Events

Chef Hong Thaimee of Thaimee, which has locations at the McCarren Hotel & Pool in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and in the East Village, became an Instagram sensation recently thanks to her “magic noodles.” The gluten-free, tea-soaked glass noodles start out blue at the table, but with a squeeze of lime turn a soft purple hue.

The room by actress and singer Janelle Monáe tackles the intersection of art and technology, specifically the ideas of mass surveillance. More than 160 mirrors document visitors’ moves, then display the footage on screens on the heads of mannequins.

RentQuest is a specialized New York-based rental service company offering a wide range of custom-designed furniture, lighting, and accessories in one place. Its rental inventory includes stylish banquettes and ottomans upholstered in glove vinyl, microsuede, and velvets; unique cocktail tables; illuminated bars and Lucite bar toppers; designer pillows; dramatic decor accessories; and a new eco-friendly furniture line.

Eclectic/Encore Props Inc. has been offering exceptional and unique props to the TV, film, and special event industries for more than 35 years. With more than 500,000 items, capture the exotic atmosphere of the Far East, the hectic activities of a busy Kasbah in Morocco, or the aesthetic of a turn-of-the-century parlor.

Props for Today and the Spoon Group have merged into propNspoon to bring your visions to life. Its extensive inventory of event furniture and specialty props will create any theme, and its custom fabrication and engineering will make your dreams a reality. Together, Props for Today and the Spoon Group have been providing elements to the TV, film, photography, theater, retail, visual merchandising, and special event industries for 50 years.

High Style is a high-end event furniture rental company. Its collection of sleek and modern furniture creates ambiance that is sure to give your event a distinctive and sophisticated air. It offers the finest sofas, tables, chairs, bars, stools, rugs, and accessories for the event industry and strives to provide a striking vision to those who demand something beyond the expected. From intimate private affairs to large corporate events, launch parties, fund-raisers, or trade shows, High Style is equipped to help make any event spectacular.

Bridge Furniture & Props is a boutique-style prop and furniture rental company that supplies stylish lounge environments to the private and corporate event community. Its entire inventory is pictured and indexed for browsing online.

With guests wanting to know how their food is made, the in-house catering team at the Drake Hotel in Toronto believes experiential catering stations will take off next year. Examples include its pasta station, which allows guests to watch as chefs take pasta as a raw semolina mix, extrude it through a pasta machine to form a noodle, cook the noodle, and mix it in a cheese bowl before serving.

Another trend Af&Co. noted was mix of classic, nostalgic dishes with a modern twist. Classic vegetable crudité is served on ice, and with a not-so-classic sunflower seed hummus and hemp oil dip, at Acacia House in Napa, California. 

“You should give your dates more consideration than booking a reservation on OpenTable,” Libonate says.

At this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival, OKCupid was integrated into the fest’s app, allowing daters to connect via a geofenced “neighborhood.”

Festivalgoers could snap a photo, answer questions like “what’s your dating dealbreaker?” and then post their pic at the on-site OKCupid tent.

At Coachella in April, Bumble created a snow-filled Winter Bumbleland in the middle of the desert.

Bumble users received an in-app invite, which they could swipe right on to RSVP.

“The Bumble team is both mission- and user-obsessed, focused on developing innovative ways to engage our audience both on and offline,” Maclin says.

Located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, throughout the summer, the “Delta Dating Wall” was a series of painted walls with illustrations of international locations.

The wall was part of Delta’s “New York Is Go” initiative, which celebrates New York travelers.

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.

Other new stations at Wolfgang Puck Catering include a frozen sushi station. The activation displays fresh fish and sushi rolls atop illuminated ice blocks with frozen orchids and other flowers inside.

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.

Toronto catering firm Eatertainment has a new chef action station devoted to salmon gravlax. Salmon is hung from hooks above the station and is sliced to order in front of guests. The raw fish is then chopped and served with root-vegetable crisps, miniature greens, and spiced yogurt.

The Toronto firm is also using bar carts to display food items. One such spread, wheeled to tables at an event, offered snacks such as frittatas, foie gras, sliders, and lobster.

In Chicago, catering firm Limelight has an innovative format for serving fruit skewers. The fruits are inserted into a custom wall with thematic wallpaper design (which varies for different events). Guests approach the wall and pull of a skewer and can dip the fruit in sauces that are arrayed on a nearby table.

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.