buzz-in to st. louis Part II food safari and more

The buzzies are all about FOOD and FUN and as previously described in Part One of the blog coverage, we visited Asian Markets, Global Food Market, experienced Northern Thai food at Forks and Stix Restaurant and immensely enjoyed adult beverages and late night nibbles at Planter's House, a cutting edge St. Louis Bar.

Our second buZz-in day started off early gathering in the hotel lobby, sampling mouthwatering homemade donuts brought warm from the kitchen by Julie Ridlon, our local St. Louis Guide, with complimentary coffee, and proceeded with tastebuds being tantalized by a bounty of food continuously passing our lips, mixed with steadfast stream of informative cater-centric chat, fun and friendship until collapsing in our beds late Monday night.

The St. Louis buZz-in itinerary included a visit to the Maplewood neighborhood where our buzzie group roamed around Penzey Spices, experiencing the variety of robust and subtle exotic spices and culinary scents that this "disneyland for spices" store curates. On a recommendation from CuisinEtc NYC caterer and culinary fashionista, Lisa Teiger,  Lon Lane, frequent caterBuzz forum poster, Catersource presenter, Uber generous and talented, well travelled Kansas City caterer, was introduced to and easily swayed to purchase Nigella seeds to bring back Lon Lane's Inspired Occasions  KC kitchen for his culinary staff to play with.   Nigella seeds aka black seeds or sanouj, a very aromatic dark seed, once commonly found as a  along with caraway seeds topping traditional Jewish rye, and have a variety of potential catering uses - including in homemade tomato chutney,  imbedded in cheese crisps,  as a topping for flatbreads, in vegetarian and meat stews and so on.  

OFFER OF THE WEEK LOL
Lon Lane, Inspired Occasions, Kansas City, Missouri
Regina Niece, 4 Star Village and Wedding Barn, Redfox, Kentucky
Chef Andrew Alexander-Crossan, cuisinEtc catering, NYC

Repeatedly amazing feedback on Olio St. Louis, a Med-Rim fusion inspired restaurant, created by chef/owner Ben Poremba, where the Buzzie's shared a extensive offerings of delicious classic and twisted Mediterranean offerings.  

Cater-centric discussions dominated 

the conversation every time buzzies 

sat down together for a meal 

or during the car journeys

 to the next food safari stop.

 photos: Bobby Dickens, Simply Delicious Catering, Springfield, Missouri for Caterbuzz.com

top left:  kale salad           top right : beet, chickpea and house made ricotta salad 

                   bottom right:                    chevre stuffed grilled heart of romaine wrapped in prosciutto          

                      

  

lahmanjun middle eastern lamb, vegetable and pinenut pizza
above photo: lisa teiger, caterbuzz.com

below:
Olio Egg Salad Crostini (photo: lisa teiger)
slow cooked pulled lamb with warm house made hummus (photo: bobby dickens)
smothered brussel sprout and cheddar flatbread pizza  (photo: bobby dickens)

   Salume Beddu  artisan cured meats on left, 

Olio house pickled vegetables, nuts and seasoned olives on right

the chef/owner of Olio, Ben Poremba, who is up for a James Beard Award

was a founding partner at Salume Beddu

Buzzie Regina Niece, owner of the Four Star Barn, a new wedding Barn and Redfox Kentucy Event venue, commented:

"My Favorite food experience was at Olio, the redesigned old gas station. I loved tasting and passing around all the new foods and getting a taste of everyone's dishes"

"As a Venue Operator I took pictures of Olio's and Palladium's unique chandeliers, bar and venue design decor."

Note from Lisa Teiger "we've been noticing frequent "incarnations" 
of similar unique culinary light fixtures
on our catering adventures across the USA and beyond. 
Trendstend to go global quickly these days
with the access via internet we all have.  
Caterer Lynn Buono of  Feast Your Eyes Catering, Philly, 
features a repurposed kitchen tool light fixture
in this vein in her Kensington, Pa Commissary Foyer.

Great way to repurpose, recycle 
and reuse kitchen tools
 and elements that speak 
to the culinary soul.

Another highlight of our buZz-in to St. Louis was the visit to one of St. Louis' premiere catering companies, Butler's Pantry.   Several buzzies commented that this is the kind of catering company they wanted to be when they grew up.  A big catering company, yet friendly, efficient, well staffed and hospitable, with a beautiful commissary and several fabulous venues, electric car parking and a diverse variety of related food businesses under one umbrella and the leadership of Richard Nix, who took over from his parents who started the Butler's Pantry over 40 years ago.

