Every other month we feature a special client-only tasting event that has a specific theme. This past week we focused on the tasteful side of beach celebrations by hosting an Islands of Adventure menu at our Citrus Park studio.
Our intimate open houses allow us to focus on the specific cuisine and design ideas sought by our existing client base. Besides themed menu items, we include some of our regular side dishes, proteins, and specialty stations.
We also use these open houses to introduce new menu items to get feed back from our attendees.
Guest tables showcasing upcoming trends, feature our in-house centerpieces with standard and upgraded linen/decor options.
We try to mix in a bit of fun and festivities to make the afternoon (usually a Sunday) worthwhile for everyone in attendance. We encourage clients to bring family and friends to give them input on food and decor decisions.
Here's our take on Classy Coastal and a tropical food menu during our January 2017 open house.
We used a combination of current textures and colors that fit nicely into our local emphasis on seaside entertaining. This included champagne (sand), navy, wedgewood blue, sandy silver, white, and burlap.
A table with texture: Wedgewood blue runner and napkins featuring burlap runner with scattered flat dark blue sea rocks, gold coins, and our in-house white lantern with fresh hydrangea (client furnishes) on a mirror square. A sleek addition were our white spandex chair covers sans any chair ties.
Our nautical Long Island table has a base cloth of wedding satin with custom blue strip ribbon runners and round woven placemats. Each white napkin was tied with layers of jute twine and we added a matching blue and white striped ribbon to our 10" glass cylinders on either side of our white lamp. Gold chiavari chairs added some more formality to this table design.
Our menu consisted of a displayed Mandarin Orange Salad, Conch Chowder, Garlicky Mashed Potatoes, Caribbean Corn with Red Beans, and two selections of chicken: Citrus Chicken and Coconut Lime Chicken
Our specialty food area featured our favorite Pirate motif with black , wrought iron, and festive beads and masks.
Marilu, one of our chefs, proudly prepares our popular Paella in our huge pan.
In pirate style, we offered a new twist to traditional mojo pork: a chop station with three tangy sauces to add on top.
Everyone had a great time tasting and giving input on the cuisine.
Our staff was on hand with lots of smiles and service.
Whenever possible, we create some fun hand-passed hors d'oeuvres presentations reflecting our open house theme.
Mini Beef Empanadas with hot pepper sauce.
One of our newest offerings: Deep fried plantain cups filled with sour cream and chunky salsa
Pineapple-Toasted Coconut Spread
Calypso Meatballs with pretzel handles
Spicy Mini Crabcakes with two dipping sauces
An elegant way to incorporate a neutral beach styling is to pair a champagne satin floor length cloth with matching self tie chair covers. Silver high lights in charger plates, organza damask runners, and sparkly silver star fish on top of white napkins completes this modern seaside look.
One of our new included guest table centerpieces: genie bottles with gold and silver palmetto fan stems.
At all of our tastings, we feature a sampling of our cake flavors and mini sweets.
We look forward to seeing more of you as new clients at future open houses!
Many thanks for beautiful photos by Caitlin Gunther!
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