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Fantasy Wedding Feasts
Written by: Abigail Green
 When it comes to wedding catering, trends come and go. Single entrees: Out. Chilean sea bass-and-shrimp combos: In. Standard steak: Out. Carved-to-order lamb: In. Plain old wedding cake: Out. Chocolate fountains: In.
But surely the wedding feast is exempt from certain culinary fads – for instance, the recent Atkins craze? Apparently not. “Meal choices now reflect the trends. People are conscious of their eating styles and habits. Some reflect the low-carb approach to meals,” says Kerry Stackpole, immediate past executive director of the National Association of Catering Executives (NACE). He continues, “Any good wedding is a reflection of the hosts. In many cases, you have families who have modified the way they eat and entertain, and their catering preference reflects that.”
But don’t go ordering 150 filets just yet. The “tasting plate” approach – also called a split or dual entrée – is still popular. The idea is to pair smaller portions of a couple of main dishes on a plate instead of having guests choose just one entree. For instance, you might serve what Stackpole calls a “duet of protein” – say, a fish and a pork, or chicken and shrimp paired with a vegetable, as opposed to the old protein, starch and a vegetable. That way, there’s a greater chance that even your pickier guests will find something they like.
Thankfully, low-carb is not the only new thing in wedding catering. “We are seeing a return to native or ethnic foods, to be sure, in the bridal area,” says Stackpole. For many couples, a wedding is a time to consider where they’ve come from and honor their roots with a favorite family dish or tradition. For others, the prevalence of great ethnic restaurants – tapas, sushi, Indian, etc. – has expanded their palates, and they want to enjoy their favorite foods at their wedding celebration.
Stations, as opposed to a seated meal, are still popular for those who want guests to mix and mingle, but these days you won’t see the same old carving station and pasta bar. You’re likely to find a sushi station, a Cajun station, and perhaps even more exotic options. “Not long ago, I saw a station that served frog’s legs,” says Stackpole. (We’d advise you to skip that one unless the majority of your guests are French or especially adventurous.)
Even the standard cheese plate has changed. Artisanal cheeses are in, offering, “much more refined, rich, unusual flavors,” according to Stackpole. Traditional tomato gazpacho has been surpassed by watermelon gazpacho, melon and strawberries by figs and champagne grapes. “Weddings are often the place people choose to make a statement,” he says. And more brides and grooms are saying: “If we’re going to do this, let’s make it memorable for everybody.”
We asked five wedding caterers to tell us what they would serve if they were limited only by their imaginations. Here’s what they told us:
A WINE LOVER'S DREAM
For Jerry Edwards, owner of Chef’s Expressions in Baltimore, MD, the perfect wedding feast would take place at a historic home. He’d start with an hour-and-a-half cocktail party outdoors – preferably with a fountain splashing in the background and lots of beautiful, fresh flowers. Servers would circulate with about 10 different types of hors d’oeuvres, including Hudson Valley foie gras topped with warm caramelized onions and panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) served on a Chinese spoon, and honey-pepper shrimp wrapped in apple-smoked bacon. “I’m not big on stationary hors d’oeuvres. I feel that it gets crowded … and sometimes people will eat too much and not enjoy the dinner,” says Edwards.
Next, guests would move inside for a seated, six-course meal with a different wine for every course. For the first course, he’d serve a fried green tomato topped with lump crabmeat with lime beurre blanc and a crisp apple garnish. Edwards usually prefers to build the menu around the wines a client chooses. The reason: “I can’t change the wine, but my food can be changed any way I want it to. I can adjust the sauce, change the meat.” For this dish, “a nice, crisp Chardonnay would be nice. Or a Cosumano from Italy,” he says.
Since you want to go from lighter wines to heavier wines, Edwards might pick a heavier, oakier Chardonnay to serve with the second course, roulade of chicken filled with a tangerine and almond chutney with a sliced avocado garnish. Moving on to a cinnamon-dusted duck breast with wild mushrooms, guests’ glasses would be filled with a Fiddlehead Pinot Noir. Next, Edwards might serve a rack of lamb criss-crossed over a timbale of potatoes and roasted garlic, with a Bordeaux demi-glaze with baby vegetables on the side.
For the fifth course, he would offer a selection of cheeses — perhaps a Maytag blue cheese, a French goat cheese and a slice of brie with toasted pine nuts on top – served on individual plates with a tiny poached Seckel pear in the center drizzled with apricot sauce. The accompanying wine might be a Boordy Eisling. “Guests love it – it’s sweet and a little tart,” says Edwards.
The chef varies his desserts with the seasons — chocolate desserts in cooler weather, fruit desserts for summer. For fall, he envisions a chocolate caramel terrine in a port wine sauce surrounded by roasted figs. And, since money is no object for this fantasy wedding feast, Edwards would pour a Warres 1948 port for the final course.
EXCITING FLAVORS, BOLD COLORS
Whatever time of year you’re getting married, Eddie Dopkin, owner of Classic Catering People in Owings Mills, MD has a menu for you. He envisions this one for a fall wedding.
