Catering

For a recent event at the Perot Museum of Science and Nature in Dallas, Wolfgang Puck Catering employed a "chef shadowbox." Meant to provide a strong visual behind a more standard food station, a chef in a shadowbox prepared appetizers as guests looked on.

Other new stations at Wolfgang Puck Catering include a frozen sushi station. The activation displays fresh fish and sushi rolls atop illuminated ice blocks with frozen orchids and other flowers inside.

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.

The catering firm also has a new burrata action station. Staffers top the creamy cheese with toasted pine nuts and Italian muscat syrup. The snack is gluten-free.

Toronto catering firm Eatertainment has a new chef action station devoted to salmon gravlax. Salmon is hung from hooks above the station and is sliced to order in front of guests. The raw fish is then chopped and served with root-vegetable crisps, miniature greens, and spiced yogurt.

The Toronto firm is also using bar carts to display food items. One such spread, wheeled to tables at an event, offered snacks such as frittatas, foie gras, sliders, and lobster.

In Chicago, catering firm Limelight has an innovative format for serving fruit skewers. The fruits are inserted into a custom wall with thematic wallpaper design (which varies for different events). Guests approach the wall and pull of a skewer and can dip the fruit in sauces that are arrayed on a nearby table.

Instead of serving French fries at a stationary table, Limelight has used a wheelbarrow to deliver Belgian frites at events. The fries are served in cones, and assorted sauces are displayed on the side.

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.

Roar Events produced a summertime event at Estancia La Jolla Hotel and Spa in Southern California. The dinner had a modern Mexican theme and featured an interactive margarita station. Guests chose the type and flavor of their tequila, as well as one of many specialty salts.

Therapy restaurant in Las Vegas is serving a variety of fall cocktails, including a pumpkin old fashioned made with pumpkin puree and cognac, served with a spiced orange twist and garnished with a cherry. 

Therapy also is serving a cocktail called Mamma Knows Best, made with Scotch, Kahlua liqueur, Bailey’s Irish cream liqueur, pumpkin puree, creme anglaise, Godiva Chocolate liqueur, and heavy cream. The cocktail is poured into a brown sugar pumpkin spice-rimmed glass. 

E’s Bar in New York is serving a Pumpkin Moscow Mule, made with crop pumpkin vodka, lemon, and ginger beer and topped with a sprinkle of cinnamon. 

Cocktail catering and mixology company Liquid Lab NYC has debuted fall-inspired cocktails made with its original pumpkin spice syrup. The Penthouse Pumpkin, available at the Attic Rooftop, features bourbon, pumpkin spice syrup, lemon juice, pineapple juice, and a dash of allspice dram served on the rocks. The drink is garnished with an orange twist and light dusting of nutmeg. 

Americana Las Vegas has introduced new seasonal cocktails, including a golden pumpkin martini made with house-infused apple pie vodka, brown sugar, cinnamon, and Bailey’s Pumpkin. The cocktail is served with a golden chocolate and hazelnut rim. 

Sprinkles Cupcakes at the Linq Promenade in Las Vegas is serving pumpkin cupcakes, created with ginger, clove, nutmeg, and cinnamon and topped with cinnamon cream cheese frosting. 

For a more sophisticated pumpkin dessert, Ballantyne hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina, is offering a Pumpkin Tonka Verrine at its Gallery Restaurant throughout October. The dessert, created by hotel pastry chef Noelle Gogg, consists of Valrhona Orelys 35% Blond Chocolate cinnamon namelaka, pumpkin mousse, tonka bean cream, brown butter sponge, and Orelys chocolate garnish. 

Lower Mills Tavern in Boston serves a pumpkin ice cream sandwich that consists of homemade ginger molasses cookies and pumpkin ice cream made for the restaurant by the Ice Creamsmith—a family-run ice cream shop next door. 

The new MB Steak at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is offering a pumpkin milkshake made with pumpkin cheesecake ice cream and topped with cream cheese whipped cream and a house-made pumpkin pie slice. 

For the first day of fall on September 22, Villa Italian Kitchen celebrated the new season by serving pumpkin spice pizza at its nearly 230 locations nationwide. The limited-time dish mixed a classic cheese pizza with pumpkin pie filling. 

Becky’s Bites, a new cream cheese shop in New York, offers a variety of cream cheese-based treats including a gingerbread cookie snack pack that offers gingerbread cookie chips with pumpkin spice dip. 

Becky’s Bites also offers pumpkin spice bites, which include a mix of chocolate-dipped pumpkin spice bites, tiny pumpkin pies, and pumpkin spice-filled cookie sandwiches. 

For another savory option, French restaurant Bleu Boheme in San Diego is serving pumpkin hominy, made with sugar pumpkins and topped with a pistou made with toasted pumpkin seeds, kale, garlic, and olive oil. 

While Starbucks serves the most famous pumpkin spice latte, the Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay outside of San Francisco has put its own spin on the popular drink. The hotel partnered with Santa Cruz-based coffee company Verve Coffee Roasters to create the Pumpkin Patch Spice latte, which is served hot and iced.