FOOD FOR FETES

Savoring summer: Chicken sausage rolls (left) and house-made chips (right) from Kensington Caterers. Photos by Carol Dickson of Kensington Caterers.

Oh, Those Summer Bites! Light and fresh, smoky and piquant, vibrant summer-inspired appetizers and hors d’oeuvre celebrate the fun, easy feel of the sun-drenched season By Susan Cuadrado

GRILLED AND SMOKED pickled peach and watermelon Country come to town: From As far as smoked meats go, bacon’s Feastivities, with lump crab radish. For the salad course, pickled cousin cut—pork belly—is getting (top) and two bites with pork belly, beets combine with sorrel, toasted including a pork belly BLT (bottom). some major play on the appetizer Photo at top by Jackie Bayne; pork red quinoa is paired with a straw- tray. “Pork belly is a huge trend belly photos by Joe Pulcinella. berry vinaigrette, and fresh beets in the culinary world, and this are tossed with pickled watermelon flavorful, sumptuously fatty cut is rind, plums, hazelnuts and ricotta a huge hit among our clients this salata, with a berry vinaigrette. season,” say Meryl Snow, president Kensington Caterers pays hom- of Philadelphia-based Feastivities. age to the pickle with its lemon “Whether prepared in a French basil burrata topped with pickled style with white wine and thyme, or vegetables and granola crumbs, with a sticky, anise-flavored Chinese while Athens, Ga.-based Epting marinade, pork belly’s crispy skin Events tops a Tunisian harissa- is ambrosia for meat-eaters.” Los laced beet salad with German-style Angeles-based Kensington Caterers pickled squash, a bite often served does a riff on pancakes and bacon alongside pulled short ribs over a with its corn and chive mini- butternut puree in a canapé shell. pancakes topped with crispy pork “There is a strong desire among our belly and caramelized shallot jam. clientele to experience a small bite of various cultures at one event,” PICKLED AND PLUCKED says director of sales Russel Stalvey. And what’s a without “It’s not quite fusion, but not quite pickles? L.A.-based Wolfgang Puck discordant either.” Catering adds the requisite pucker At Stamford, Conn.-based to an assortment of tray-passed Marcia Selden Catering and Event appetizers, including a pickled Planning, the salad course is liter- strawberry compote with mascar- ally and figuratively elevated to pone and basil on black pepper great heights. “We like to turn the biscotti, with bone mar- traditional food station on its head row butter and pickled onion, and and do some creative storytelling duck rillettes with peach hoisin, through food,” says executive chef

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507SE29-31FoodforFetes FINAL.indd 29 7/3/15 10:56 AM Dig in: From Wolfgang Puck Catering, duck rillettes (left) and vegetable crudités (right). Photos by Trevor Pearson.

Pop hit: From Thomas Caterers of Distinction, orange balsamic-glazed chicken lollipops with Pop Rocks candy. Photo by Erin Hession.

Robin Selden. Case in point: At a recent event, the caterer hung a tree with small crystal orbs filled with two types of salad—a fruit and with a kale salad with shaved twist, on coconut, and a wheat berry almost all appe- salad with forest mushrooms, tizer menus. “Who can caramelized shallots and roasted resist house-made potato fennel. “We had to ‘cut’ the salads chips with sea salt and caramelized down for each guest—like plucking onion crème fraiche, house-made fruit from a tree,” Selden says. “The chicken sausage-in-a-blanket, or guests’ reaction was incredible.” edible decor in the form of center- mini grass-fed meatloaf discs with pieces comprising fresh vegetables potato cake and heirloom ketch- SIPPED AND DIPPED arranged in beet hummus with up?” asks owner Richard Mooney. Soup sips, paired with bread sticks, pumpernickel “soil” planted in Best guess? Not many. dips and fresh crudités, can be an galvanized steel buckets. At the bar, “Old staples or comfort foods inexpensive yet elegant appetizer freshly potted herbs are part of the with a twist are always favored,” option, especially when artfully mise en place, which guests can agrees Keovorabouth, citing Thai prepared and presented. “We do add to drinks such as watermelon- peanut chicken with zucchini frit- a next-level version of a bread rosemary lemonade and tarragon- ters and cucumber salad as a go-to. stick bar we call a ‘Soup, Sip + spiked Lady Grey iced tea. “Also, we are using more modern Sticks’ station,” Selden says. “It’s a Indianapolis-based Thomas methods to revitalize some classic less expensive option, but guests Caterers of Distinction adds an yet budget-friendly items, such as would never know because of the explosive edge to DIY dipping with our carbonated cantaloupe and pro- abundance of food on the table and its orange balsamic-glazed chicken sciutto. Clients love the innovation flavorful options for dipping and lollipops dipped in orange-flavored while still being comfortable with a sipping.” Assorted sips—carrot and Pop Rocks candy. “The guests dip dish they recognize.” Cream cheese- ginger soup, curried cauliflower the chicken themselves so it is fun stuffed olive skewers are elevated and ginger bisque, and a truffled and interactive, as well as deli- from ordinary to extraordinary wild mushroom soup—are served cious,” says executive chef Rach with vodka-infused black radish in shooters, while hand-rolled Keovorabouth. and coppa. bread sticks are served with various For Wolfgang Puck Catering, flavored dips such as spiced TRIED AND TRUE As the tried and true means sliders—of butternut squash, curried cream, saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t all shapes and varieties. “Mini ver- and ricotta and fava bean. fix it—but maybe give it a tweak. sions of almost any comfort food At Wolfgang Puck Catering, At Kensington Caterers, this means item are most often requested, so vibrant crudités creations serve as certain standbys turn up, albeit we are now offering mini French

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507SE29-31FoodforFetes FINAL.indd 30 7/3/15 10:57 AM RESOURCES EPTING EVENTS www.eptingevents.com

FEASTIVITIES www.feastivitiesevents. com

Help yourself: From Marcia Selden Catering KENSINGTON CATERERS and Event Planning, the ‘Soup, Sip + Sticks’ www.kensingtoncaterers. station (top) and salad ‘orbs’ (right). Photos by Robin Selden. com MARCIA SELDEN CATERING AND EVENT PLANNING dips, mini bacon-wrapped hot dogs, marciaselden.com and mini lobster rolls,” says execu- tive chef Matt Bencivenga. “And THOMAS CATERERS to make Wolfgang’s famous potato OF DISTINCTION latkes with dill cream and caviar www.thomascaterers.com more budget-friendly and lighter for WOLFGANG PUCK summer, we have created zucchini CATERING latkes with lemon thyme yogurt and cherry tomato.” l www.wolfgangpuck.com

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