This week's roundup includes Cronut creator Dominique Ansel's new dessert—chocolate chip cookie milk shots—at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, plus a bidding experience that let guests have a 10-minute dinner for $1,000 in Chicago, starry lighting at the Cosmos premiere in Los Angeles, and parasols as event decor in Miami.
At Allison&Partners’ Late Night Saloon at South by Southwest, Dominique Ansel debuted his latest creation: the chocolate chip cookie milk shot. The New York-based pastry chef brought along his famed Cronuts, too.
To promote its new show The Strain—and offer guests respite from the crowds—FX brought nap pods to its so-called "Transformation Station" at the Austin festival. Available by appointment, the pods were outfitted with pillows, sheets, and a tablet to watch previews of the program.
Using 3-D technology, Oreo set up a vending machine at South by Southwest that customized Oreo cookies, including the color and patterns of the cream, based on Twitter trends and consumers’ preferences. There was also a milk bar with a variety of flavors.
Redmoon Theater hosted its annual Spectacle Lunatique gala at its Pilsen warehouse space in Chicago Saturday night. On the main floor, a series of "give and get" experiences treated guests to various activities after paying for the opportunity via BidPal. One experience, given to guests who bid $1,000 (including Mayor Rahm Emanuel, pictured), was a 10-minute dinner prepared by Schwa chef Michael Carlson. Along with the rapid meal, bidders were treated to a private opera performance and champagne service from the theater's champagne chandelier.
For another "give and get" experience, a trained remote-control pilot from Horizon Hobby loaded a "pastry drone" with a tray of sweets from the French Pasty School and West Town Bakery. He launched the drone from the second floor of the space, and patrons waited below.
For Fox's premiere of its new show Cosmos, the network's creative services team produced an event in a transformed parking lot in Los Angeles's Griffith Park. In a Classic tent set as a screening room for the show's first episode, Kinetic Lighting created a cosmos-like look with full LED star draping.
A black-and-white party idea: At a Todd Events-designed October 2013 event at the Rachofsky House in Dallas, tables were decked with striped linens and glassware that reflected the theme. The event's menu items also reflected the black-and-white motif.
For the recent event, producer YourBash gave Fig & Olive in Los Angeles a subtle decorative touch: custom wallpaper that included small versions of the show's logo.
At the Little Lighthouse Foundation's event in Miami, white parasols placed around fountains at Terra Veritatis provided decor and were available for guests to carry throughout the night.
Here's a clever idea for a black-and-white centerpiece: At a 2009 arts fund-raiser in Miami, miniature working pianos were used as centerpieces in the dining room.
