Thursday, August 25, 2005
The Caterer
So we now have to hire a caterer. The problem: POTB are vegetarians; TBTB and TGTB are not. So we huddle, consult, weigh options, and so forth. Do we (POTB) hire a caterer who will serve meat? Do we get a caterer whose idea of vegetarian options is a tray of celery stalks and carrot sticks (perhaps with slices of cucumber if they're creative)? In short, do we put up with the sort of food we normally have to put up with at such events (to which we often go knowing that we'll have to eat beforehand, or afterwards), or go another route? So we decide to arrange for food we'll enjoy--after all, we're paying for it! Call us selfish; we'll warn the determined carnivores that they should stock up at Wendy's or White Castle (both based in Columbus, by the way) on the way to the wedding. Have two Sausage Egg McMuffins that morning if you must.
Luckily, we have a choice of caterers. Del Sroufe has a private chef business, makes great bread and cakes (he did a spectacular cake with orchids for a surprise birthday party for MOTB several years ago); he's at http://www.delsbread.com/Home.html. But Del's home cooking business has taken off, and he's stopped doing catering of the buffet sort. Dragonfly Neo-v Cuisine--all vegan, virtually all local--is a nationally-recognized place whose chef, Magdiale Wolmark, just won a platinum carrot award for vegan cooking; more about Magdiale and Cristin's joint at http://www.dragonflyneov.com/ -- and we've been eating there since they opened five years ago, and held another suprise birthday party for MOTB there for forty-five folks. Then there's Whole World Restaurant, Columbus' oldest vegetarian restaurant, when Dan and Kim Otanicar have been serving up great soups and entrees (not to mention whole wheat crust pizza) for over twenty five years. Dan and Kim also do a burgeoning business at festivals--Kim's out virtually every weekend early spring through fall. So we go with Dragonfly.
First, however, a minor hitch: the Cultural Arts Center can only use approved caterers. And Dragonfly's not on the list. Neither are Del nor Whole World. In fact, there's no vegetarian caterer on the list. Luckily, the CAC administrator, Jennifer Johnson, is eager to cooperate. "Since we have no vegetarian caterers," she muses, "perhaps now's the time to get some!" So after we provide assurance that Dragonfly is bonded, they get approved. Now: what to serve? We get a very long and complicated catering menu from Cristin, which takes forever to download on our slow machine, forward it to TBTB who's off the coast of Scotland at this point, and apparently not ready to deal with it. It is pretty hard to figure out what's being offered, and even harder to figure out how it tastes if you don't eat there regularly and know the wonderful things Magdiale does with vegetables, organic grains, smoked tofu, seitan, and so forth.
Luckily, TBTB is in town briefly in June. So she gets to try out various things on the catering menu--and after a great deal of discussion, tastings, and occasional misunderstanding, this is the menu that results:
wedding lunch buffet
japanese griddle cakes
miso vegetable
autumn phyllo rolls
star anise ponzu
“best vegetable platter in town ”
smoked tofu,grilled portabella, roasted early autumn squashes, sticky rice cakes
herbal iced tea (unsweetened)
There's still the question of the cake, how it gets displayed, the flowers, and, most dread of all, the Linens and Tables.
Luckily, we have a choice of caterers. Del Sroufe has a private chef business, makes great bread and cakes (he did a spectacular cake with orchids for a surprise birthday party for MOTB several years ago); he's at http://www.delsbread.com/Home.html. But Del's home cooking business has taken off, and he's stopped doing catering of the buffet sort. Dragonfly Neo-v Cuisine--all vegan, virtually all local--is a nationally-recognized place whose chef, Magdiale Wolmark, just won a platinum carrot award for vegan cooking; more about Magdiale and Cristin's joint at http://www.dragonflyneov.com/ -- and we've been eating there since they opened five years ago, and held another suprise birthday party for MOTB there for forty-five folks. Then there's Whole World Restaurant, Columbus' oldest vegetarian restaurant, when Dan and Kim Otanicar have been serving up great soups and entrees (not to mention whole wheat crust pizza) for over twenty five years. Dan and Kim also do a burgeoning business at festivals--Kim's out virtually every weekend early spring through fall. So we go with Dragonfly.
First, however, a minor hitch: the Cultural Arts Center can only use approved caterers. And Dragonfly's not on the list. Neither are Del nor Whole World. In fact, there's no vegetarian caterer on the list. Luckily, the CAC administrator, Jennifer Johnson, is eager to cooperate. "Since we have no vegetarian caterers," she muses, "perhaps now's the time to get some!" So after we provide assurance that Dragonfly is bonded, they get approved. Now: what to serve? We get a very long and complicated catering menu from Cristin, which takes forever to download on our slow machine, forward it to TBTB who's off the coast of Scotland at this point, and apparently not ready to deal with it. It is pretty hard to figure out what's being offered, and even harder to figure out how it tastes if you don't eat there regularly and know the wonderful things Magdiale does with vegetables, organic grains, smoked tofu, seitan, and so forth.
Luckily, TBTB is in town briefly in June. So she gets to try out various things on the catering menu--and after a great deal of discussion, tastings, and occasional misunderstanding, this is the menu that results:
wedding lunch buffet
japanese griddle cakes
miso vegetable
autumn phyllo rolls
star anise ponzu
“best vegetable platter in town ”
smoked tofu,grilled portabella, roasted early autumn squashes, sticky rice cakes
herbal iced tea (unsweetened)
There's still the question of the cake, how it gets displayed, the flowers, and, most dread of all, the Linens and Tables.