The celebration starts with three butler passed hors d’oeuvres, including a blue crab and mango salad in a light ginger-lime vinaigrette served in a tartlet shell, on an endive leaf, or on an Asian spoon. Another starter is a thinly-sliced breast of duck bathed in apple cider brine on homemade grilled cranberry walnut bread. “It looks beautiful sitting on top of braised red cabbage,” says Dopkin, adding that presentation is as important as their one-bite goal for hors d’oeuvres. For non-meat-eaters, he’d serve a skewered teriyaki shitake mushroom, served warm.
Next up is an arugula zucchini salad with matchstick-sliced zucchini mixed with arugula, topped with light, basil vinaigrette. “This is a very simple, very beautiful, chilled salad,” says Dopkin.
The main meal would consist of a choice of two out of three stations. One, a Mediterranean table, features grilled free-range chicken on a bed of vegetable ragout – white beans, tomato, fennel, olives, and herbs. “It’s just bursting with flavor,” says Dopkin. In addition, guests can sample grilled butterflied leg of lamb with lemon (carved to order) and on the side, a “trio of tastes” – baked whole mushrooms with parmesan, sautéed baby spinach with garlic and toasted pine nuts, and baby zucchini rolls stuffed with ricotta on roasted tomato compote.
The presentation is as exciting as the flavors. Classic provides colorful Mediterranean serving dishes and handpicked linens. A pepper grinder, self-serve items, and a variety of breads – including toasted pita, flatbreads, and crostadas – add a fun, interactive element for guests.
The next station – Dopkin’s favorite – is the South Beach station. Picture a colorful array of dishes like Caribbean-style black sea bass grilled on bed of crisp cellophane noodles with julienne of carrots; shrimp ceviche; grilled pineapple marinated in fresh ginger; green coconut rice; black bean dip with fried plantains; and a jicama, mango and watercress salad with pecan vinaigrette.
Or, couples can choose a more traditional carving station instead, with tenderloin, pork loin, lamb chops, or turkey served with roasted asparagus and crispy Vidalia onion threads. “Most people take the tenderloin and lamb chops,” says Dopkin. The trend these days is towards food that looks like it could have been made at home, rather than catered, he adds.
To keep guests from leaving the party early, Dopkin suggests not waiting too long to serve dessert, though you could certainly get the dancing started beforehand. A nice addition to wedding cake is St. Clair sorbets – individual, quarter-sized, molded sorbets in such flavors as mango and red raspberry. Classic can special-order them in different shapes. For this menu, Dopkin suggests a flower. “Maybe a lemon sorbet would be a great contrast.”
FAMILY, REGIONAL FAVORITES
Thanks to the Food Network and more restaurant options than ever, we’re becoming a nation of serious foodies, says Julie Brown-Edwards, director of catering for the Harbor Court Hotel in Baltimore, MD. “The couples we meet with are wanting more of a dining experience in conjunction with lots of fun dancing and great celebrations.” She likes to start by asking brides and grooms about their favorite foods and restaurants. “If a couple says, ‘I’m into Bobby Flay’ I say, ‘OK, we’ll be grilling your tenderloin!’” says Brown-Edwards.
Couples are also adding their own twists to their wedding menus, whether it’s a favorite family recipe or serving foods from the regions where they live or grew up.
For a recent wedding, for instance, the Harbor Court started with butler-passed heavy hors d’ouevres with an Italian flavor that the couple loved — Caprese crostini (fresh mozzarella and Roma tomatoes), mushrooms stuffed with ratatouille, and blackened ahi tuna. In addition, guests were served spicy beef empanadas as a nod to the couple’s current hometown in Arizona, says Brown-Edwards.
Because the father of the bride loves gazpacho and the family hails from Maryland, they decided on chilled gazpacho with jumbo lump crab meat for the first course. “We French serve all of our soups,” notes Brown-Edwards, which means that the crab meat is placed in the bottom of the bowl with julienne of peppers and chopped tomato and then waiters ladle in the gazpacho tableside.
Next, guests were served a salad of romaine hearts with blue cheese, oven-dried tomatoes, and a gorgonzola vinaigrette. Penfolds Rawson’s Retreat Chardonnay and Cabernet “match wonderfully with the food,” says Brown-Edwards. “The Chardonnay has some melon and pineapple flavors that hold up well to the gazpacho and pairs very well with the cheese in the salad.” She adds, “Most people will stay with whites through the salad, but people should drink what they love, not what the book says.”
“Probably the most popular entrée is a petit filet of beef and crab-stuffed shrimp – two gigantic shrimp that wrap around a crab cake,” she continues. The entrée is served with asparagus spears, baby carrots, and whipped red bliss potatoes. A vegetarian alternative is a grilled roasted vegetable Napoleon.
“Duos are still popular,” says Brown-Edwards. “It’s a much easier way to please all of the guests and present a beautiful plate.” Options range from chicken and salmon, to beef and chicken, to lamb and rockfish. (Chicken is always the safest bet, she notes.)
