Catering

Instead of traditional mother-of-pearl spoons, Peter Callahan serves dollops of caviar on tasty flatware made of Parmesan cracker dough, topped with crème fraîche and accompanied by a chilled shot of vodka.

At the launch party for President’s Choice Black Label in September 2011, Allyson Meredith Bobbitt and Sarah Bell, pastry chefs and owners of Bobbette & Belle, served dark Venezuelan chocolate cake on edible plates made out of sugar. The two chefs molded each plate individually and hand-painted them with unique designs on site at Toronto's Neubacher Shor Contemporary Gallery.

At the grand opening of the Miami Airport Convention Center in April 2012, a "garden" was created out of toasted pumpernickel bread for dirt and included planted baby carrots, asparagus spears, and zucchini, as well as baby tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella flowers.

For the premiere of Dexter's eighth season in 2013, Magnolia Bakery came up with a killer cupcake—a red velvet confection that was spattered with caramel "blood" and sugar "glass" shards.

Inspired by Pixy Stix, Scoozi Events NYC created a dry, powder version of Nutella that resembled makeup powder for its beauty clients' events.

At the Conservancy of Southwest Florida's fund-raiser at the Southwest Florida Nature Center campus in March 2012, shrimp salad, topped with sprouting greens, was presented in "flower pots," aka edible cups by Windows Catering Company.

Austin, Texas-based Delysia Chocolatier creates personalized solid chocolate menus that can serve as replacements to traditional paper ones and be used as guest favors. Pricing starts at $19.50 each for a minimum order of 25, with a setup fee of $200.

For the opening of its Midwest flagship store in Chicago in December 2011, Kiehl's created an on-site carnival with molecular gastronomy treats, such as pieces of paper that tasted like cotton candy, by Moto chefs and Top Chef: Texas contestants Richie Farina and Chris Jones.

A popcorn-like snack that chefs called “edible packing peanuts” was dipped into dry ice for the Kiehl's store opening.

Guests at the Hope & Help Center’s Headdress Ball, held at the Hilton Orlando in September, dined on a banana tart for dessert, along with a palatable "lipstick"—a hand-rolled cylinder of raspberry-flavored white chocolate presented in a plastic tube, which worked like real lipstick.

Wine and spirit agency Charton Hobbs, along with event production company Candice & Alison, created cocktails with an edible silver dust stencil for Cadillac's electric car launch event, held at UpCountry in Toronto in March.

The Pot Pie Garden dessert from Barton G. LA features six individual pies (pecan, key lime, cherry jubilee, banana cream, rosemary apple, and Mississippi mud). Each pie is baked into an individual flower pot and topped with chocolate "soil" and a sprig of fresh herb. Muddied (aka chocolate-stained) gardening tools and gloves complete the platter.

Susan Gage Caterers prepared a watermelon radish and citrus salad as the first course for the Atlantic Media Welcome Dinner on Friday night at the home of C.E.O. David Bradley. The menu also included seared sea bass with a bell pepper coulis, ginger basmati rice with pistachios, and julienne snow peas.

At The New Yorker's cocktail party, passed hors d'oeuvres from the W Washington D.C. included spicy ginger tuna with avocado, served on trays featuring former covers of the magazine.

Design Cuisine Caterers served a mix of savory and sweet brunch foods at the annual Garden Brunch on Saturday afternoon hosted by Tammy Haddad, Sally and Mark Ein, BizBash's David Adler, and others. Breakfast items included chilaquiles breakfast mugs of tortilla, pulled chicken, refried beans, monterey jack cheese, salsa, and sliced jalapeño.

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.

A dessert buffet included treats such as white chocolate rocky road squares (pictured), peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich cookies, packaged brownies from Dog Tag Bakery, and banana tartlets.

Occasions Caterers served comfort foods at CNN's Political Hangover brunch. Mini chicken and waffles, biscuits and gravy, and sliders lined Pop Art-inspired buffet stations from Design Foundry.

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.

There was also a fixed fries station serving guests to better accommodate the demand.

A chef created caricature pancakes of presidential candidates, as well as President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, at a specialty station. An overhead camera gave guests a view of the action.

The first wave of savory passed hors d'oeuvres included asparagus and gruyere beignets.

Occasions also passed espresso-crusted smoked beef carpaccio served on individual forks with a spicy herb salad as part of the early menu.

Around midnight, Occasions switched the menu from dinner to breakfast foods, serving mini huevos rancheros (pictured), french toast trios, and steak-and-egg burritos with havarti cheese.

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.

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."

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 corporate party held last year in the Washington area, Magnolia Bluebird Design & Events worked with Occasions Caterers to design several made-to-order food stations, including one that let guests customize champagne cocktails. Garnish options included herbs, fruit, house-made syrups, and flavored sugar cubes.