Catering & Me

We're going to cover the whole freakin' Piazza with a tent!!! Party. On. Witness the next phase in the evolution of the party. I have been involved off an on with these big NYE bashes since we did the first "Glitter City Gala" at the Constitution Center in 2003. That was a very cool party all those years but was fairly one dimensional. This year I am totally excited and honored to work with the  four owners of King's Oak, Gunner's Run, PYT, Raw Restaurants and the Piazza to bring you (if you don't miss out) a Five Ring Circus of a New Year's Eve Party that is, and will be the talk of the town before, during and long after the Champagne mist clears. For one ticket price (don't be a cheapskate, get the VIP ticket, the upgrade is more than worth it) you get entry to the half acre tent with tons of food (literally, I'm handling quantities) from all four restaurants, bars with more than enough bartenders to keep up with the NYE rush, Steamroll...

Katie & Me, Independence Pass, August 30, 2011 Good Morning, readers of my blog. I am determined to get back into writing with a fury, so watch out! Since one of my favorite sayings is "Those that don't learn from history are destined to repeat it.", I always feel the need to relive the past; with my own spin of course. Today's post will deal with the fall catering and events season, as experienced by me, as I went through some fairly big changes in my life. I love this picture of my daughter and me, I have been using it as my Facebook profile picture ever since she sent it to me. What an incredible trip that was for the two of us. Eight days on the road, Memphis, Ozarks and the heart of the Colorado Mountains, ending with a wonderful introduction to her college life at Johnson & Wales University in Denver. She is doing great there, and just yesterday began the most important part of every (almost) Colorado college students year: Ski/Snowboarding season. ...

I wanted to share a Facebook post from the Dalai Lama this morning: "The more adept we become at cultivating an altruistic attitude, the happier we will feel and the more comfortable will be the atmosphere around us. But if our emotions fluctuate wildly and we easily give in to hatred and jealousy, even our friends will avoid us. So even for people with no spiritual beliefs, it is important to have a peaceful mind." The Dalai Lama and Namkha Rinpoche It reminded me of my closest brush with the Dalai Lama, here is part of the story. In 2008 my aunt Marguerite was doing a series of events around the country with Namkha Rinpoche, a disciple of the Dalai Lama. They came to Philly and I cooked an elaborate meal for their traveling party. After the meal I said to Namkha, "Hey, Rinpoche, how about a little something for the effort"; he said "They'll be no money, but in the near future you can subscribe to the Dalai Lama's Facebook posts and it w...

Taste & Tour 2010 A very busy and fun couple of days coming up. Today is the great event Taste & Tour of the Countryside which is produced by the Brandywine Valley CVB and Mid-Atlantic Events. It takes place at Drexelbrook Events Center, and I have a few tickets left if anyone would like to go, leave a comment on the blog or email me by 3pm. Jim Cohn, Tore Fiore, Dominic Savino/Gene Blum and their teams do a great job with this event every year. It's an opportunity to taste food from a number of caterers, restaurants, hotels and event facilities. It's also an excellent networking event with many of the most important and connected folks in the hospitality/special event world in attendance.For more info: http://tasteandtour.org/ Colin Cowie will be appearing at BizBash Tomorrow I head up to Manhattan for BizBash's Expo & Awards Show, which in the past I have always thought was my favorite national trade show and conference for the event industry. I'm ...

Andalusia Since I have not really covered this topic in depth, today's post will be an explanation of my consulting business, and how I may be able to help you with catering and venue selection for special events. I currently represent half a dozen caterers and restaurants that also cater.. I also work with other caterers and event venues on specific project based  assignments. Electric Factory The core of my value to event planners is that in representing many different caterers I essentially represent many dozens of venues, and I can be an invaluable resource to provide them with location choices to fit the needs of their events. Since I am paid by the caterers and venues, my service is free for event planners. I maintain a proprietary database of almost 200 venues in the Metro Philadelphia region; I began developing this list about 10 years ago in my Max & Me Catering days, and have added to and refined it ever since. Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum Many of...

It's been over a month since my last post, call it my summer vacation. Backlog of very interesting topics to share with y'all (as my Memphis family says) and they will appear as my busy schedule permits. Jon & Max, as the roller coaster left the station I could not ignore this latest development in the ongoing saga of my old company, Max & Me Catering. The handwriting has been on the wall for over 5 years now, with no Max, and no Me (whoever you want that to be, myself, my brother, etc.) , why would Libre/Guest Counts/M&M/Culinary Concepts/Gourmetro, continue to use the name Max & Me Catering? I have often said to myself, self, why would they not change the name? Well they did, as of yesterday, they have rolled all their names into one: Brulee Catering by Jean Marie Lacroix. Click and see what you get when you go the Max & Me catering URL: http://www.maxandmecatering.com/ . Ain't that some shit? Does anybody think Brulee is a good name for a cate...

