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Press
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BizBash-Event Magazine Articles:
Hot Off the Grill
6/05/07
Just in time for corporate summer outings, here's picnic-friendly fare to suit every
taste and budget. Mid-Price: For a cocktail party-meets-picnic feel, Gourmet Gal
can provide seven summery passed hors d’oeuvres, as well as dessert, for $40 per guest. Hot and cold options include
blackened ahi tuna on garlic crostini with lemon aioli, basil, and pea shoots; grilled lamb on pita triangles with tomato
and mint concassé; and grilled zucchini and corn quesadillas with crème fraîche and tomato salsa. Dessert options include
mini fruit tarts, lemon squares, or red-and-white cupcakes. —Lisa Cericola
Weekend Pleasures Inspire WSJ Launch
The Wall Street Journal
launched its Weekend Edition with a party devoted to leisure.
3-22-06
The weekend came early for guests at The Wall Street Journal's launch of its Weekend Edition
at Tribute. Inspired by the newspaper's ad campaign&;with its "Have a Brilliant Weekend" slogan & ;the events team
worked with Jack Morton Worldwide to create a summer-at-the-beach&;or
summer-in-the-Hamptons, for some of its readers, certainly&;theme.
"We wanted to show that Weekend Edition
will demonstrate a different, more relaxed side of The Journal," said Judy Barry, the newspaper& senior vice president
of sales and marketing. "We created a series of environments for our guests to discover as they made their way through the
space, journeying from a Friday night bar to a Saturday afternoon barbecue to a Saturday night dance party to a relaxing Sunday
afternoon at the beach."
The event's floorplan followed that chronology. As the 400 guests arrived, they headed into a cocktail lounge modestly
designated the "Greatest Happy Hour Ever," according to a sign from the Manhattan Neon Sign Corporation hung over the bar.
As music from a baby grand filled the room, guests were offered Gourmet Gal's
hors d'oeuvres, including corn, zucchini, cheddar, and Monterey Jack quesadillas and shrimp, pork, and shiitake mushroom spring
rolls served with a mint and cilantro dipping sauce.
A long hallway led to the Saturday barbecue vignette, where Astroturf covered the floor, a neon sun hung high in the corner,
and the sounds of birds chirping came from overhead. Guests could grab a drink from barrels filled with ice and beer, or putt
at a virtual golf setup. Because open flames aren't permitted at Tribute, Gourmet Gal
compromised with electric stovetops atop of a sheet of Lucite supported by a semicircle of small black Weber grills. The waitstaff
cooked and served mini burgers, pigs in a blanket, and boneless chicken wings from grill pans. The barbecue area opened up
into a Saturday-night club, where the "Brilliantini," a mix of citrus vodka and raspberry liquor, was served.
Finally, a left turn revealed a Sunday beach party. Wooden patio tables and lounge chairs were set up around the room,
and a bar featured beachy drinks like margaritas and piña coladas. Hors d'oeuvres, such as &;Plantain Surf Boards&
(plantains shaped like surfboards, with cayenne salt, jumbo lump crab, and diced farmer's apples), also reflected the relaxed
setting. The event planners decided they didn't want the weekend to end there, though: similar events will be held in 11 more
major cities throughout the fall.
-Jennifer Hoppe
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Movie Screening Has Film-Inspired Food |
The Corporation preview screening
City University of New York, Auditorium C
Tuesday,
06.29.04, 6 PM to 10 PM | |
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When Metropolis and Interface Inc. held a screening of the new film The Corporation at a City University of New York
auditorium, no one was expecting a dramatic event for an academic documentary from Canada. In such a scholarly setting, guests
would have been satisfied with a banal array of ordinary hors d'oeuvres. Instead, Karen Giobbe of Gourmet Gal chose to create five different movie-themed appetizers that fit with the film and Interface's environment-minded
ethos.
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First out of the kitchen was an updated take on Cracker Jacks—organic popcorn
coated with rum, spices and organic pecans, served in paper cones. The cones were presented in spiral-shaped metal stands
and served on white or black lacquer trays decorated with original Cracker Jack boxes. Next, sitting atop tiers of "admit
one" ticket rounds were mini turkey burgers with cheddar cheese in petite brioche buns.
Another tray made of mirrored
glass displayed bite-sized, hormone- and nitrate-free Neiman Ranch pigs in a blanket surrounded by rolls of Kodak film. Servers
also circulated quesadillas layered with fresh corn, zucchini, two cheeses and herbs inside vintage film-reel canisters. And
tiny puff pastries made to resemble cushions on a tray of miniature pink armchairs.
Guests washed down the goodies
with the assortment of organic sodas, and the waiters wore black t-shirts bearing a quote from Interface CEO Ray Anderson
(who was featured in the film): "In the future, people like me will go to jail."
