Catering & Me

It's been over two years since I have written a new post. I guess I felt like I ran out of interesting things to say and I didn't feel the passion. I did two "best of" blogs highlighting some of my favorite posts then I just stopped. I'm restarting the blog with a 3 part series on my recent trip west. Part one will cover the work aspects of the trip, part two I plan to cover the foods and beverages that I enjoyed along the way, and part three will likely be a rambling stream of consciousness on the road in general and my great experiences this time around. Katie & Josh, serving up the veggie burgers in Boulder I recently was offered the opportunity to travel around the country to help one of my favorite catering clients, Innovative Catering Concepts, manage the food sampling at major consumer events for Morningstar Farms and their vegetarian burger products. It was an extremely attractive offer to me, not so much for the work, but for the travel. It ...

My nephew in front of his dad's cookshop. I spent the past 4 days helping my brother Jon at his recently opened business, Chive Cafe & Catering. Located adjacent to Peddler's Village in Bucks County, Chive is a great place for breakfast and lunch. One of Jon's goals is to have the best sandwiches in Bucks County and he is definitely a contender if you listened to the comments of his guests.  And of course I must mention his catering. As most know, Jon was Max's partner at Max & Me Catering way before I joined the team. He was as responsible for the growth, quality and success of the business as Max was, it just wasn't his name on the door. In positioning Chive's catering, Jon will hold to the same high quality standards he had at Max & Me, but he is aware of the new reality of the catering buyer's need to be much more budget conscious than many were from the mid-'90s through 2008. My buddy Erin Lambert with Duff from TV Food Network...

One excuse for no recent blogs. Mountains to climb, Mt. Evans CO 14,264' I was going to do this on the first anniversary of my first blog post but I didn't get around to it. That was back in mid-June. I think it will be good for those of you who are just starting to read my blog to look over some of the old posts. I have selected some of my favorites for you here, with brief recaps, and links to the original posts. A new post is coming, probably tomorrow, lots to catch up on: travels, events and new projects. It's been a great summer so far, hope you are enjoying it too. First blog post, June 13, 2011.  Link to blog post #1  This post discusses why I started blogging and what I intend to cover. Back in the dark days before I figured out how to put pictures in the blog. A great new venue, featuring farm to table at it's freshest! This blog post from October 11, 2011 is where I explain what I do for a living in the world of catering and special events. Learn h...

Andalusia on the Delaware. To see the most updated version of the really cool virtual site inspection video that I produced click on this link:  video tour now please.  There are ten venues featured in the video and were chosen for their variety, usability, and perhaps most important for planners, not one has an exclusive catering contract. Electric Factory PhillyVenueFinder.com will be a live website in the next few months, for now the link will take you to this blogpost. If that is how you got here, contact me for more info at email below. For more information and to book an event or actual site inspection, contact me at harryspivak@gmail.com, if you need my cell number, email me. Also, if you own or manage a venue and you would like a quote on producing a virtual tour for your place you can contact me as well. Girard College, Founder's Hall Special thanks to Rich Levering whose idea this was, and Colin Comstock of Arsenal AV, the gifted videograp...

ICC's truck unloading under the Barnes' iconic overhang About a month or so ago, my good friend Tia Triplett asked me to coordinate vendors for interesting food booths on the terrace at the new Barnes museum on their free ticket Memorial day weekend. Tia is the on-site GM for 1st & Fresh Catering the food service provider for the museum. Due to the extremely heavy load of catered events and opening their restaurant and coffee bar, they needed some relief for their staff and that is why they decided to subcontract this project. Tia chose me to do this because of my museum experience and my knowledge of what the best vendor solution would be to make it special for the guests. My immediate thought was to involve all my catering clients, but since only one of them has an ongoing vending component to their business model, I decided to work on this with Rocco Gallelli, Joe Divon and Steve Mastero, owners of Innovative Catering Concepts. Field kitchen and grill station ...

Charlotte NC Skyline  One of my favorite songs is the Taj Mahal version of this classic road song. I listened to it about three or four times on my recent trip to Charlotte NC and Tampa FL. It's on one of my i-pod play lists that I named "Kind of Country" It was just a coincidence that I was on the road from last Wednesday to this Tuesday. Six days on the road. Center of Charlotte. Tryon and Trade Streets. Two blocks from Time Warner Cable Arena where the DNC will be held Bechtler Museum and Knight Theater in the "CLT" I went on this journey to scout venues and catering options for the upcoming political conventions. When I get to a new town I usually start to walk all over, and talk to as many people as possible. Get my bearings, learn about what I may not have picked up in my readings before getting there, and most important, find venues that I might not have found without happening upon them. I fell in love with Charlotte. I spent time in NC as...

I love to watch cooking shows. I started with Julia Child and the Galloping Gourmet s a child, and instantly fell in love with the Food Network when it started. I got to collaborate on some Book & The Cook events (remember that?) with The Two Hot Tamales when I was at Arroyo Grille in the late 90's, and in the kitchen at the time was a budding new talented chef by the name of Jennifer Carroll. These days my favorite show is Rick Bayless's  Mexico, one plate at a time , and I really like the competition shows, Top Chef, Next Iron Chef, and Chopped. Here are two lesser known cooking shows I hope you enjoy as much as I do. Okay, next blog post will be back to covering catering world. There is lots to cover including the opening of the Barnes Museum and a new Facebook group, Philly Catering Stars. Also, I am compiling my thoughts for  chapter two of "Do the Right Thing", so today let's all do some good.