Chances are, your caterer has more than bacon-wrapped dates and chicken skewers to offer. But while creative menu items are important, don't underestimate the power of presentation. Innovative food displays can make an indelible impression on guests and enhance their overall event experience considerably.
To help you think beyond ordinary hors d'oeuvres, here are some unusual, whimsical, and downright jaw-dropping presentation ideas from top restaurants across the country. So whether you serve chicken fritters in a glass shoe or you figure out how to make potato chips levitate, consider using these ideas to dial up the creativity at your next bash.
Tru's Vanilla Parfait
Desserts at Tru include a vanilla parfait that's served with a surprising monkey sculpture.
Photo: Lettuce Entertain You Inc.
Tru's Coral Caviar
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.
Photo: Anjali Pinto
Tru's Levitating Caviar Amuse
Chef Martin brings this mind-bending amuse-bouche out to tables himself, as he's the only one who knows how to serve it. The dish, which combines a golden potato chip with reserve Kaluga caviar and crème fraîche, is presented in such a way that it appears to levitate in a cloud of smoke atop a small, mirrored column. Check out a video of the spectacle-cum-small-bite.
Photo: Anjali Pinto
Restaurant R'Evolution's Caviar Staircase
At Restaurant R'Evolution in New Orleans, chefs Rick Tamonto and John Folse have a very different style of caviar service. Their whitefish roe, salmon roe, wasabi tobiko, and black caviar are served with traditional accompaniments on a small glass staircase.
Photo: Courtesy of Restaurant R'Evolution
Baume & Brix's Octopus
At the Chicago restaurant Baume & Brix, octopus is grilled and served "Fun Dip-style." This means that it's laid out in a small bowl with a strip of olive oil on the side. Guests are instructed to dip the octopus into the oil, then dunk it into Peruvian yellow chili powder, coconut powder, or smoked-paprika-tomato powder.
Photo: Adam Milton
The Bazaar's Croquettas de Pollo
At the Bazaar at SLS Hotel South Beach, chef José Andrés serves his delicate, chicken-béchamel fritters in a glass replica of one of his sneakers.
Photo: Courtesy of SLS Hotel South Beach
Inn of the Seventh Ray's Smoked Yellowtail Spread
At the Topanga Canyon restaurant, chef Bradley Miller focuses on locally sourced ingredients. His smoked yellowtail spread, made with radish, red onion, and smoked sea salt, is served in an oval tin reminiscent of a sardine container. The dish is served with grilled French bread and individual Tabasco pipettes.
Photo: Jared Iorio
Oceana's Roast Stuffed Branzino
At New York's Oceana, chef Ben Pollinger offers a playful take on the current "whole animal" dining trend. Made for two, his branzino fish is stuffed with mushrooms, spinach, and black olives, and its head comes out on the daintily decorated plate.
Photo: Paul Johnson
Alinea's Pheasant
At Chicago's Alinea, chef Grant Achatz uses oak branches to skewer pieces of poached pheasant breast with roasted shallots and cider gelle. The end of the branch is then dipped into tempura batter and deep fried, and the oak branches arrive at the table still smouldering. Guests are instructed to consume the dish in a single bite.
Photo: Lara Kastner
Alinea's Raspberry
Somewhere between sweet and savory, Alinea's Raspberry dish is a thin, brittle transparent piece that's served in a clip created by Crucial Detail, a multidisciplinary design practice in Chicago.
Photo: Lara Kastner
L20's Fruits of the Sea
At L20, a fine-dining seafood restaurant in Chicago, chef Matthew Kirkley fills small balls of melon with proteins such as tuna tartare or foie gras. He presents them to guests on a flowering-branch platter at the beginning of a meal.
Photo: Lettuce Entertain You Inc.
L20's Mussel Tart
L20's mussel tart is presented on a bed of seashells.
Photo: Anjali Pinto
FT33's
At Dallas restaurant FT33, chef Matt McCallister serves pork with butternut squash, red Russian kale, and almonds. He serves the dish on a hand-crafted platter created by local designer Richard Wincorn. The platter, designed expressly for the restaurant, is intended to look like the cross section of a tree.
Photo: Kevin Marple
L20's Mignardises
At L20, bite-size sweets are served in tiny, colorful boxes that all stack together; guests pull the boxes apart themselves.
Photo: Anjali Pinto
The Bocuse Restaurant's Le Gâteau Mont Blanc
The Hyde Park, New York, restaurant has a dessert made with chestnut vermicelli, pound cake, rum confit, and cassis ice milk. To finish the cake table-side, servers combine liquid nitrogen and herbal tea in a chamber beneath the plated dessert. The science-y concoction creates intense aromatics and makes the cake appear to emerge from a sea of dissipating clouds.
Photo: Phil Mansfield/Culinary Institute of America
Sixteen's Pink Pearl Apple
At Sixteen at the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago, executive pastry chef Patrick Fahy serves sorbet in a pink, apple-shaped sugar shell. The color is meant to evoke Japanese cherry blossoms and springtime.
Photo: Courtesy of Sixteen