It was fascinating to tour the commissary and storage areas,
as well as the sales and front office operations
Butler's Pantry has a clean streamlined commissary
as well as Palladium, their beautiful venue facility next door
 in the repurposed St. Louis hospital complex.

Seared Tuna on Wonton Petals with Asian Slaw, Soy Glaze and Wasabi Cream

Brie Gougere with Roasted Grape and Preserved Lemon Chutney

Deviled Egg Salad on Cayenne Toast with Blackened Chicken

Bruschetta Bar/ Trio Dips /  Toasted Breads

Mini Burgers with Cambazola Blue and Frizzled Leeks on House Made Brioche 

Mini Taro Roots Tacos with Black Beans, Mango and Spicy Pork 

photo credit:  Lynn Lampe, Wyoming

Buzzie Cynthia Creighton- Jones, 

Cape Creations Catering, Savannah Georgia 

shared these sentiments.

"That was FUN! visiting Butler's Pantry!   Whilst I found the food wonderful, what I really enjoyed was having the opportunity to poke my nose in the back of house – looking at equipment for both service and staging.

I also loved the shopping trips at the Asian Seafood Market and Global Foods Market with all the foods of the world.  There was so much product that I was not familiar with, or had not worked with in ages.

But what was truly invaluable were the Buzzie discussions on how they use things.  Especially in the market when the chefs were picking up products and describing the dishes they made for their client using the exotic ingredients.

The exchange of ideas was absolutely fantastic.  I probably will not be able to use all of these fabulous suggestions from other caterers in my market back in Savannah, but I just loved the exchange of ideas. and who knows maybe one day I will get a request that will allow me to utilize those ideas."

thanks for sampling us with so many
 delicious hors d'oeuvres Butler's Pantry!

grand entrance to Nathalie's
St. Louis farm to table experience

celebrating buzzie buddies Dianne Evans and Andrew Alexander-Crossan's birthdays with a custom designed bee hive cake courtesy of buzzie member Lon Lane and his fabulous in house bakers at Lone Lane's Inspired Occasions in Kansas City, Mo.

feedback from buzzie participant

 Kathy  Windt 

I loved meeting my Buzzie friends in St. Louis. They share the same passion for food and entertaining guests. It is my "brain trust" group. They are willing to share their ideas, experience, and opinions.

I so enjoyed the Farm to Table dinner. Not only was the food fresh, but it was prepared gluten free. We believe that gluten free food is a trend that is here to stay.

I loved touring the Butler's Pantry Commissary, they were very kind and welcoming.

I am so focused on day to day operations of our company. The class has helped me to re-focus on the marketing of our company. Thank you again Lisa for pulling this buZz-in to St Louis program together.

Turbo Charge Your Catering Sales - presented by Jon Wool and Michael Attias was an action packed one day seminar filled with creative marketing tools to reach to new markets and clients - The one that had us all giggling was sending an x-ray to hospital admins who book catering as a promotional flyer.    Michael was very forthcoming with clear information and unique systems - clever pitches, tricks + tips that reminded us of techniques that Michael Roman had shared over the years. And we walked away with many concrete examples he shared through great slides/handouts.

Having helped many many businesses over the years start catering operations - especially out of restaurants but with techniques are applicable to established caterers as well, who want to expand their sales or reach into profitable niche markets. 

Check out Mike's facebook page and restaurant + catering software website.

and stay tuned for our next buzz-in ...you never know when we will buzz into your area and have some time together to party and share like only caterers can.

Hi, I'm Lisa Teiger, founder and Queenbee  of the caterBuzz hive, owner of CuisinEtc Catering and Special Events,  a boutique NYC catering concern,  food stylist, culinary fashionista and roving caterBuzz catering reporter, coming to you from NYC but **always** going beyond !!!  

team caterBuzz  #teamcaterbuzz
Chef Andrew Alexander-Crossan - Chef-E-Bee - Culinary Director
Lisa Teiger - Queen Bee, Founder + Moderator
Dianne Evans - Bee-Actress + Marketing Director

We hope that you will consider caterBuzz as your traveling eye for the inquisitive professional catering guys and gals around the globe.  Sharing and learning from each others as only like minded professional caterers can do, through pictures, stories, questions and answers, available here on  www.caterBuzz.com and also on our facebook caterBuzz group page, a private forum for the catering community.  Look at the about section of our facebook page for instructions on how to join the group as well as a bit about what the culture of caterBuzz and ground rules we play by.

Choux Storm of Delicious Inspiration #CSES2014 #muse

Muse

"In Greek Mythology, the Muses are nine goddesses, the daughters of Zeus, who have sparked creativity throughout history.

