As you've seen over the past couple days this event was quite the production with each and every detail. Not one was overlooked, everything had to be perfect.
One extremely important aspect was the food and beverage portion. Our absolutely amazing caterer was Joe Melillo, Executive Chef and owner, of Epicurean Events. Joe was a rockstar from start to finish with this event and it was such a pleasure to work with him.
Together, Joe and I worked vigorously to create something innovative, delicious and unique. I really wanted every aspect of this event to be memorable and give guests an experience where they left wanting more. In addition, branding for a corporate event, especially an anniversary gala was crucial. Joe executed my vision beyond words and guests loved the culinary experience he provided for them.
The style of service we designed for this large of a crowd included both heavy hor d'oeuvres, stations and a bite-size dessert buffet which I'll break down more later in this post. Our hor d'oeuvres all had a gorgeous presentation and a little american flare. As guests entered they were greeted with Honeydew and Ginger Pear juice shooters with a Cardamom Cream to compliment our Green and White concept. Tray passed items included:
Grilled Herbed BBQ Chicken Flatbread Pizza with Corn Relish and Fresh Cilantro
Cool Mississippi Shrimp Cocktail with a Red Pepper Chutney
Deep Fried White Truffle Cheddar Mac & Cheese Bites
Tender Braised Brisket Sandwich on a Salted Pretzel Roll
Mango Crab Salad in Philo Cups
Petit Grilled Vegetable & Pepper Jack Napoleons with Roasted Yellow Pepper Couli
Batter Dipped Sweet Potato Fries with Curried Maytag Blue Dip
Poached Tarragon Chicken on Mini Corn Cakes
Cool Mississippi Shrimp Cocktail with a Red Pepper Chutney
Deep Fried White Truffle Cheddar Mac & Cheese Bites
Tender Braised Brisket Sandwich on a Salted Pretzel Roll
Mango Crab Salad in Philo Cups
Petit Grilled Vegetable & Pepper Jack Napoleons with Roasted Yellow Pepper Couli
Batter Dipped Sweet Potato Fries with Curried Maytag Blue Dip
Poached Tarragon Chicken on Mini Corn Cakes
Here you can see the Cool Mississippi Shrimp Cocktail and the Poached Tarragon Chicken on Mini Corn Cakes.
There were a total of 5 buffet stations throughout the event. Each one was duplicated 4 times to give us a total of 20 stations. All the buffets featured 4-6 tasty items with unique flavor combination's.
My personal favorites were the Imported Quarto Formaggio and Spinach Lasagna Roulades, Napoleon's Seafood Ceviche in Mini Martini Glasses, the Mini Beef Barbacoa Tostada Salads, the entire Gourmet Carving Station "Hollywood Style" and of course the Create-a-Crepe Station. Everything really was incredible and it was so great to watch as each of the guest's wondered from station to station experiencing the assortment of cuisines. Check out this amazing display!
Guests had so much fun at the carving stations, building their own beef and turkey gourmet sandwiches.
In addition to the fabulously catered menu, we also worked with Leslie Maynor of Fantasy Frostings, the best cake and dessert buffet designer around, to come up with a stunning green and white themed bite-size dessert buffet. Leslie went above and beyond testing various flavor combination's for weeks to come up with this top-tier menu. Guests were able to feast off of the following...
Red velvet, Chocolate and Vanilla Mini CupcakesCream Puffs with Green & White Chocolate Drizzle
Kiwi Tarts
Mini Key Lime Pies
Lime Meringue Kisses
Green Tea Citrus and Vanilla Crème Shooters
Chocolate Cake Pops with Mint Chocolate Coating
White Almond Cake Pops with White Coating
Green Apple Spice Cake Pops with Green Apple Coating
Coconut macaroons
Sugar Cookies with Green Sugar
Vanilla Sweetie Pies with Honeydew Buttercream and Vanilla Buttercream
French Macaroons with Madagascar Vanilla and Pistachio
With every great menu and delightful dessert a refreshing cocktail or coffee beverage is more than necessary. Thanks to Aaron Knapp of Bar One Beverage Catering and his 30 bartenders our bars were flowing all night long.
In addition we had Ken and Julie of the ever so wonderful Cappuccino Connection brewing hot gourmet coffee drinks as well.
All in all the food and beverage for Herbalife's Green and White Gala was impeccable in every way it could be and so much more. We hope you enjoyed learning about the amazing menus and also hope we didn't make you too hungry.
All photography documented by the amazing Brian and Allie Callaway of Callaway Gable Photography.
Check back tomorrow when we highlight the decor for this gala affair.
What a fun night we had, Alex! We love doing your events because everything is organized so well. You make our job so much easier. This was such a huge and incredible event, it could have been a nightmare. But, as usual your team was so well prepared. It's our pleasure to be where ever you need us!
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