The Evolution Of The Party

I love catering. I've loved it for years. It fits me. I catered my first ever party at the Met Museum in the 80s. I sliced scotch smoked salmon for four hours and put it on tarragon toast. As I sliced the fish, the movement around me was mesmerizing. The goal was to pull off this amazing event. To feed New York. Andy Warhol, Iman, David Bowie, Grace Kelly, Henry Heinz. Nothing has given me more of a rush than the pleasure of catering.

To me, that first night was like an athletic event with cooking. My two favorite things. There was a new language to learn; sheetpanmagic, sterno and how to count everything. I mean everything.

Catering is in the moment, you are not thinking of the next day. Parties are alive. They are now.



Today we passed Bavarian everything pretzels on a copper pipe. 50 warm pretzels. When guests saw it they did the limbo. The party was on.

TJ, my partner food designer -- not food stylist, but a food plate-ist or a food canvas-ist -- and I have just touched the tip of the iceburg (I like the lettuce spelling better) in regards to stand up food. Party Food. All on food furniture.

Crudite and cheese. Cheese and crudité. Throw in some pate and you have the three most popular party foods of all time. But they are good. They just need a new look.

Parties evolve. That's why you get so antsy when you are hosting a party, its gonna take on a life of its own. The key is to have tools for every situation. And they better be fun. Or tasty.

These tools could be painting sauce right on a table surface or serving food upside down. This is the New York party scene. We have some of the best restaurants in the world in this town. The party food has to be just as good. And more memorable.

New York is my oyster and this is the time to party.

All photos courtesy of Pinch Food Design