Food & Drink 4

This breakfast pastry setup at the Anaheim Marriott features an Instagram-worthy honeycomb-inspired backdrop with citrus fruits.

Catering came from Joe Flamm, the executive chef of Spiaggia in Chicago. In partnership with Levy Restaurants, Flamm's menu was designed to complement the theme with four Renaissance-inspired food stations. The beginning of the night saw tray-passed appetizers such as beef shank and frutti di mare. Later in the evening, food stations called “Venice,” “Glamorous,” and “Renaissance” served a variety of dishes, many that were vegan, gluten-free, or nut- and shellfish-free. Dessert (pictured) took on a carnival theme, with gelato pops, French macarons, and mini eclairs and tarts.

The report recommends centering recipes around fresh produce and offering plenty of fruit and vegetables, like this brightly colored veggie charcuterie from the Hotel Palomar Los Angeles.

A Valentine’s Day-appropriate alternative to a dessert station is Sugarwish’s new Sweet Shoppe. The company can provide 18 pounds of sweets, plus red and white striped candy bags; the station can also be customized for events and filled with candy to match specific themes. The Sweet Shoppe costs $238, is appropriate for as many as 50 people, and can be shipped nationwide.

Wolfgang Puck Catering will once again handle food, working with a culinary staff of 200. The famed chef and the company's vice president of culinary, Eric Klein, are creating more than 60 dishes for the event, ranging from one-bite hors-d'oeuvres to tray-passed entrées. New dishes for this year include Miyazaki Wagyu beef tartare on puffed black rice; crab-stuffed hibiscus; and taro root tacos with spiced eggplant.

For dessert, the Wolfgang Puck Catering pastry team—made up of Kamel Guechida, Garry Larduinat, and Jason Lemmonier—will also create a variety of new dishes, including a strawberry and cream dish that uses sustainable ruby chocolate.

Ever Bar at the Kimpton Everly Hotel in Los Angeles is serving an Academy Awards-theme menu, which includes cocktails inspired by best picture nominees. For Bohemian Rhapsody, the venue’s team used Black Cow vodka, kummel, lime juice, orgeat syrup, and butterfly pea flower. The drink is garnished with a fake mustache and aviator sunglasses.

This cocktail, named after the plant that grows in Black Panther’s fictional nation of Wakanda, is made with prosecco, Cointreau, lemon juice, edible hibiscus flower, and blackberries.