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.
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.
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.
The Mexican barbecue mini chain Tres Carnes, which has multiple locations in New York, is offering a literal interpretation of the classic dish pigs in a blanket. The eatery will provide a whole pig, along with an N.F.L. blanket for Super Bowl party catering.
For game-day catering, Shake Shack is offering the Big Game Shack Pack with 10 ShackBurgers, two pints of custard, and a piece of portable entertainment: a limited-edition Shake Shack mini football. The package is available for $50 at nearly all Shake Shack locations.
