I catered for the first time when I was a junior in high school – it was a dinner at a family’s townhouse in Brooklyn and I got a last minute request that the dinner be vegan. All I remember was that I made some kind of fava bean dip topped with marinated beets… to be quite honest the earthy beets and the farty fava beans made for an experience reminiscent of eating garbage… I have cooked many large scale dinners in the time between 2019 and now, practice is always a good thing, but last night was the first time I catered at school for peers. It was exhilarating. I was frazzled. I was not as prepared as I could’ve been, and maybe because I am slightly out of practice of the large-scale-dinner, I was exhausted – It was all very informative. The event was for an art journal on campus headed by my dear friend George.

What the process looked like: Well, the same goes for any dinner. I start by thinking about what’s in season (what will be at the farmer’s market), what flavors will work well together, how colors will be represented on the table, and textures too. Then, usually at that point I’ll have one dish that I’ve set my mind on – in this case I really wanted to make herby meatballs? (So weird.) And then I’ll plan the rest of the menu around the flavor and (sorry to use this word, but) the vibe of that dish. My mom let me use her prop plates so I went to her studio and got to choose which I wanted to take (also great fun). The menu went through a few renditions, list three is the finalized version: 

1. Squash galette 

Big greens salad w herbs

Small meatballs in a not tomato based sauce… 

Baked rice w mint, pomegranate feta

Olive oil apple cake w whipped yogurt 

2. Crudite, potato chips, dinner rolls 

Anchovy butter, curried sweet potato dip 

Herby spiced meatballs w salsa verde 

Crisp fall salad 

Chargrilled broccoli w chili and garlic 

Roast potatoes with aioli

Squash and shallot galette 

Olive oil cake 

3. Crudite, potato chips, pizza bianca

Spiced salt 

Curried kuri squash dip w cannellini beans 

Green goddess 

Roasted eggplant with scallion and goat cheese

Crispy fall salad 

Meatballs with salsa verde 

Roast potatoes with aioli

Olive oil cake, roasted grapes w elderflower, and mascarpone 

What I ended up bringing: spiced salt - salt mixed with paprika, guajillo and ancho chili powders, aleppo, celery seed, and garlic powder; a curried red Kuri squash and cannellini bean dip with fried sage and urfa; roasted and lightly marinated eggplant with loads of scallions and goat cheese; green goddess dip; a crisp fall salad – think apples, brussels sprouts, celery, endive, manchego with a lovely red onion laden vinaigrette; roasted potatoes with aioli; herby spiced meatballs with an anchovy salsa verde; and finally three (pretty cute) gluten and dairy free olive oil cakes with elderflower roasted grape sauce and mascarpone. It was a beautiful spread… if I may say so… 

What I learned: a lot, but I need to process, and that processing probably won’t all be here; If anything big comes to mind, though, I’ll be sure to report it. Until then, a humungo thank you to George and JAC – from the incredibly professional emails, to the sauna planning, I’m really incredibly grateful.