Special Events | Fall 2024

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VOLUME 22, NUMBER 3 FALL 2024

features 12....PLANNING THE PERFECT POP-UP Caterers are increasingly tapping into the popularity of pop-up events, experiences, and dinners.

COVER STORY

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departments 04....FOREWORD Changes complete

28....ON THE MENU Caterers can score big business with elevated takes on game day favorites 32....SUCCESSFUL SELLING The psychology of selling: understanding customer behavior and decision-making . 3 4....IN THE GLASS All about ombre: Visually stunning layered cocktails are grabbing the attention of guests . 3 8....CATERING TO DIVERSITY Essential tips for a flawless quinceañera.

06....CONFERENCE NEWS Registration for Catersource + The Special Event 2025 is now open! 08....ICA’S THE DISH Challenging catering norms with this year’s Best Action Station or Buffet CATIE Awards finalists 10.....THE C-SUITE Supercharge professional development with these four questions 22....EVENT SOLUTIONS Proof of the Pudding takes home an ACE award with its event, War Eagle!

Behind the Cover The Earthen Rosebud is an imaginative interpretation of a Greek salad featuring a rose fashioned from yellow and red beetroot and baked in a crust of salt and juniper berries. Greek yogurt labneh and a rose petal paste combine with Concord grape gel, and is further elevated by ice vinegar. Completing the course is a brittle of Sicilian pistachio and rare white Jaguar cocoa seeds. Aged balsamic pearls and white alyssum flowers provide the finishing touch. The dish was served as part of Chef de Cuisine Dennis Efthymiou’s Cornucopia Eight-Course Degustation Menu at Luce, a signature restaurant at the InterContinental San Francisco Hotel. Turn to page 4 4 for more inspiration on how to turn food into art. Photo courtesy InterContinental San Francisco Hotel

4 4....STEAL THIS A feast for the eyes

26....FROM THE CONSULTANTS Components of sustainable catering, part 3

FALL 2024 ■ CATERSOURCE

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