Food & Beverage

For the launch of the catering and event program at New York’s WTC860 - Riviera at the World Trade event space in December 2015, Riviera Caterers built a 24-foot-long, 8-foot-high pretzel wall. The interactive wall held 600 pretzels of different flavors, including garlic parsley, cheddar, cinnamon, salted, and plain, along with dipping sauces. The setup is customizable and can be converted for a variety of displays such as a salad or bagel bar.

For a new twist, Riviera Catering also set up stations that resembled food truck exteriors with splashy chrome finishes at the WTC860 event. The mock trucks served iconic New York foods, including baos and mini pizzas, and were approximately 10 feet high and 8 feet long.

To serve fresh fruit, Chicago catering firm Limelight inserts skewers into a decorative wall featuring colorful wallpaper that can be customized for any event. Guests then dip the fruit into accompanying sauces.

A new option for floral gifts, Miami-based Olyve offers a curated selection of bouquets with tech-forward customer service. Senders receive ongoing status updates and photos and may also choose to record a personalized video message, which is emailed to the recipient upon delivery. Bouquets come in an arty gift box with eye-catching graphic design. The company recently expanded delivery to service five cities: New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, Miami, and Philadelphia.

Time and People set up an adult lemonade stand serving specialty versions of favorite springtime cocktails at their joint Friday-night party at the St. Regis hotel. The names of the cocktails had a political theme: the tequila-based "Primary Punch" and a vodka-based drink called the "Delegate."

Garden Brunch guests could choose from three types of tomato juice and a variety of vodkas and garnishes at a make-your-own Bloody Mary bar, sponsored by the Distilled Spirits Council.

Occasions staffers dressed like hot dog vendors wandered throug the party at Long View Gallery with mini hot dogs and traditional toppings of relish, mustard, and ketchup.

Occasions also catered MSNBC's after-party at the United States Institute of Peace. There were multiple flights of food for the buffets as well as fixed and roaming specialty stations. One of the roaming stations featured traditional and sweet potato french fries with a variety of toppings including chili, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, truffle oil, onion, and cheese curds.

The final wave of the menu began around 1 a.m. with dessert options including a trio of floats: root beer, egg cream, and Boston cooler.

At the South Beach Wine & Food Festival earlier this year, the Sweet 15 Dessert reception included a take on birthday cake and ice cream from Jean Georges Vongerichten's Matador and Market restaurants at the Miami Beach Edition hotel. Crème fraîche cake, vanilla bean crémeux, confetti nitro ice cream, raspberry gel, a white chocolate candle, and 23-carat edible gold flake comprised the dish.

Thomas Caterers of Distinction executive chef Rachanee Keovorabouth presented many examples of unique garnishes during her presentation, including this ginger miso butter salmon accompanied by a lemon nori-dusted salmon skin chip and forbidden black fried rice and broccoli puree.

Edible flowers are another decorative garnish that can be used with meats or served with desserts, like this key lime fruit tart topped with strawberry hibiscus fruit leather, and garnished with strawberry sauce painting, lemon sauce, and micro edible flowers.

Carrot-chip ribbons are a popular and easy-to-make garnish, as seen here atop a roast tenderloin of beef with horseradish cream and brandied mushrooms.

Each year, a local caterer in the host city sponsors the evening party on the second day of the conference. This year, at the Capitol Fare party held at Dock5 on August 16, Occasions Caterers served a variety of dishes via buffet tables, food stations, and its new revolving ferris wheel of appetizers, such as caprese salad and gazpacho shooters.

In addition to the ferris wheel, Occasions Caterers provided a Washington-theme buffet of savory bites such as crab cakes, beer-braised short rib and cheddar sandwiches, Iberico spare ribs, and corn souffles.

Further emphasizing the popularity of the food station, sponsor Sterno set up s'mores stations as part of the event's luncheon on August 15. Guests could roast their own marshmallows over the Sterno flame, and then build their s'mores with the graham crackers and chocolate provided.

North Carolina-based B&B Inc. chefs demonstrated how to make pork-belly pot stickers served with sriracha mayo during the caterer's five 30-minute sessions, which were part of the round-robin tasting series held on August 17.

Purple Onion Catering demonstrated how to make aburi—or torched—sushi at a catering station for events during its session of the round-robin series. Attendees sampled options for salmon, beef, and tuna.

Occasions Caterers pastry chefs Meena Purushothaman and Sara Hancock demonstrated how to make various chocolate desserts, including budino bites and bon bons, as well as how to decorate them with cocoa-butter color spray and edible paints.

Chef Peter Rosenberg from Certified Angus Beef spoke for an hour about the uses and preparation methods for different cuts of beef, including his note that clod heart is the most underused and affordable cut.