—Anna Sekula | |
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| At Metropolis and Interface Inc.'s screening of the new film The
Corporation, Gourmet Gal served film-inspired fare including pigs in a blanket
surrounded by rolls of Kodak film. |
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| Sitting atop tiers of "admit one" ticket rounds were mini turkey burgers with cheddar cheese in petite brioche
buns. |
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| Tiny puff pastries made to resemble cushions sat on a tray of miniature pink armchairs. |
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| Quesadillas layered with fresh corn, zucchini, two cheeses and herbs were served inside vintage film-reel
canisters. | |
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| Bravo Upfront Serves Up Queer Trays |
Bravo network's upfront presentation
Crobar
Wednesday, 04.07.04, 6:30 PM to 10 PM | |
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The network that launched Queer Eye for the Straight Guy ought to know a thing or
two about entertaining after all the show's advice on design, culture and food. Thomas Nolan, a marketing
exec for Bravo's parent company, NBC, put the knowledge to use when he
oversaw the planning of an upfront party at Crobar showcasing the network's fall programming for media buyers.
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Before settling in to watch the presentation on Broadway Famous Party Rentals' primary-colored chairs, guests sampled passed hors d'oeuvres from ModelBartenders.com's staff, outfitted in black Bravo-branded T-shirts. The network's marquis shows—including Celebrity
Poker Showdown, Blow Out, The West Wing
and, of course, Queer Eye—inspired Premier Party Servers' trays. Strange but true: Executive chef Karen Giobbe poked beef and chicken skewers into styrofoam mannequin heads to look like hair extensions, evoking Queer Eye
and the coveted advice of grooming guru Kyan Douglas. Pink and orange curlers glued atop round mirrors made
for trays promoting Blow Out, the new reality show set in a hair salon.
Although the event showcased fall
programming, Steven Bruce Design's flower arrangements showcased spring. The arrangements included hyacinths, tulips and Easter lilies. In Crobar's Prop Room
room, color-changing light-up vases added sparkle to the bright bunches and red-lit Bravo signage.
—Alesandra Dubin
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| For Bravo's upfront presentation at Crobar, Premiere Party Servers
created quirky, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy-inspired serving trays. |
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| Broadway Famous Party Rentals supplied chairs in alternating primary colors. |
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| Steven Bruce Design's spring flower arrangements included hyacinths, tulips and Easter lilies. |
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| Red-lit Bravo signage branded the Prop Room at Crobar. | |
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| Esquire Hosts Reel Event |
Esquire's Celluloid Style film screening
Quo
Thursday, 09.23.04, 7 PM to 10 PM
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Esquire magazine took time last week to celebrate stories printed not in its own
pages, but on film. At a screening party at Quo, the magazine announced the East Coast winner of its first-ever Celluloid Style film competition.
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The competition asked indie filmmakers to create five-minute short films based on one of six Esquire
articles. Dan Elortegui, a graduate of New York University, was the East Coast winner. (A
sister event at the Esquire House in Los Angeles—a showhouse filled with designer furnishings from
companies like Calvin Klein Home and Armani Casa, similar to last year's Esquire Apartment in Trump Tower—is scheduled for October to announce the West Coast winner.)
Esquire art director Justin Durongsaeng
set the tone of the event early, sending clever invitations that were printed on clear plastic that was cut to look like pieces
of film.
Julie Gotz, Esquire's merchandising manager, produced the event, giving the nightclub
Quo a "movie night" theme by decorating tables with big boxes of theater-style candy like Junior Mints, Dots,
Twizzlers, and Hot Tamales, and bringing in a popcorn machine from New York Fun
Factory.
Popcorn was served in bags with the Celluloid Style logo that were specially designed by Esquire
graphic designer Haley Herzing and produced by Axis Promotions.
In the screening room, banquettes were dotted with another Herzing-Axis creation: bright orange throw pillows
with the Celluloid Style logo silk-screened on them.
The movie night theme was continued with caterer Gourmet Gal's menu. Mini burgers filled with herbs and Canadian cheddar on brioche buns were presented on tiers of orange ticket
rounds. Three-layer "Corny Movie" quesadillas of fresh corn, zucchini, two cheeses, and herbs were served on tin film reel
canisters. And potato and caramelized onion puff pastries were nestled in miniature pink movie theater seats attached to a
tray in rows. (The food was similar to what the caterer served at the Corporation screening a few months ago.)
One enthusiastic caterwaiter—and probable aspiring actor—pulled film from his tray
and draped it around his neck. That's one way of getting into film.
—Erika Rasmusson Janes | |
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| At Esquire magazine's Celluloid Style film competition screening, orange pillows with
the event logo were placed throughout Quo. |
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| Quo's lounge atmosphere was accented with movie theater-style boxes of candy like Junior
Mints and Hot Tamales. |
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| Signage was placed in Quo's entryway, which was filled with neon and palm trees. |
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| Caterer Gourmet Gal's menu included mini burgers filled with herbs and Canadian cheddar on
brioche buns presented on tiers of orange ticket rounds. | |
*Gourmet Gal*
Designing Fresh Food to Your Taste!
(212) 995-2238
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