember the Schwartzbaum wedding? You speak to them?”
Get the picture? This is someone who I know knows better- he’s just had it currently. Maybe the recession with too many couples visiting without booking, but, guess what? His narcoleptic selling style can’t be helping.
Last anecdote- We also visited a very sexy, very expensive and very unusual space where we had previously worked with great difficulty. Apparently my complaints had reached someone (you all know how shy I am) and they sent a new emissary to regale us. She was elegant, sweet and smart and SO HAPPY to see us and when the dates we wanted were booked, she checked on others post haste and then e-mailed us immediately with the possible openings. Did she make me forget how they tortured us last time? Not exactly, but it sure went a long way.
So darlings, what have we learned here?
*In case you have forgotten, you are first and foremost a sales person and you had better be a skilled one.
*You are marketing to every person at each meeting- NOT just the client, but the planner, the babysitter, the brother-in-law along for the ride- all are possible brand ambassadors OR brand tramplers.
*If you are tired, take a break or at least fake it.
Any thoughts?
Dr. Bailey & Dr. Blum
Posted on | March 10, 2010 | 3 Comments
Well, we are back- no fanfare, no excuses, just a resurrection. I’ll start with a bit on the Bailey and Blum weekend:
Yes, there are lots and lots and lots of “Academies”, “Intensives”, “Boot Camps” and all sorts of sessions and seminars for wedding and event planning professionals.
Why, you might ask (and you’d certainly be entitled to do so), would the world need another?
The answer is because my friend Preston and I thought it would be fun, and we thought we could do something different and special. And we did. We kept it intimate and we made it pricey enough that we could entertain in our style without skimping. We kicked off Friday night with a cocktail party at SoHo House, where we were so amazed and tickled that our friends came out to support us and to meet our attendees. Carley Roney, founder of The Knot, Vane Broussard of the Brooklyn Bride Blog, Anne Chertoff, who is heading up AOL’s new Aisle Dash site, some of the BIG GUNS of the wedding universe stayed for drinks and conversation.
Saturday, we started with breakfast at Preston Bailey’s studio and then we hit it-hours, and hours of focused, pointed and sometimes controversial discussion As happens with any good ensemble (and boy were we lucky with this one) there was an energy that enhanced the individual experiences.
Maria Mcbride, the Style Editor of Brides and author of umpteen exquisite books, a dear friend, talent and yes, a mentor of mine (see how the circle works) joined us, and then Millie Bratten, the editor in chief of Brides (and a friend for over 20 years) joined us for lunch and the afternoon session.
Lunch was served (catered seems too prosaic a term for what it was) by Olivier Cheng and his team of servers, who might have been royal footmen they were so elegant and solicitous. Olivier and his executive chef Jenny chatted about food, trends, designer/planners in relation to catering- before we scarfed down what I definitely wouldn’t describe as a light lunch.
Back to class with a case study of a wedding Preston and I had worked on together, which gave us the opportunity to illustrate exactly what a designer does, and what we do as “eventistes” (just bear with me please, I cant bear the term planner anymore).
Dinner at Charles with our friend the star chef John Delucie, lots of good wine and good food and signed copies of his book, The Hunger.
Chrisya Enriquez from Zen Events, John Delucie and me
Next day, some more show and tell and then each of our guests had individual one-on-ones with Dr. Bailey and Dr. Blum (better than a spa treatment, I guarantee it).
Of course there are all sorts of sexy details that I’m not sharing here, suffice it to say we will do this again..
No Romance, Just a bad break up…
Posted on | October 6, 2009 | 14 Comments
Seemingly, it would be impossible and almost absurd to be writing a blog of this kind and ignore yesterday’s news; the closing of Modern Bride and Elegant Bride, Gourmet and Cookie. And yet, perusing the web I find a plethora of business and news entries and, forgive me if I’ve missed it, not one scintilla of analysis from anyone in the wedding business. Could it be that this lack of introspection is a piece of what’s wrong?
The editors of Modern Bride, most recently the innovative and sharp-as-a-tack Antonia Van der Meer, have been wonderful, supportive and close personal friends. For several years before Modern Bride was under the same rule as Brides, starting under the brilliant Stacey Morrison (now the editor in chief of Redbook) and continuing under Tony’s rule, I wrote a column for the magazine for which I was, and am, extremely grateful. I know each and every top editor and writer at Modern Bride and many at Elegant Bride, and have enormous professional regard for almost all of them, most of whom are major league talents.