Once the wedding guests were up and dancing, waiters brought chocolate-dipped strawberries, chocolate truffles, and coffee to the tables. The wedding cake was served about an hour later. While this couple chose a soup course, Brown-Edwards says many people will skip the soup and do a Viennese dessert display instead – an assortment of miniature pecan squares, fruit tarts, baby cheesecakes, petit fours, chocolate ganache squares, and brownies. That way, dessert can be easily eaten while standing and walking around.
OLD STANDBYS, NEW CREATIONS
Don’t laugh: Monroe Zeffert, owner of Zeffert & Gold Catering in Baltimore, MD, often serves franks in a blanket as an hors d’oeuvre at weddings. “People eat them. It’s almost a joke around here,” he says. And at a wedding, the goal is to please as many of your guests as possible. Let’s face it; Uncle Joe from Omaha probably won’t get excited about the Peking duck pancakes. Then again, he might, which is why it’s good to serve the old standbys – shrimp cocktail’s another crowd-pleaser – along with the more modern menu items.
Zeffert’s fantasy feast is a smorgasbord of flavors, textures, and temperatures, from the smoked fish station, to the made-to-order sushi station, to the rolling cart featuring chef-carved roast rack of lamb, to the miniature Reuben served on cocktail rye bread.
The salad – and, in fact, much of this menu – is what Zeffert calls “modern yet traditional.” The seated portion of the meal starts with a salad of field greens tossed with toasted almonds, dried cranberries, crumbled feta, and a “divine” house-made raspberry vinaigrette. (Another popular option is a layered tomato and mozzarella salad with basil vinaigrette.)
After cleansing the palate with a raspberry sorbet served in an old-fashioned champagne glass, guests tuck into a split entrée of petit filet mignon with a side of Cabernet sauce, teamed with a grilled Chilean sea bass with mango salsa. These items are “very complimentary, very contrasting,” Zeffert explains. “And it promotes a husband-and-wife share if necessary.” If you were serving these entrees solo, you might go with an eight or nine ounce portion, but for dual entrees, six ounces of each is plenty, he notes. On the side, he’d serve steamed asparagus spears and a split baked potato stuffed with garlic-mashed potato and mashed sweet potato.
“I’d make the dessert a buffet… so guests aren’t pinned to their seats,” says Zeffert. “I don’t want the dessert to interfere with the entertainment timing.” Sure, you’ll want to serve wedding cake – he advises choosing two flavors – but why not kick things up a notch with some flaming rum? On one side of the room, Zeffert would have a chef prepare Bananas Foster to the delight of the guests (while a helper scoops out vanilla ice cream), while on the other side of the room, another chef prepares crepes with blueberry, cherry, and orange filling. You’d be surprised how many guests who swore they couldn’t eat another bite miraculously have room for dessert. “There’s something for everyone,” says Zeffert.
INTERACTIVE AT ITS BEST
In coastal areas, seafood plays a major role in many wedding feasts. The one dreamed up by Evie Loftus, partner of The Main Ingredient in Annapolis, MD, is no different. The party kicks off with a variety of butler passed hors d’ouevres. A favorite is the seared sea scallops with hot shallot mustard. “It’s got a nice crispiness on each side when you sauté them,” says Loftus, noting that their chefs prepare everything fresh, on-site rather than pre-cooking the food and reheating it. “You can create a kitchen anywhere with electricity and propane.” The crab cakes – made from only jumbo lump crab meat – are served with a lemon aioli spiked with a pinch of seafood seasoning.
Guests can also help themselves to a cheese and fruit display. Garnishes like champagne grapes and fresh figs, as well as lemon poppy seed yogurt dip, lift these stations above the norm.
Color is as important as flavor at the grill bar, which features rosemary garlic tenderloin of beef, citrus-glazed salmon, and Jamaican jerk pork tenderloin with mango salsa. “Presentation is a big part of what we do,” says Loftus. “It needs to taste awesome as well as look awesome.” She notes that most brides this season are choosing stations over seated meals. Variety is one reason. “Chances are guests will take a little bit of everything,” she says.
Over at the pasta bar, the cheese tortellini is a mainstay, and is served with a basil cream sauce made from fresh-shaved parmesan and fresh basil. Or, guests may opt for the fresh tomato marinara. For a twist on an old favorite, The Main Ingredient serves a Caesar salad with a lime-cilantro dressing and chipotle-spiced croutons. “People just like options; they like it to be interactive,” says Loftus. “You’re making your guests feel catered to and that makes them feel special.” A seafood bar with Prince Edward Island oysters, lime-cilantro jumbo shrimp, and little-neck steamed clams is always a big hit, especially with the guys, she adds.
But the crowning glory is the dessert: a chocolate fountain served with fresh strawberries, bananas, graham cracker sticks, pretzel rods, marshmallows, almond pound cake, and Rice Krispie treats ready to be dipped into the warm, flowing chocolate. NACE’s Stackpole says chocolate fountains are “the thing” right now. He describes them as “sort of stand-up fondue.” Says Loftus, “Every time I’ve done it, I see adults turn into little kids again.”
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