Food Trends Flavour Event Menus BACK

Take a seat at today’s gala dining tables or sample the passed canapés to quickly realize that the industry’s move to experiential marketing is also embracing the event menu.

TSEvents XS asked five food and beverage gurus to share their thoughts and ideas on the event industry’s reigning food trends:

Local, fresh, natural and organic

The industry’s greening efforts combined with consumers’ quest for healthy living equals a growing focus on sustainable ingredients and smart menu choices, according to Jayne Dunsmore, Jayne’s Gourmet Catering, www.jaynesgourmet.com.

With that in mind, event menus are cooking up:

• Locavore delights: Source local in season, make it organic where budgets allow and choose sustainable foods such as fish that continue to fill our waters with plenty.
  
• Global adventure: Guests welcome the chance to explore the world at the dining table, trying unique foods such as kangaroo, barramundi and acai, the new antioxidant super fruit from Brazil.
  
• Unique combos: Atypical ingredient pairings escalate flavours and presentations such as blueberries and fish, or chocolate and steak.
  
• A new take on presentation: The eat light, less and healthy approach is easily delivered in fun serving vessels that regulate portion sizes including soup in shooter glasses and tasty bites on dim sum spoons.
  
• Smart water choices: Be wary of bottled water backlash. If bottles are a must, ensure recycling option is prominent. Change up the traditional water pitcher service with funky ideas such as a tabletop water fountain guests can interact with.
  
• Food stories: Guests want to know where ingredients come from, including names of specialized producers, food history, cultivation and health benefits. Include details in menus or script wait staff to speak to each course.

Food as interactive entertainment

The International Centre’s Executive Chef Joe Levesque and Food & Beverage Director Trevor Lui, www.internationalcentre.com, say stylish sit-down dinners are always in vogue, however, stand up receptions with unique food stations are flourishing as planners recognize the format meets both guests’ networking objectives and event budgeting bottom lines.

This includes:

• Culinary action: Highlight niche ingredients in a novel food station presentation reserving some frontline preparation action starring chef and voila! On a roll are sushi and ceviche tables and Peking duck stations. Our favourite: a live salad bar where guests clip micro greens from fresh-from-the-farm seedling beds and pass the plate for toppings.

 

• Trio Twist: It’s interaction on the plate as one main ingredient is stylishly executed three different ways for decadent bites on a deliciously small scale. Ideal for desserts!
• Educational tastings: Wine and scotch tastings make room for tutored tipplings of tequila (high-end sippers not shooters!) and a growing range of unique sakes.
• Spotlight on Asia: Fresh tastes and colourful ingredients are found in cuisine pulled from around the Pacific Rim especially Thailand, Vietnam, Japan and Malaysia. Watch Chinese food come on strong as we close in on the Beijing Olympics.

Gastronomy founded in simple basics

Small plates, exotic new flavours and attention to elegant simplicity on the plate are making the culinary grade for events today, says David D’Aprile of 10tation Event Catering, www.10tation.com

Ideas and trends to pay attention to are:

• Charcuterie Plates: Tapas launched the popularity of small tasting plates with charcuterie now stepping up the offering with a wide assortment of artfully cured meats including Serrano ham and smoked sausage.
• Hello India: Curry and garam masala spice up our worldly food wanderings via a love-in with Indian cuisine that’s been gaining speed ever since naan bread and Indian butter chicken hit mainstream grocery store shelves.

 

• Game play: Bison and venison are seeing more event menu action for not only their exotic appeal but also because they offer healthy, lean alternatives to beef. 
• Switching up courses:  Adding a cheese tasting course to the dinner menu, or even as a dessert replacement, is happening more and more. Serving the salad course as a refresher after the main entrée is also drawing applause.
• Keep it simple: Bye bye intricate towers and overloaded garnishes: clean lines and thoughtful food plating now deliver the eye candy when paired with shapely serving dishes.

Knowledgeable beverage approach a must

Sandi Marques of Cork and Karma, www.corkandkarma.com, notes that today’s wine-savvy guests expect quality, choice and education delivered with their bottle of vinho.

• Wine Watch: Quick, look to Uruguay (what Chile was 10 years ago) and Lebanon for affordable, good quality wines. Use the eat/drink local movement to further discover Ontario producers, especially boutique wineries.
• Entertaining grapes: The proliferation of “celebrity wines,” including Dan Aykroyd, Mike Weir, Wayne Gretzky, even Madonna, makes way for fun tastings (Which “star” are your tastes most like?) and themed event matchings (Mike Weir’s wines at a golf tourney dinner).
• Variety A Must: Having only a house red and white is done. Wine offerings at both bar and table need to be plentiful and properly presented: “Would you prefer a medium-bodied Australian merlot, or a robust, earthy French cabernet with your dinner?”