This week's roundup includes toy-filled gift bags from a children's gala in Miami, a giant Etch-a-Sketch at an Austin music festival, pink deviled eggs from a Chicago benefit, and a creative new way to use viewfinders in Washington.
The TigerDirect.com Tech Summit and Holiday Bash took over the field at Marlins Park in Miami on November 7. One of the most popular stops of the summit was at the TigerDirect Wheel of Technology, which awarded prizes to those who tracked visits to 20 different exhibiting booths.
At New York magazine's "New York Taste" event November 11, Cronut inventor Dominique Ansel offered up a taste of one of his madcap dessert creations: chocolate "caviar" served with coffee caramel cream and Sablé cookies.
Pastry chef Emma Bengtsson of Aquavit displayed a variety of Swedish candies, including mango coriander sour ribbon and carrot peanut brittle, on a table decorated with pinecones, birch logs, and fake snow.
The Imagination Ball, a debut event last month from the Adrienne Arsht Center for Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, was designed for children. The young guests even received their own gift bags, which held goodies such as stuffed animals and educational games. A separate "mommy bag" from Neiman Marcus had a tote, makeup, perfume, lotion, and other gifts.
Oversize toys abounded at the retro Smart Car Lounge during the Fun Fun Fun Festival, a music festival November 8 to 10 in Austin, Texas. Attendees posed for photos in front of a giant red Etch A Sketch that showed an animated drawing of a Smart Car vehicle. The lounge was produced by Engine Shop NY.
Designed by Event Creative's Jeffrey Foster, the Chicago Botanic Garden's late-September Harvest Ball paired rusticity with elegance by seating black-tie-attired dinner guests at farm tables. Tables were topped with bouquets of lavender-hued flowers and produce. Overhead, vine-encrusted canopies held hanging lanterns.
From another fall benefit, Allium at the Four Seasons Chicago hosted a "Go Pink" fund-raiser for the Lynn Sage Foundation. In keeping with the signature shade of breast cancer awareness, all snacks and drinks had a rosy hue. Even the deviled eggs, made with beets, turned pink.
At the U.S.O. 2013 Gala in Washington, organizers used a nostalgic, low-tech way to deliver information. Throughout the reception space at the Washington Hilton, guests could peer into viewfinders with slides containing information on the U.S.O. and its mission. Images included snapshots of the troops with their families and on the front lines, and captions read: “The U.S.O. is always by their side.”
The high-energy fund-raiser took place at the Washington Hilton on November 14. Rather than a traditional plated salad, the hotel's catering team set each table with an array of antipasti served family-style including white bean salad, Italian meats, cheese, olives, and peppers. Cigars served as a masculine centerpiece.
The Boston-based catering company offers a new take on a popular hors d'oeuvre with its tuna sashimi. The tuna is served on kaffir-lime-scented rice with hibiscus “caviar.”