With apologies to Rolling Stone. Sometimes I need to string together many diverse experiences and thoughts into one post, that is what I offer y'all this morning. My recent reduced output of quantity has not resulted in a raising of quality as I look back and read older posts, I guess practice helps. Thanks to Philly Chit Chat for the photo Last Thursday I attended Philadelphia Magazine's Best of Philly party that was held at the unfinished event space called Vie. This is the much anticipated new venue for the owner of Cescaphe and Tendenza, Joe Volpe. It is located at 600 North Broad in the old Wilkie Buick dealership which will also have two restaurants, one a Stephen Starr New England Style Seafood Shack and the other by Marc Vetri. This facility will be Mr. Volpe's first venture that will be more geared towards corporate events and it has a lot to offer, from size (capacity of 600 seated and 1000 reception), to location, to the very cool outdoor courtyard, to the...

The Electric Factory is the very first special event venue I ever experienced and also worked in. When I was ten years old my father, Joseph “Jerry” Spivak hired me to alphabetize the mailing list of the Factory. The pay was $1 per hour, they had about 40,000 names on small metallic plates, and I got half way through the letter “B” before I retired to focus on my 5 th grade studies.  A packed house at the Electric Factory Larry Magid's New Book The original Electric Factory was a converted tire warehouse at 22 nd and Arch Streets in Philadelphia, it opened in 1968 and closed in 1971. The original opening group was my father, his two brothers Herb and Allen, Shelly Kaplan and Larry Magid. When the Factory closed they began using the name Electric Factory Concerts and took most of the business to bigger venues such as The Spectrum. Larry went on to become the face of the business and with Allen running the business side they made EFC one ...

While you all wait patiently for my Electric Factory post, here is some valuable information to read today. The following article from the New York Times shows very clearly why you need real catering professionals to execute off premise events. Restaurants are usually very good at making food in their home arenas, but put them in an unfamiliar venue and watch out. It's not that they can't learn, but often their egos get in the way. Anyone ever had this happen to them? http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/08/sixty-chefs-in-the-palace-and-still-just-average/?ref=dining How do you avoid having problems like they did in Versailles in the above linked article? One way is by doing a thorough site evaluation. Mike Roman, the founder and head honcho at Catersource, (the most important catering industry magazine and trade show) has a blog, and he did a post back in May that is the best outline for a site evaluation I have ever seen. Here it is: ...

Pauline Parry and her company Good Gracious Events do great work. They produce some of the most innovative food station design work I have seen.      http://foodfunandlove.blogspot.com/2011/07/escape-to-church-estate-vineyards.html

My favorite chef, Jenn Carroll, and her 10 Arts crew at Best of Style Party. Back to the blogosphere. I have been working on my first Site Inspection story on the Electric Factory, it's not quite ready yet, but I wanted to relay some of the fun happenings I took  part in this past week. Tuesday was the Ultimate Networking Party at Chenango, the new restaurant inside the Arrow Swim Club, next to the Piazza in NoLibs. Fun time, decent food, and the highlight for me was that Uncle Bart was going to lend me some swim trunks so I could take a dip. I did not take him up on it though, fear of not fitting and/or ripping them. Moshulu at Night, nice. Wednesday I spent the whole day in a seminar on blogging. Very informative if a bit tiring, look for some of my new techniques in future posts and marketing efforts. Wednesday evening was perhaps the premier event industry networking event of the summer, HSMAI's Bash on the Moshulu. The Philly area event industry's most import...

A cool Fourth of July Food Station, Max & Me, 2003 As promised, here is my long holiday weekend of meeting and eating. I was pretty good in my never ending battle of the bulge by not over eating, staying away from starches for the most part, and even a bit of excercising. Thursday, Alex’s Lemonade Stand, Advanced Staging, West Chester PA Excellent Burgers, Dogs, Potato Salad, Slaw, Caesar Salad and a nice selection of Desserts. A great kick-off to the holiday weekend, feel good fundraiser and great hosts in Steve and Donna. Friday, Poolside Libation’s with Peter & Joanne Breslow, North Wales PA Sparkling Wine, Coppola Chardonnay, Peaches and Plums. Relaxing afternoon by their beautiful pool, nice brainstorming and hanging with the Breslow's. Friday Evening, Opening of Rosey’s BBQ, Ambler PA BBQ Chicken, Smoked Turkey Breast (incredibly juicy, maybe best turkey ever), BBQ Beans and Mac’n Cheese. Delicious, authentic food. Go here,...