Cade Nagy and Dan Smith of Catering by Design, along with Rob Barber and Nate Scheffler of Atomic, have been touched by the Muses.  Their beauty, knowledge and passion have inspired the producers to create a celebratory masterpiece named in their honor: Muse."

The stated goal was to intoxicate the party revelers with "chic style, entertainment and food presentation"   They invited us to get lost in this "tantalizing menage à trois of food, drink and style with 9 unique stations"

and away we scroll...

Surface Grooves designed and fabricated 

all the fabulous signage featured throughout 

#CSES2014 #Muse at the Paris Hotel, Las Vegas

Marrakech Mule
absolut cilantro - lime - mint - cardamom - ginger ale

Welcome to MUSE !!

Grab a mule &

let's get started with a bit of shoe shopping...

famous quotes regarding shoes

"Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world." 

Marilyn Monroe 

"They went into my closets looking for skeletons, 

but thank G-d, all they found were shoes, beautiful shoes."

Imelda Marcos

"Shoes are the exclaimation point at the

end of a fashion statement."

Laurie Schecter

"A woman carries her clothes.  But the shoe carries the woman."

Christian Louboutin

"One simply can never have too many Choux !"

Bee-Actress 

"Who among us confesses to a Choux Fetish?"

Queen Bee

We confess... WE did indeed indulge OUR choux fetish at MUSE

and by now - buzzies know well, if there are red HOT shoes involved,
wink, wink, nudge, nudge,  say no more!!

A choux for every taste and size

thousands of "choux boxes"
filled with 6 varieties of sweet + savory éclairs
produced by Donna Ford 
and her Sweet Memories Bakery team
were loaded and ready
for this innovative grab + go station

choux  = ˈʃu ... aka shoe

click here for pronunciation

the shoe storeroom was filled with self service
 delectable edible choux
DSW has nothing on this store!

There were too many flavors at MUSE to choose just one choux!

choux fetish 

- campy impish wording - divine delicious offerings -

ranging from savory to sweet with a cross-dressed 

nuance in food, labeling and decor...

the "Lady in Red" live manequin with his size 13 stillettos
indulged his choux fetish - all night long...

Cinda-Fella
proof that a new choux
can change your life

 The Choux Fetish- a  clever station setup 

utilizing glossy fire engine red bookcases

stacked with choux (shoe) boxes

where guests could utterly indulge their Choux Fetish.

so many choux but only two hands!

Donna Ford's beautifully packaged 

white cardboard choux boxes 

sported clever labeling 

with clean black writing 

on heavy white card stock, 

framed with red backings

 and attached with thin red satin ribbons.

Vellum paper

 encased each choux offering, 

mimicking the tissue paper 

one would find inside a shoe box.

When unveiled, a whimsically 

decorated choux pastry 

was revealed, 

readily devoured and enjoyed.

savory offerings included

Walking in My Choux

perfect puree chipotle 

sour pork carnitas, 

avocado cilantro crème, chicharróne

blood orange habañero mustard jam 

with chocolate cinnamon chili glaze

(savory)

Wingtip Choux
duck confit,

perfect puree thai basil panna cotta

yuzu pickled radish/ fresno chili,

tamarind ginger BBQ sauce(savory)

Crossing over between savory and sweet 

on the road to dessert...

"If the Choux Fits" 

with notes of ginger, 

blue cheese and green apple.

"A choux in the hand is worth two or three bites !"

Each type of choux was presented 

encased in a different color vellum paper, 

which unlike tissue paper 

withstood the moisture from the choux box contents.

If the Choux Fits

crystal ginger sugar 

dusted green apple gelee

blue cheese mousse/ candied walnuts

balsamic caramel glaze(savory-sweet)

Blue Suede Choux  

Peanut butter feuillentine,
banana cream

toasted marshmallows

maple glaze + brown sugar bacon(savory-sweet)

Traditionally eclairs made from choux pastry 

house sweet fillings - 

thus these next two choux offerings 

aimed to please the sweet tooth.

You know what they say

"there is always room for more choux"

Red Hot and Smokin' !

Goody 2 Choux  
zesty lemon curd,
blueberry marmalade
bronze meringue(sweet)

One Red Choux
key lime curd
coconut cream
caramelized pineapple flower
pink guava coulis(sweet)

A most excellent choux party
since the choux fit - we enjoyed them all!

Special floral glass bulbs with clusters of rose accents
are attached to the chandeliers.

Avant-garde signage and lighting 
enhance the sexy modern classic look!

