Catering in the Snow

For years we have been good friends with Rich Babcheck, the originator and owner of NYPG - the New York Production Guide - and hence advertise in the guide. While we are not primarily production caterers - having a 27 foot mobile kitchen and over 50 years of catering experience between myself and Chef Andrew, when the opportunity is right, we follow the clients call to action. Being in the guide means we often get calls - most of them I refer to another production caterer I know - but sometimes it just fits in with what we are doing and it's fun.

This week we had two production jobs - both of which were fairly last minute (as is typical in production catering) one was a behind the scenes catering for a big fashion week event - we catered for the production crew who setup, ran the lighting and audio and broke down the main event, a fashion awards show in conjunction with Mercedes Fashion Week here in NYC. Our client, who we have worked with many times before likes to treat his crew to over the top good food so when he has to push them a bit harder there are few complaints.

The upmarket box lunches consisted of


Crunchy Smokin’ Rosemary & Potato
Crusted Chicken Tenders
- Citrus BBQ Dip

with sides of :
…Greek Minted Tortellini Salad
with Tricolored Peppers, Dolmatis,
Red Onion, Feta and Olives

…Thai Broccoli Salad
with Honey Glazed Peanuts
& Water chestnuts

…Baby Spinach, Romaine & Carrot
Buttermilk Dijon Dill Ranch

…Bag of All Natural Veggie Chips

Desserts
…Assorted Housemade Meringues,
Individual Fudgy Brownies Cakes
and Chocolate Dipped
Apricots and Dried Kiwis



for the vegetarians and vegans
the alternative main course
was

Smoked Tofu
with Edame Beans and Greens
with all of the rest of the sides


Packaging was important as they had
to be able to have a self contained meal
and eat without having to sit down at a table.

Each meal was in an oversized black plastic microwavable
container with snap on clear lid and what ever
was not appropriate or didn't fit in the box was in seperate clear plastic containers with snap on lids and it was all packaged in large grocery sized paper sacks (trying to be green where ever we possibly could

there was too much food of course - nearly 2 pounds per person- to keep the physically active crew reved up and ready to work without too much carbs either. And for the variety to please all palates.


Dinner was a bit more elegant but still bountiful and easy to eat

Main Course options were

(1)Grilled Filet Mignon Steak
side of Fire Roasted Tomato Pesto
over Field Greens side of Honey Balsamic

(2)Wild Alaskan Salmon with Teriyaki Glaze
over Field Greens side of Sesame Ginger Dressing

(3) Grilled Citrus Herb Chicken Breast
side, walnut pesto
over Field Greens side of Lemon Citrus Vinaigrette

and the vegetarian choice: (and my favorite)
(4) Sinfully Stuffed Portebello Mushroom Cap
with Pepato Provolone, Pinenuts,
Roasted Potato, Currants, Olives, & more
over Field Greens side of Honey Balsamic

all meals were accompanied by
...Marinated Fresh Mozzarella, Tomato & Fresh Basil
...Asparagus Bundles with Lemon Zest
Herbs, Garlic & EVOO wrapped in carrot curls
...Parisian Roasted Potato & Artichoke (no mayo)
...Moroccan Carrots with Fresh Cilantro & Chickpeas
...Sesame Seeded Tomcat Buttery Brioche Roll
...Seedless Green Grapes & Blueberries
...European Chocolate Petit Four Candies
...Raspberry Shortbreads
...Iced and Spiced Orange Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

This crew is always happy to see us - they even
remembered some of the great food from last years big event.

Our other production catering job was over the weekend - a three day gig at
the Douglas House
in Orangeburg New York, about 20 minutes from the GW Bridge.

www.thedouglashouse.com


It's a gorgeous 8 acre setting in a victorian house used to shoot movies, commercials and videos. We were set up in the sunroom

http://www.thedouglashouse.com/sunroom.html



- with beautiful views onto the property. and it was especially pretty when a sudden snow flurry hit on Sunday around lunch time. We all ahhed - until we had to go out the our mobile kitchen to get the food to setup - but as fast as it came, it went and the rest of the day was actually quite lovely and sunny.

Their menu wasn't as fancy but still full of healthy and delicious choices
variety is always the key as so many people cann't or won't eat certain foods.


Nickelodeon Commercial,
Film Shoot The Douglas House Orangeburg NY February 8,
Breakfast

Friday: ready to serve by 9:15 - serving 9:30 – 10:30
Hot food: Cream Cheesey Scrambled eggs,
sides of Bacon

Saturday: ready to serve by 9:15 - serving 9:30 – 10:30
Hot Food: Hot Frittatta with Roasted Peppers, Garlic Potato and Pepato Cheese

Sunday: ready to serve by 9:15 - serving 9:30 – 10:30
Hot Food: Banana Blueberry Pancakes
sides of Bacon

Plus Assorted breakfast breads including muffins, bagels, etc cream cheese, butter
Fresh Fruit Display – oranges, apples, sliced melon or sliced pineapple
OJ
Freshly Brewed Coffee and Assorted Teas
Soy Milk
(French Vanilla milk)
Regular, Skim and Half and Half
Sugar, Sweet n Low and Honey

