Taste Makers

Mix Up the Menu

Appetizers have long been the preamble to a great meal; now, in catered events, they are the great meal. “One trend I am seeing is this desire for heavy hors d’oeuvres,” says Rick Anderson, vice president of France 44, a wine store and gourmet deli in Minneapolis. “[Event planners] don’t want to do heavy sit-down meals. But on the other hand, if you just serve cheese and crackers, it’s not substantial.”

You need not worry about how to gracefully eat buffalo wings and mozzarella sticks in front of colleagues; these heavy hors d’oeuvre events feature out-of-the ordinary, sophisticated selections. One item that France 44 offers in its catered events is artisan cheeses, which usually include five or six different kinds, from stilton and taleggio to manchego and morbier.

“We do a lot of cheese trays, but they’re not your typical cubed kind,” Anderson says. “We put them in their original form with knives to cut them. You can offer several options that are familiar, and some that are exotic, and that’s the key to having something for everyone.”

France 44 is one of many caterers that are turning to ethnic or diverse dining. Events at the Walker Art Center, catered by Wolfgang Puck Catering, include such menu items as roasted Cantonese duck and miso-sake glazed butterfish. “It’s all Asian fusion,” says Executive Chef Scott Irestone. People are looking for something unexpected. “[Something like] Shanghai lobster in coconut curry sauce is kind of off people’s radars,” he says.

Katie Grace, director of catering at Grand Hotel Minneapolis, sees a similar trend with her clientele. “I have one client that does a lunch each month, so we are exploring menus with an ethnic flair such as Indian, Mediterranean, and Asian cuisine.” Some dishes that the Grand Hotel chefs have experimented with include lamb kabobs with lime and garlic and vegetarian dal makhani.

The diversity theme often carries over into the beverage menu. “With the increasing popularity of specialty drinks, many events are planned around a signature cocktail,” Grace adds. “Mojitos, for example, can be the base for an entire Cuban-themed event.”