So, how is this possible, and does that mean that out of deference we shouldn’t be analyzing what in the world happened? Well, I don’t think so…
To begin, the internal memo send to staffers from the CEO of Conde Nast, Chuck Townsend was ice cold:
“As a result of our review, Brides will increase its frequency to monthly to solidify its position as the most important brand in the bridal category, and Modern Bride and Elegant Bride will close…………
The editorial and business staffs of Modern Bride, Elegant Bride, Gourmet, and Cookie all have earned their magazines large and devoted followings. We have been proud to publish these titles, and we are grateful to the staffs for their hard work and dedication.” Whew…
The fact is that the company decided it was not going to continue to fund publications that don’t make money- clear and simple.
Take a look at the last issues of Elegant Bride and Modern Bride- and now take a look at Brides, is there a mystery here? I can only tell you this: Brides pages are chock-a-block with information- Maria McBride’s (and yes, she’s one of my best friends) 32-page Floral Workshop 2009 is Outrageously Gorgeous AND filled with useful info and tools- there was clearly an investment of money and resources to produce it. In the painfully thin Modern Bride, the home piece by Linda Seidman and Linda Hirst (again- REALLY talented women who have turned out sparkling and stylish reception pieces for years) looks like it was culled from the outtakes of a Pottery Barn catalog.
Was too much money spent, as some insiders have suggested, on Trendsetters Awards or making stars of us “vendors” and not enough on getting under the skin of the brides? Was the staff just spread much too thin in this bare bones economy for them to be able to produce to their capabilities? Is it, as the New York Times suggested today about Gourmet, a commentary on the changing tastes and clout of the middle class?
A look at Elegant Bride is also enlightening. I have loved the fashion layouts under all the various incarnations that that poor magazine has gone through. But, a current FALL issue with a pink and fuschia cover? Or last issue’s Safari Theme wedding inspiration board? Or a precious FULL page on that “fabulous new idea” of custom wax seals on the back of envelopes with this in the copy: “You can pay a little extra to assure they do not go through automated machines at the post office, which would damage the seal.” Okay, remind me of that next time three of my staff and myself are in the post office begging some clerk to allow us to pay dearly for hand canceling.
So, where does this leave us?
I am neither Malcolm Gladwell nor Margaret Mead, nor am I pompous enough to give you an all encompassing treatise on the demise of the magazine industry. I can only tell you what I see in my own little corner of all this:
The editor-in-chief of Brides, Millie Martini Bratten, is very, very smart, very decent, and has assembled a great and loyal team. She has her work cut out for her, that is for sure. The powers that be have made it clear to all remaining that The Knot is the target, and, let’s not forget about all the other players in this market: Bridal Guide, InStyle Weddings, Martha Stewart Weddings and the still very pretty, but also scarily skinny, Town & Country Weddings, plus the gazillions of others?
It’s going to be interesting for sure, and things are going to change, and putting our blushers down is not going to make it go away…
Eventista’s Enthusiastic
Posted on | October 4, 2009 | 1 Comment
Eventista has been catching up on her “cases,” she follows a few murders and kidnappings each season (yes, a macabre sort of hobby for someone who is afraid of everything) and this year, unfortunately with that poor woman at Yale and the girl who has been found after 18 years and 2 children by her abductor and the man who apparently killed his new wife while they were diving, well, she has been quite busy reading tabloids and the news and the internet to keep on top of the developments.
And, while she definitely has attended a few inhospitable hospitality events lately and a few less-than-fashionable fashion shows, and been horrified by some of the incessant, white bread, “let’s make sure all brides are the same,” Wedding TV Shows – she has decided that this particular post would be a selection of things that made her smile, and that she thought would interest our readers, from her various wanderings over the past two months, a veritable outpouring of sweetness and light:
From the Summer International Gift Fair in New York City, while there was, as usual, a lot of schlocky stuff, there were some real gems:
Areaware- www.areaware.com – a divine company offering all sorts of great gifts and home decor elements that are fresh, slightly edgy without being weird and mostly adorable – a few favorites:
and elegant ottomans:
Watch in the next few days for what I loved on the runway at New York Fashion Week – including items that one could actually wear…