Lunch
Friday: ready to serve by 1:30 – could change
Mama’s Meatloaf
Cous Cous with Smoked Tofu, Edame Beans, and Fresh Cilantro
Chipotle Sweet Potato Bake
Thai Broccoli Salad with Waterchestnuts and Mandarin Oranges
Caesar Salad – Housemade Dressing & Foccacia Croutons
Chocolate Chocolate Fudge Cake
Assorted beverages

Saturday: ready to serve by 1:30 – could change
Orange BBQ Glazed Boneless Chicken
Mama’s Four Cheese Macaroni Bake
Roasted Potato Salad with Artichokes, Haricot Vert and Dijon Dressing
Julienne of Carrot and Zucchini with Black Sesame Seeds
Spinach and Watercress Salad with Roasted Peppers.
Hot Apple and Pear Crumble
Assorted beverages

Sunday: ready to serve by 1:30 – could change
Teriyaki Grilled Salmon
Grilled Chicken with Pesto Walnut Glaze
Kale and White Beans Provencal
Brown Rice Pilaf
Moroccan Carrot and Chickpea Salad
Greek Salad with Cucumbers, Peppers and Dolmatis – Oregano Vinaigrette
Fresh Fruit Tartlets
Assorted beverages

Craft Service: after lunch until 5/5:15
pack up around 5 and leave by 5:30
Besides coffee, tea, water and sodas daily after lunch
Over the 3 days there will be a variety of craft service items such as:
Selections will vary daily

Assorted Cookies and Bars
Assorted Chips and Pretzels
Twizzlers
Assorted Chocolates and Candy

Crudite of Fresh Veggies
Fresh Fruit – Pineapple, Oranges, Apples, Pears, Melon, Etc
Assorted Breads and Spreads
Hummous
Baba Ganoush
Peanut Butter & Jelly
Olive Tapenade
Dolmatis
Fresh Carrot/Apple Juice made on site
Cheeses such as :
Rondele Cheese Torta with Sundried Tomato,
Brie, Cheddar and Pepato Cheese

My friend Fiddy: Wrapping it up for the Rappers

a few summers ago CuisinEtc did an interesting last minute catering gig for the rapper "50 cent" --- now if you are like me you are going who but just ask any kid and they will tell you big gangsta rapper.

When the production company called to ask if we could do breakfast and lunch the next day, for what I heard as 50 cents (not fiddy cent) I told them they were insane, that they were beyond cheap - they quietly corrected me and said, no it's for the artist "fifty cent" to which I hastly replied ohhh. still not knowing who he was ,but at least having the business accumen to know that the budget was more realistic....

Anyway, it was a very last minute catering job - the call came in on Saturday afternoon on my cell phone "can you do a 2 day rap video production catering job - day one 50 guests for breakfast & lunch, day two 150 for breakfast and 300 for lunch"??? and snacks and sodas all day long for everyone.

They booked it at around 5 pm which gave us just 45 minutes of shop time at the wholesaler - snacks, sodas (what they call craft service) threw together a menu by brainstorming while Andrew was driving and the client didn't even request a copy - just the gist of what we might serve (depending on availability) worked through the night, called in the crew, and showed up in Jersey City (an 1.5 hour drive with the slow but steady 27 foot mobile catering kitchen) at 6:30 am ready to ROCK and ROLL or was that rock and wrap??? basically kept cooking, serving, shopping, cooking, serving for the next 48 hours. Fortunately our experience with years of corporate catering allowed us to pull together jobs with little or no notice.

The dinner service for the 300-400 on Monday at the Limelight started at 3:00 pm and ran almost continuously until after 7:30 - with people coming through the line as they were finished on set (as the director "broke" them). I still didn't recognize our boy and had him waiting impatiently while we replenished the buffet line, joking that he would just have to be patient - even though he let me know he was really hungry. Just because it's important to be polite and kind to all guests, even though I didn't know who he was, I was polite and used humor to get me through a long day. Later I let him know that I didn't know who he was, and I hoped that he was OK with my silly joking. He was shocked that I really didn't know who he was, but when I put it off as being a stupid "old lady/music ignoramous" his reply gave me hope and offered respect. He just said, that I wasn't stupid, that it just wasn't part of my world. Glad to see that fame hadn't gone to his head to the extent that he couldn't imagine not being part of everyones world - because in reality - he is that famous.

back to the food.

For the big group we served jerk and roasted chicken, bbq kielbasa, basmati rice, big mamas spicy mac & cheese, mixed green salad, potato salad ,watermelon, and carrot cake. Not exactly our usual innovative catering, but it was good home cooked fresh food and

they loved it, especially the mac and cheese and the kielbasa, although next time I would make sure not to have any pork products because we got some flak about it (though we also got raves)

the food was simple but good, what started out as a low budget job ended up costing them almost double as they kept adding things and guest count increased. Got to love this business, never boring. I got to sit and talk to 50 Cent last night - he was very sweet and humble- not quite the image he portrays on screen...

Only in America folks, only in America...