Sweets

Grilled vegetable and mozzarella brochettes from Sterling Affair are presented beneath glass votives filled with rosemary smoke; the fragrant aroma escapes when guests pick up the glasses to eat the passed hors d’oeuvres.

Among the new additions to Something Different Party Rental's inventory this fall are stylish steak knives featuring amber and black-and-white swirl handles.

Get inspired: Running September 18 through December 31 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Regarding Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years" explores Andy Warhol's influence on the contemporary art world. The exhibit includes 45 paintings, sculptures, and films by Warhol alongside 100 works by 60 other artists, such as Jeff Koons and Jean-Michel Basquiat, who in some way reinterpreted or reacted to the Pop Art legend’s oeuvre.

Taylor Creative Inc. is now carrying Kartell's invisible coffee table. Ideal for pairing with Louis Ghost chairs, the sleek Lucite tables rent for $150 each, and there are 16 available.

Available for bookings in the New York area through Elan Artists, Earth Harp Entertainment is a collective of musicians led by artist William Close. The Earth Harp is a large string instrument that is rigged to the surrounding architecture and environment with strings that can extend up to 1,000 feet in length. The performer wears cotton gloves covered in violin resin, and plays the musical instrument/installation by running his or her hands along the strings to create cello-like tones. Accompanied by percussion and other instruments, performances can range from ambient and trance-like to theatrical and energetic.

Esprit Events is offering live chocolate truffle rolling stations as a dessert option. Guests pick either a citrus chocolate or lemon cognac truffle-on-a-stick and, with the help of pastry chef Christine Santos, dip the truffles in white or dark chocolate and roll it in their choice of premade toppings, which include pretzels, gingerbread, wasabi peas, coconut, cocoa, cinnamon, crushed potato chips, pistachios, crushed almonds, or graham crackers. The station can also feature prerolled truffles.

Sushi by Simon offers private sushi making lessons in the tristate area. Chef Simon Feil can lead corporate groups of as many as 200. The hands-on classes include all the tools and ingredients needed to make maki (note: everything is kosher). Everyone gets to eat what they create, and sushi kit gift bags for each participant are available for an additional fee. The customizable bags typically include recipes, bamboo rolling mat, nori, containers of pickled ginger and wasabi, and a bottle of seasoned rice vinegar. Sushi by Simon also offers custom sushi- or Asian-themed gift baskets that can come packaged in a fabric bag or bento box. Corporate groups of 20 or fewer cost $1,200 plus $10 per person.

Audio, video and lighting company WorldStage is the first company to carry the Barco C5 5.5-millimeter pixel pitch, lightweight indoor LED display. The extremely high-quality video tiles offer faster setup and a more affordable price. "We've done well with the Barco NX-4 and NX-6 tiles for a number of years; however, they are an expensive technology beyond the budgets of many of our clients," WorldStage President Josh Weisberg said in a press release. "We first saw the C5 at the Detroit Auto Show and thought the video performance of the tile was markedly better than the inexpensive tiles that are proliferating throughout the events community and, when we learned that Barco had priced the C5 tile very competitively, we were sold."

Abigail Kirsch is serving an updated twist on the vodka sour: The marmalade vodka sour is made with homemade honey-orange marmalade and citrus juices, with a raw sugar orange zest rim.

New macaron purveyor Dana’s Bakery is putting a nostalgic, all-American spin on the French classic, with flavors like red velvet, thin mint, s’mores, and cookie dough. The bakery will also be offering a limited-edition candy corn flavor throughout October, ideal for Halloween parties. In addition to creating custom colors and flavors for events, Dana’s Bakery offers macaron towers and dessert bars. The cost is $2.25 per macaron for orders of 61 to 200, and $2 for each additional cookie over 200. Delivery, available in New York from Battery Park to 100th Street, is $12; nationwide shipping will be available on October 1.

Chicago-based balloon artist Willy Chyr, who has a B.A. in physics and economics from the University of Chicago, creates custom installations and was recently com­missioned to design a limited edition label for Beck’s beer. Chyr, who first learned to twist bal­loons when he joined the Le Vorris & Vox Circus during college, has designed large­ decor pieces using as many as 800 balloons for events like conferences and launch parties.

Mobile skate­-rental company the Skate Truck NYC has been setting up shop in New York City parks. The truck is available to rent for private skating events, during which instructors teach techniques like how to turn in a circle. They can also lead groups in teambuilding-­style skating games. Corporate events start at $800 for as many as 40 people; addi­tional skaters are $10 each, and the maximum for events is 75 skaters.

Twelfth­-generation Southerner Debra Shriver chronicles the Crescent City’s history and musi­cal legacy in The Spirit of New Orleans ($45, available at assouline.com), which includes an insider’s list of recommended cocktail bars, jazz venues, and restaurants.

Paulina’s Pops in Miami can provide an on­-site ice pop station with one attendant for a minimum rental of two hours for $175. With as many as 30 organic water­ and milk-­based frozen-­dessert options, the treats cost $2.50 apiece.

The latest green initiative from Main Event Caterers in Washington is an aquaponic farming system. The “vertical farm” includes fish tanks and planting beds that Main Event uses to supply sustainable tilapia, micro greens, cucumbers, strawberries, and squash for tastings and demonstrations.

