Whether you're searching for menu ideas to serve at company picnics and other summer corporate events—or you're already looking ahead to fall galas and benefits—here's a look at Orlando caterers' latest food offerings for seated dinners, cocktail parties, and other kinds of events.
At the DigitalNow conference at Disney's Contemporary Resort in April, attendees were treated to French macarons dipped in teacups filled with green tea rice pudding and hibiscus cream.
Photo: Mitra Sorrells for BizBash
The Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center's catering department is now offering Tuscan-style chicken breast seasoned with Italian herbs and served with artichoke, fennel, tomatoes, kalamata olives, and pomodoro sauce.
Photo: Courtesy of The Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center
Now being served on catering menus at Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld is a compressed local watermelon salad with heirloom tomatoes, basil, baby arugula, feta, and a cayenne vinaigrette.
Photo: Courtesy of Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld
Chef Ralph Rendsland of Three2Oh Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Systems, has launched his custom dessert trailer, Ice Cream Social Club. The trailer, designed to look like an old-fashioned ice cream parlor, is equipped to make custom ice creams, gelatos and sorbets on site with a nitrogen tank and induction cooking systems. The menu includes Bananas Foster, Cherries Jubilee, root beer floats and homemade ice cream sandwiches.
Photo: Courtesy of Ice Cream Social Club
The Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Hotel's newest themed banquet beverage station is the "Moonshine Station." The setup has a Southern feel, with drinks like the Cosmoshine (a mix of cranberry juice, triple sex, lime and moonshine) and the Cherry Coke (a mix of cherry-flavored moonshine, cola, ice and fresh cherries). Additional flavors include the Melonshine, Apple Pieshine, Rise & Shine, Palmer Moon Tea, and the Moonshine Mojito.
Photo: Courtesy of Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Hotel
For dessert at the recent Give Kids the World gala, the Peabody Orlando served a handcrafted chocolate "crate" filled with layers of chocolate mousse and Arabica coffee crème brûlée, accompanied by a wild cherry praline wafer and almond cookie "fossils" sitting in pistachio dust. The dessert was presented on a plate with a hand-screened image of a dinosaur, along with a chocolate rope, edible stamps, and a chocolate dusting brush.
Photo: Courtesy of the Peabody Orlando
One of the Peabody Orlando's newest hors d'oeuvres is a chicken salad canapé with crushed smoked almonds and tarragon mousse.
Photo: Adam B. Sheikh
The Ritz-Carlton Orlando and JW Marriott Orlando, sister properties located at Grande Lakes, are offering a new concept for clients looking to host a large banquet function: outdoor events reminiscent of food-truck bazaars. The rented trucks serve as decor elements, and provide a facility for catering staff to finish and plate the food, which is all prepared in the hotels' main kitchens. Planners can help choose the trucks' names to reflect the food being served, for example, or to incorporate the name of an employee.
Photo: Courtesy of Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes
As guests continue to focus on healthier choices, the special events and catering department at Walt Disney World Resorts reports that they are monitoring and reducing portion size. One example of their new bite-size dishes is the smoked copper river salmon, beluga caviar and caramelized onion foam cones.
Photo: Courtesy of Walt Disney World Parks & Resorts
Walt Disney World Resorts has also been using Anti-Griddles to create flash-frozen tropical yogurt pops with Pop Rocks.
Photo: Courtesy of Walt Disney World Parks & Resorts
