catering

La Newyorkina, a purveyor of Mexican-inspired frozen sweets, offered guests miniature cones of ice cream in quirky flavors such as avocado, corn, and rice horchata. The company is available for private events and catering in New York.

Executive chef Domenic Chiaromonte of T2 Resto-Lounge now heads the kitchen at C2 Catering Couture, a Toronto catering company that creates customized, playful, and artistic dishes, like the Sugar Bubble, filled with a fortune cookie and chocolate mousse; it’s served with a hammer to crack it open.

A great solution for B.Y.O.B. locations, Taps From Scratch offers the Pub-Hub, a portable, refrigerated unit that can hold two to four types of draft beer and also has space for glasses and other beverages. A three-day rental for a two-tap Pub-Hub costs $250, which includes delivery and set up anywhere in the Orlando-Tampa area.

Baked by Melissa offers a giant gumball machine that dispenses pods containing the company’s signature mini cupcakes at events. The machine can fit 2,000 pods, with a minimum order of 1,000.

Deliver Lean is a healthy meal-delivery system that offers a menu of low-fat, high-protein foods, including egg-white omelets and pork chop entrées. Deliver Lean will cater ready-made meals for office luncheons or events from Jupiter to Miami, starting at $8 per person.

Fonuts are made using different methods of steaming and baking at high heat to replicate the texture of a doughnut, without the use of a fryer. Available for large orders and pickup for events, with varieties that include wheat-free, vegan, sweet, and savory, the cost is $38 for a baker’s dozen or $16.50 for an assorted bag of mini Fonuts.

Austin-based food truck Coreanos relocated to Houston in 2012, and its Mexican-meets-Korean fare is available for event catering. The mobile truck can show up on site at events to serve just one item—such as short-rib-topped cheese fries or Korean barbecue burritos—or it can offer guests the entire menu. The cost is $12 to $18 per person, with a $500 minimum.

Ice Cubed specializes in small-batch ice cream, handmade ice pops, and other frozen desserts in flavors inspired by savory dishes. The Prix Fixe ice pop features layers of flavors inspired by a five-course Italian meal including prosecco, lemon-beet salad, bresaola, veal ragout, tomato confit, and tiramisu. The Cubed menu offers frosted cubes in flavors such as hot chocolate biscotti and burnt milk with peach jam and cloves. A truck is available, and staffers can create custom flavors.

Brittany Ferrin and her husband and co-executive chef, Vaidotas Karsokas, launched catering company Truffleberry Market in 2008, with the goal of making everything by hand with artisanal ingredients. They recently added savory ice cream cones to their offerings: Handmade wonton cones are filled with creamy burrata cheese and drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar; a sun-dried tomato stands in for the cherry on top.

Everything Bagel hors d’oeuvres from Bakers’ Best Catering are ideal for a brunch event or meeting. A toasted bagel cup is filled with salmon cured in toasted and dehydrated milk powder, plus sesame and poppy seeds, onions, and garlic, topped with spiced cream cheese, pickled red onion, frisée, and Meyer lemon pearls.

To feed a crowd quickly, catering company 86 This has a line of bulk family-style meals, available from $40 for 12 to 14 people, that include dishes such as “messy Sicilian lasagna” delivered ready-to-eat and serve. The company also serves box lunches, trays, and plated meals.

Lisa Messelt of LM Cocktail Catering can create an array of high-end Jell-O shot cocktails. Push aside thoughts of the jiggly, college-era snacks stuffed in Dixie cups: Instead, flavors like blackberry bramble and Pimm’s cup are presented in elegant hors d’oeuvre spoons and paired with fruit. The shots can even be designed in the shape of corporate logos.

In Chicago, Tru serves progressive French fare. Chef Anthony Martin selects caviar and roe from around the globe and serves it on a large coral replica. Abalone shells nestled into the coral's branches each hold a different type of caviar and can be removed and passed around the table.