Behind The Scenes: 3 Days, 13 Guests and 13 Dishes in 3 hours
Irene Khin Wong
One might think that a small party would be less work than a large one, but the required amount of preparation is similar, whether there are 13 guests or 130. A recent event was a party for an executive of a world-famous high-fashion brand, 13 guests only, and many tasting dishes were selected. So, needless to say, we planned and executed this complex meal to suit clients with exceptional taste.
Packing the right ware at our studio
Menu planning and selection is a priority, as well as choosing exotic drinks to match. This is done in collaboration with the clients by email and phone and involves a lot of work to get things just right. Choose the right color napkins for the silverware. Create bite-size Asian snacks. Figure out the main courses, which in this case included Charred Argentinian Steak Chimicurri (with Korean Red Paste) and Pan-Seared Fatty Black Cod glazed with miso tamari, always a huge hit.
When the menu is finalized, one of our crew pays a visit to the site; evaluating the kitchen and facilities is necessary so that we can prepare a schematic to help us execute the dinner in a timely fashion. Then we begin our foraging phase, heading to the greenmarket and our rooftop garden for hand-picked fresh sprigs of holy basil and ripened Roma tomatoes for roasting. Lines of communication are opened with our purveyors, using our 10-year strong relationships to garner the freshest seafood, be it Louisiana shrimp or Maine lobsters.
After three days of non-stop work, the party went off without a hitch.