Luxe Event Rentals in Los Angeles is offering its new LED color­-changing chairs as part of its “Le Lumiere” collection. The customizable chair structure is available in white, silver, or black with LED insert panels. The exclusive pieces come with a rental fee of $45 to $85 for the armless ver­sion, or $195 to $265 for the armchairs.

Find catering inspiration at the New York Public Library’s Lunch Hour NYC exhibit, open now through February 2013 at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, 917.275.6975, nypl.org). The free exhibi­tion explores the city’s relationship with the midday meal, highlighting the history of the power lunch, street food, take­out, and more through historic cookbooks, menus, memorabilia, and even a reconstructed wall of Automat machines.

Serving as an addition to the Pirate Cove Resort & Marina, GoZip Pirate Cove is a recently opened zip­line park in Needles, California. A two-­hour drive from Las Vegas, the park offers four adventures for small groups, including the guided “Pirate’s Quest” zip­line tour, the motor­ized “Rum Runner” zip­line, and the “Plank Walk,” an 80-­foot free­-fall. Tickets for each activity are $25 to $75, and groups of 10 receive a 10 percent discount.

Looking to add some Glee­-style entertainment to an event? Edge Effect—America’s Got Talent finalists and winners of MTV’s Top Pop Group and Boyz II Men’s A Cappella Quest—is now available through Orlando-­based Metropolis Productions for events worldwide. The six­-man vocal group combines pop, R&B, jazz, rock, and funk sounds while reinterpreting popular and original songs.

Tales of the Cocktail, the annual cocktail festival held in New Orleans, is celebrating its 10th anniversary with the release of Tales of the Cocktail from A to Z ($20, available on amazon.com), written by cocktail historians Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller. The book takes a look inside the drinking culture of New Orleans, with festival history, recipes, trivia, and a walking tour through the French Quarter.

For event catering or gifts, Chicago Butter Cookies offers their signature heart­-shaped, chocolate-­dipped treats made from a recipe originally created by owner Mary Astor Smithe’s Croatian grandmoth­er. Smithe can also staff events with cookie servers dressed in retro pin­-up costumes of her own design.

Cavalia (1081 Imperial Ave., 866.999.8111, cavalia.net) is coming to San Diego November 13 to 25. A mix of equestrian and performing arts, multi­media, and special effects, the show combines acrobatics, dance, aerial stunts, live music, and horses. V.I.P. packages include center-­row seats, complimentary food and beverages, an exclusive tour of the stables, and a souvenir. Group seating and special group rates are available.

San Francisco­-based of­fice catering service Cater2.me has launched in New York, offering a new way for offices to connect with the local food scene. Cater2.me works with food trucks, street carts, small restaurants, and farm­ers’ market vendors, and teaches them how to cater. In addition to in-office lunch and dinner cater­ing, Cater2.me can also handle one­-off events, like launch parties and dinner receptions.

Blow­dry salon Blo has opened a Boston outpost that can host corporate outings for small groups. Staffers can serve canapés and champagne, or outside catering can be arranged. For off-­site events in the area, “Blo on the Go” can bring services to employees and clients in boardrooms.

Arthur’s Catering in Orlando is offering a new twist on a BLT that can be butler­ passed or served at a station. Blackened mahi­-mahi comes on grilled brioche with roasted garlic lemon aioli and is topped with micro arugula and torched candied applewood bacon.

The Art Gallery of Ontario’s Frida & Diego: Passion, Politics and Painting exhibition, which features 75 works by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, runs from October 20 to January 20 and offers group tickets at a 20 percent discount. Pair the show with the “After-Art Wine and Cheese” package at the AGO’s Frank restaurant. The cost is $60 per person, including mu­seum tickets, and is available for groups of 20 to 50.

For a recent dessert display created by Chicago-based Sugar Chic Designs, Nicole Greene of Truffle Truffle contributed caramel chocolate-covered pretzels rolled in beer batter toffee and displayed in a cigar box.

At Art Basel Miami Beach’s Ten Great Years celebration last December, Shiraz provided cigar-shaped mini Cubans stuffed with ham, cornichons, and cheese. Servers passed them around in repurposed cigar boxes.

In October 2011, Macquarie Private Wealth hosted a Mad Men-inspired cocktail party in Toronto. Servers dressed as cigarette girls passed around sushi in the shape of cigars, created by Appetizingly Yours Events & Catering.

Robert Gilbert, the executive chef of special events and catering operations at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, creates edible cigars that are served as antipasto. Air-cured smoked pastrami, provolone cheese, boursin cheese, roasted red peppers, and paprika are minced up and rolled up into grape leaves to look like cigars. The edible ash is made from grilled, smoked and pulverized banana leaves.

Another version of Walt Disney World Resort’s edible cigar, served in a mini ashtray filled with salt rocks.

At Moto in Chicago, Chef Homaro Cantu creates a Cuban cigar with edible ash. The recipe involves brined pulled pork shoulder wrapped in sliced white bread and collard greens, dipped in red pepper puree. The cigar is then served in an ash tray with ash made from ground sesame seeds and tapioca maltodextrin.

Close, but no cigar: Mena Catering in Miami creates eggnog crème brûlée served in a clear ashtray with an edible chocolate cigarette.