Sunday, June 19, 2011

We heart the Salt Lake Art Center

 We like to think of Salt Lake as a big small town. It's got great big city perks but a liveability and a tight knit feel more fitting of a place with a far smaller population than the Wasatch front.  One of our favorite big city amenities is the Salt Lake Art Center.  This local organization has been bringing cutting edge art exhibitions to Salt Lake City for more years than we can count.  The Art Center is nestled right downtown on West Temple next to Symphony Hall. Their space is gorgeous and going there can do a pretty convincing job of making you feel like you are gallery strolling in NYC's Chelsea or some other hip locale.  The Art Center has been one of our favorite clients for many years.  We've been lucky enough to work with them on creating memorable and delicious annual galas since 2005.  We always appreciate their willingness to get out of the box and let us play with creative display concepts and menus that will wow the crowd and make their phenomenal gallery space pop.   This party was traditionally a sit down, black tie affair and one of our biggest annual organizational and food feats to pull off. We've come to love the challenge and putting our Blended Table stamp on this gig.
The Art Center gala draws a distinguished and fun loving crowd and we like to think our food, wine, and creative gusto play a big part in helping people enjoy the event.   We thought it would be fun to highlight some of our past concepts from the last few years and watch how we've evolved with the needs and changing themes of one of our best clients.  It's pretty apparent that the space completely transforms each year, right?   
This year was a fun departure in that the event was predominantly staged in a large outdoor tent.  It felt light, airy, and completely summery; perfect for the first true warm summery night we've had all season.  The two sided buffet area was the focal point of the tent, both because the food looked so gorgeous and colorful, and because of the eye-popping coral branch installation suspended above it.  The branches made quite a statement and only snagged a few coiffed hair dos!   And in case you can't take your eyes off those enormous and gorgeous coral flowers in many of this years shots, they are peonies, the queen mother of all flowers in our opinion, flown in and timed just right to be in all their glory for this one special night.  Aren't they phenomenal? Thanks to our shop-mate and favorite floral design company, Decoration, for making that kind of floral perfection happen on a regular basis.  No matter how great the art, it's hard to top mother nature and a good dose of delicious food...
Until next year, Salt Lake Art Center!




Wednesday, June 1, 2011

A is for asparagus, B is for Bliss

One of the best aspects of the catering business is that every event we do is different because every client, every location, every reason for celebrating is unique.  It's addictive, this unlimited variation, and it's what has kept the work we do interesting, and above all, entertaining over the years.  

Of course we think all of the parties we help create are great, but every once in awhile conditions conspire to turn a party into a truly special event. We were pleased to help craft one of these this past  weekend. Part reunion and part birthday party, former University of Utah Architecture Department faculty arranged for a surprise celebration in honor of Bob Bliss, who was Dean of the Graduate school of Architecture at the U for many years.   Bob was turning 90 and this occasion was a chance for former faculty to honor Bob, his friendship, professional legacy, and the way he influenced their careers.   People had flown in from across the US to attend the event and spirits were high-lots of hugs and hand shakes, cheek kissing, and clinking of glasses.  And when a very spry looking 90 year old walks through the door and gives a hearty fist pump in response to the surprise, you know the night is already a success.
We believe good parties are born from a sense of shared connection and celebration and this party had that in spades. It was moving to watch people relive old memories and embrace after 40 years and even more so to hear about the ways one person can play such a pivotal role in a room full of people's lives.  But let's not forget that a  party would just be a gathering without great food and drink! It is always amazing to see the way good food enlivens a crowd, and after sitting attentively for 15 toasts to Bob, this audience was definitely ready for a good meal.  The spread was healthy, fresh, and delicious. We love to let vegetables take center stage on our menu and two of the hit dishes were simple roasted asparagus spears with pecorino shavings and an assortment of  hearty roasted vegetables (sweet potato, carrots, brussels sprouts, button mushrooms) in a tangy and slightly sweet red wine reduction. We also served salmon with a lemon dill sauce and goat cheese mashed potatoes to round out the meal.   

In all our years at this, we've never received personal first name thank you's from an emcee!  Thank you Stanley for enjoying our food and service enough to tell the whole room full of people.  It was a fantastic event and we were very happy to have been an integral part of it. Our warmest birthday wishes go out to Bob Bliss....