In Chicago, Blue Plate Catering brings candy apple stations to holiday parties. Treats include apples dipped in caramel and assorted toppings and sliced up into snack-size portions.
Limelight's "Smash It" station offers assorted homemade chocolate bark in flavors such as dark chocolate with dried cherries. Mallets next to the sweets let guests "smash" off a snack-size piece of the bark.
The charity hosted its fund-raiser at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington on May 8. Ridgewells handled catering, and festive menu items included pours of champagne over popsicles for dessert cocktails.
On June 5, Chicago celebrated the opening of the 606, a public, elevated trail along a former railway, with a gala that paid homage to the host city. Limelight Catering serviced the event. Menu items included a first course of hanging flatbreads in two flavors: herb and olive oil and three cheese. The dish incorporated onions from an Illinois farm and cheeses from Wisconsin.
For dessert at Lucky Chopsticks, the gourmet mobile dessert truck HipPops served a raspberry lychee sorbet dipped in semi-sweet Belgian chocolate. The beachside event took on the form of an Asian night market.
The John F. Kennedy Center Opera Ball took place May 21 at the Organization of American States in Washington. For the event, in which the Washington National Opera celebrated a diamond anniversary, Occasions Caterers and Design Foundry created a custom hanging dessert buffet.
Keeping with a Memorial Day theme, Lawrence Scott Events catered the event with summer-inspired bites, including a giant barrel filled with colorful fruits and vegetables.
The Owner's Chalet featured multiple specialty bars including a Luc Belaire Rosé bellini bar, which offered several juices and purees of peach, mango, raspberry, and tangerine.
Clement at the Peninsula New York will host a Mother's Day brunch on Sunday. The brunch will have a pop-up makeup counter from Sisley Paris offering gift bags and product samples, along with a variety of small desserts including lemon meringue tarts and carrot cakes.
The Governor Henry Lippitt House Museum in Providence, Rhode Island, will host a daylong Mother's Day tea party. The event will feature a variety of international loose-leaf teas, a jazz quartet led by pianist James Scott Chowning, a signature cocktail, and sweet and savory bites curated by executive chef Edison L. Colon Torres of Delsie Catering Events. Food will include toast skagen and a special dessert for mothers inspired by Torres's mother who passed away when he was a child.
Hard-surfaced fruit makes for a healthy snack—and an unexpected place for a brand logo. Fun to Eat Fruit creates the logos using safe-to-eat, custom images without bruising or puncturing the skin.
Homestyle signage identified the Georgia peach and cherry pies served at the Southern Kitchen Brunch.
A first course of salmòn curado con tamal tierno y mole, from chef Bruno Oteiza, contrasted squares with circles and looked like a modernist painting.
Alongside the title dish at Ceviche & Pisco were coconut halves displaying the individual ingredients. The arrangement added a color-blocking element to the presentation. My Ceviche created the dishes served at the event at the Gale South Beach rooftop.
Summer rolls were served on trays set in a base of raw lentils at the Vegetarian Dinner at the Space Miami. A succulent, the motif of the dinner, also adorned the tray.
The event also had a bar that served tea-infused cocktails with a backdrop that showcased products from the new RitualiTea Collection.
Limelight Catering
Chef Molly Johnson got her big break working as a personal chef for actor Hugh Jackman. These days, she stays busy with full-service catering at Limelight Catering for some 1,000 events each year, and clients have ranged from Steppenwolf Theater Company to Google. Though she boasts a versatile repertoire, the Chicago-based chef specializes in Middle Eastern, and specifically Lebanese, cuisine.
Papadum crisp with braised French lentils, sweet pepper, carrot confit, toasted cumin, and fresh herb vinaigrette
"We ‘paint’ stripes on the plate with honey—or agave nectar if the dish is vegan—using small paintbrushes. Then, we gently dust over each line with an array of ground spices. This plate has turmeric, sweet paprika, cumin, and ground fennel—the same spices used in the preparation of the hors d’oeuvre."
Occasions Caterers
Heather Weaver decided that she wanted to be a chef at a young age, and after culinary school, she began to work in some of Washington, D.C.’s most distinguished restaurants. Her respect for ingredients and tradition combined with creative curiosity led her to her current role as the lead chef of research and development at Occasions Caterers in the Nation’s Capital. With the help of co-founder Eric Michael and creative director Amy Lewerenz, Weaver develops, tests, and explores new dishes, ingredients, and presentations in an effort to stand out from fellow caterers.
Scallop hors d’oeuvres with shells magnetically affixed to metal pins attached to driftwood trays
"When interpreting or reinterpreting dishes, you should always begin with understanding its origin and the culture that created it. The tray design was truly about form and function. … Eric conceived the idea of producing something that related to the ingredients, was striking, and functionally effective."
The post-ceremony reception for the National Christmas Tree Lighting in Washington, D.C., took place December 1 at Presidents Park. The reception, which was produced by RGI Events and catered by Heirloom Catering, featured a festive bar with hot cocoa and doughnuts.
The reception also featured a "Farmer's Display," which included a variety of charcuterie and cheeses, seasonal vegetables, and fruit, along with decor that had holly in hanging glass jars.