STATIONS = EMPLACEMENTS 

Table to Farm

an amusing play on words 

table to farm animal stations 
crafted by Master Carpenter
Ed Titus, By Design Event Decor

Moo- Here's the BEEF:  
large block roquefort short plate
offered with anise poached pear
hibiscus flower crystallized walnuts,
+ air dried pepper coriander jerky

which came first? the chicken or the egg?
egg-cellent:  smoked paprika deviled custard
in miniature ceramic egg 'shells'

"never meet a pig I didn't like"
bee-actress

getting ready for the crowds and
setting up behind the scenes 

surface grooves customized
these laser cut trays and risers 

the table to farm stations were designed to flip
to a late night milkshake offerings after 10pm
flavored with perfect puree 
Cow:  White Peach Milkshake/brown sugar streusel
Pig:  Smoked Chipotle Milkshake/chocolate bacon crumble
Chicken: Honey Green Apple Milkshake/frozen egg custard, fresh origins basil crystals

Over the Top Party Linens 

chairs by Chameleon Chair Collection +  lounge furniture by Totally Mod

blush market salad station #cses2014 #muse
Todd Coleman, Event Chef, 
Catering By Design, Denver

salads were tossed just before guests arrived 
and pre-plated for easy grab and go access.

modern white disposable wave contemplate by emi yoshi

Over the Top Party Linens 

& chairs by Chameleon Chair Collection 

fantastic tongue in cheek signage
and industrial chic decor elements.

Underbelly's "Niçoise Oscar" short plates served in 
miniature garbage cans by American Metalcraft
and echo the large metal garbage cans
used to prop up the station's table top. 

fantastic tongue in cheek signage 
Both the American Metalcraft vessel used for the shortplate, 
(called the Oscar) 
and nicoise oscar pay tribute to Oscar the Grouch 
who lived in a garbage can.

Over the Top Party Linenshttp://www.overthetopinc.com/

...build it and they will come....
master carpenter Ed Titus, 
by design event decor

Over the Top Party Linenshttp://www.overthetopinc.com/

oblong white disposable wave contemplate by emi yoshi

skyline lighting

BEEHIVE/absolut citron, honey infused mojito, fresh lime

BOUFFANT/absolut kurant, yuzu luxe sour, lavender sprig

FRENCH BRAID/passionfruit, pomegranate, blood orange braid, absolut, lemon/lime sparkle

SHAG/absolut vanilla, thai basil black pepper sour, thai basil sprig

While some were getting their buzz-on, Bee-Actress
was buzzin' around behind the bar, beehive atop her head...
what you don't see above is...she also had one in each hand!

lights up - time to strike the props and go home folks

Lighting by Skyline Lighting/  Over the Top Party Linens /

chairs by Chameleon Chair Collection +  lounge furniture by Totally Mod

the revolving digital slide shows offered both menu and design

attention retro chic white powder coated chafer fans
remember these retro chic beauties from last year's event
LOVE how they were repurposed this year!

verterra eco friendly plate

orange ya glad we fished around this station !?!

show some sponsor love
(see full list  with links at end of blog)

customized interlocking ying yang bowls - surface grooves

YES, you are seeing double
especially after one of those
speciality cocktails from S'Wig...
Gal pal bees take 
a wee rest before 
resuming their social (media) tasks...

Lighting by Skyline Lighting/  

+  lounge furniture by Totally Mod

many a Muse among these bevy of beauties 

^Grill Pardner- cool design^

mini iron look a like 

dutch pots + reflection forks by EMI YOSHI

eye candy galore - are those the mechanics ?

Over the Top Party Linens

chairs by Chameleon Chair Collection 

Mecanique Lounge 
& Dance area

'Luzianna gal pal, Bee-Actress said 
the Country Homestyle Placemats 
curled her hair and took her back 
to that 50's diner kinda feeling!

cheers to the Catering by Design team
for yet another successful Catersource Monday night event!

Thanks for tuning into
the caterbuzz.com social media network
Hopefully you've enjoyed our coverage of
the Monday night Catersource MUSE event
as much as we enjoyed covering it it for y'all.

click here for catering by design's

Animoto video of the event 

Didn't find yourself amongst these photos??

check out the caterBuzz social media blogpost 

with the roll-e-bee and the roving bee photos

for coverage of 

#CSES2013 Monday night event 

Harmony at the Hard Rock

click here for part I and here for part II

bZzzzzzz....see YOU in the hive - if you are a professional caterer, join us on facebook in the caterBuzz group or email queenbee@caterbuzz.com for further details on how to become a caterBuzz member. 

