Nothing can make or break a program like the food. The setting may be perfect, but if the cuisine is less than spectacular, so is the event. As home to the world entertainment industry, LA’s event caterers lead the way in what’s hot and what’s not in event and convention catering. According to LA’s top catering professionals, while delegates want to be wowed with innovative fare, they’re also demanding it be healthy and sustainable.
“People are being more up-front about their dietary needs,” said Scott Tesler, owner of Silver Spoons Catering, Inc., a Tarzana-based firm serving top corporate clients and the caterer for the UCLA Alumni Department. “Clients want to keep it light – in calories and the amount of food. For corporate luncheons – and even dinners -- spa cuisine and Mediterranean-style salads are very trendy,” he said. “Serve fresh fruits, a salad with cucumbers and tomatoes, dressed in a honey vinaigrette; or a Chinese chicken salad – hold the mayo -- and a light dessert, and you’re a hero.” What’s Tesler’s idea of a “light” dessert? His top requests include a single fresh-baked, over-sized, non-dairy marble-almond cookie, a lemon bar or a chocolate brownie. Eating lighter is not only healthier, he added, “It’s cost-efficient, because I’m working with less – fewer staff to prepare and no heavy equipment.”
“Exotic dishes – Indian, Thai, Vietnamese – are in vogue for large gatherings,” said Duane Gornicki, general manager for food services at the Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC). Sit-down dinners are passé for opening and closing programs, he continued, in favor of receptions, with heavy hors d’ horves, interactively passed by wait staff, and action-stations, with chefs dishing up oriental chicken salads or pot stickers searing on the griddle. “Clients want unique and creative fare,” added Bill Matthews, assistant general manager for food services at the LACC. For example, “we’re serving tuna tartar on a cedar plank, garnished with popcorn kernel sprouts; and using unexpected sauces, such as drizzling herb-infused balsamic syrup over lamb.” Sustainability is another big trend, said Matthews. “Groups want and expect us to use local food producers, which we do.” For the recent GRAMMY Music Cares benefit dinner for 3,000, Matthews incorporated the names of all the local food vendors into the menu.
Gornicki agrees that clients are more upfront about their health concerns. “In the past, out of a group of 6,000, we’d have requests for 100 special meals. Now it’s up to 450 special requests.” Gone are the days of rubber chicken. “If it is chicken – we use free range chicken breast, with baby veggies,” said Gornicki.
All agree that today’s clients are more sophisticated and knowledgeable about food. At Dodger Stadium, where clients prefer the casual fun of comfort food at private and pre-game events – it has to be “vamped up comfort food,” said Kelly Chong, senior sales and marketing manager for Levy Restaurants at Dodger Stadium. Buffets are the current trend, she said, with do-it-yourself stations, such as a mac-and-cheese bar or sandwich bar, where clients customize their mains with a variety of toppings and sides from caramelized onions to pulled pork and chicken. They even have a make-your-own Bloody Mary bar – go Dodgers!
Barbara Beckley is a long-time Los Angeles-based journalist, covering business, lifestyle and travel in Los Angeles and around the world for a variety of newspapers, magazines, websites and guide books.
