Crowd-favorite foods aren't always the tidiest. While guests may love some hearty or sweet classic foods, they don't love the hassle involved with trying to eat them while also working a room with handshakes and business cards, or simply trying to engage with an event's message. Instead of that distraction, take inspiration from these catering ideas that spin traditionally messy foods into easy-to-eat, grab-and-go items that allow guests to focus on the purpose of the event—rather than on their sticky hands or stained clothes.
At the Watermill Center’s benefit in 2015, Great Performances created dishes that would allow guests to easily roam—all self-serve options designed to be hand-held and didn't even necessarily require plates. Among them was fried chicken served in waffle cones.
S’mores got their start as sticky, gooey, handheld campfire treats, but events have reinvented them in many ways friendlier to guests, such as this example of a lollipop version at the Engage!14 Wedding Summit dessert party.
At a September event, Preston Bailey transformed the new Four Seasons New York Downtown in celebration of his relationship with the property. As part of the event’s catering options, the hotel supplied tiramisu served as grab-and-go offerings.
Rather than the traditional bowl of splash-prone red sauce, New York’s Elegant Affairs offered a neater take on spaghetti and meatballs, using mess-free form topped with a micro meatball and marinara and sprinkled with parmesan.
Mary Giuliani Catering and Events in New York created a catering option of one-bite paella with shrimp and chorizo with sips of sangria, a take on the hearty rice dish.
Salad can be messy, with the risk of oily dressing ending up on clothes and hands. Occasions Caterers in Washington created a wedge salad bite hors d’oeuvre, served on a fork, that tidies up salad service.
Always a crowd favorite, hummus can get messy when served as a dip. At the 2014 Washington Humane Society's annual Fashion for Paws runway show, hors d'oeuvres during the reception included beets and hummus on pita points as a tidy alternative to service at a station.
A popular alternative to soup in a bowl, with all of its messy slurp potential, many caterers offer inventive soup shooters. One example: Chicago’s Boutique Bites' artful soup shooters with popcorn and truffle oil.Â