The caterBuzz social media team wants you to consider caterBuzz as your traveling eye for inquisitive catering professionals around the globe.  Sharing and learning from each other as only like minded professional caterers can do, through pictures, industry stories, probing questions and detailed answers, available here on www.caterBuzz.com and also on our facebook caterBuzz group page, a private forum for the experienced professional catering community.  Contact Lisa for more details.    

Contact Lisa Teiger for more details.
Queenbee@caterbuzz.com

Blog Credits:

MUSE was 

Produced by 

Denver's Catering by Design Owner 

and Executive Producer Cade Nagy 
and Creative Director Dan Smith 
Atomic 
in conjunction with Catersource
at the 2014 Catersource Convention and Tradeshow

Venue:
The Paris Hotel, Las Vegas

CaterBuzz.com Blogger Team:  

Lisa Teiger, QueenBee, caterBuzz.com

   Co-Owner, CuisinEtc Catering and Events NYC

Dianne Evans, Bee-Actress, caterBuzz.com

   Owner, Best Catered Events, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Andrew Alexander-Crossan, Ops Manager, caterBuzz.com

   Co-Owner, CuisinEtc Catering and Events NYC

Looking for the sources of these unique and creative products

provided by the Catersource sponsors for the MUSE event. 

Here you go....

VENDORS/SPONSORS:
Accent Decor
Vases and Accent Piece

American Beverage Marketers
all the mixers at the bar

American Metalcraft

Welcome Beverage: Moroccan  Tumbler: 

Table to Farm: Plates, stainless steel cups, pizza pans

Underbelly: Sauce pans, mini trash cans

Blush: Buffet

Choux Fetish: Triple tier trays

Fondue or Fondant:  La Pouche Chaud: Parchment liners

All bars: Martini shakers and muddlers
All stations: stanchion signs

Backdrops Beautiful

French street scene in the Grand Salon

Barefoot Wine & Bubbly 
all wine

The Boston Beer Company
all beer at the beer stations
Mécanique: beer for braising

CambroManufacturing 

Welcome Beverage: Bulk beverage containers

Underbelly, Mécanique: Hot Box

La Pouche Chaude:  Camshelving

S'Wig: Bulk beverage containers

Chameleon Chair Collection

Chairs

Champagne Creative Group

Greeters, living topiary

digital body paint photo booth

Chef Rubber 

Table to Farm:  Seasonings

Duck + Bao, La Pouche Chaude: salts, 

Choux Fetish: colorings and seasonings
food pastes, glucose, sour

S'Wig:  Honey powder

Cigar Row
cigar station

EMI Yoshi 

Welcome Beverage: Cups
All bars:  Drinkware

Blush:  comtemPLATE
Mécanique:  Mini Dutch pots and forks
S'Wig, Water Station: Cups

Duck + Bao, Underbelly : forks
Fondue or Fondant: comtemPLATE tray and casserole

Table to Farm: mini forks + spoons

Floral Couture

Las Vegas Floral & Plant Wholesale

All flowers and floral arrangements

Fresh Origins
Edible flowers, microgreens, herbs and greens at all stations

Grill Pardners
Mécanique: Round Griddles

Key Artist Group
Crystal Siren - Living Fountain

Mercer Cutlery
Table to Farm, La Pouche Chaude: Knives and serviceware
Duck + Bao, Blush:  Serviceware

The Original Butt Sketch
Sketches

Over the Top Party Linens
all table linens and chair covers

The Perfect Puree of Napa Valley
Choux Fetish, Table to Farm: Purees
Welcome drink, S'Wig:  Beverage Artistry Blends

Pernod Ricard absolut.com

Absolut Vodka,  Jameson Whiskey, Malibu Rum, Beefeater Gin

Pick on Us

Duck and Bao, Table to Farm, Fondue or Fondant, all bars:  Picks

Red Bird Farms

Mécanique,  Fondue or Fondant, La Pouche Chaude: chicken

Skyline Lighting

all lighting

SternoCandleLamp 

Duck and Bao, Mécanique: canned fuel

Fondue or Fondant: Chafers and fuel

Fuel for all stations

Surface Grooves

Welcome sign

Table to Farm:  Platters and elevation

Duck + Bao:   Custom bowls

Choux Fetish, La Pouche Chaude, S'Wig: Custom signs

Underbelly: Custom trays

Blush:  Custom bowls and signs

Mécanique:  Custom  display piece

Sweet Memories Bakery

Choux Fetish:  Eclairs

Totally Mod

All lounge furniture

VerTerraDinnerware

Duck + Bao:  Mini Trays

La Pouche Chaude: Plates