Catering * WS 2003

Treating wedding guests like Oscar winners is the special expertise of Wolfgang Puck, one of America's pre-eminent chefs, caterers and restaurateurs.

For 20 years, Wolfgang Puck Catering and Events, the official caterers for events at the Grand Ballroom or Highlands Night Club at the Kodak Center in Hollywood, home of the Oscars, has brought the total restaurant experience from service to hors d'oeuvres through desserts to the catering environment, regardless of the size of the guest list or the location. Orders are taken at the table from a choice of two or three entres. Special "off the menu" requests such as vegetarian, salmon, chicken or even meat dishes also can be prepared. Low-fat or no-salt salads and vegetables are available; food allergies or religious restrictions can be accommodated, as well. Time-sensitive desserts like souffls are also possible.

While known for his generosity in listening to brides and accommodating their desires, Puck feels strongly about using only fruits and vegetables in season in California or occasionally nearby New Mexico. As a result, Sherry Yard, his Executive Pastry Chef and winner of the prestigious James Beard 2002 and Bon Aptit 2000 Pastry Chef awards, playfully describes herself as a forager in addition to pastry chef!

"I love the way the seasons change," Puck explains. "In spring there are new things like white asparagus, in summer tomatoes and in fall truffles. The flow of the seasons is the most beautiful way to eat."

In asking any caterer, even one with a large repertoire, to cook a particular ethnic cuisine, Puck advises brides to be flexible. "Different caterers are good for different things. If someone asks for Mexican food, I say that I don't like cooking Mexican," so his advice is to make sure the caterer wants and likes to work with the food chosen.

Puck regards it as a mistake to think of foods like pizza as informal and other foods like caviar as formal, saying simply, "Good pizza is fabulous, bad caviar is awful. Whatever you make, whatever level you cook at, get the best possible ingredients. If you can only cook meatballs and spaghetti, make it the best meatballs and spaghetti."

In catering a recent Hollywood wedding, elegant white tables and glassware provided the setting for a Southern cuisine of beef short ribs, fried chicken, fried green tomatoes and macaroni and cheese. Moroccan-style receptions feature big long tables. Whole roasted chickens and legs of lamb are paraded before guests and then taken away for carving.

He advises brides not to think only about their own food preferences in choosing a menu, but also those of family and friends. He notes that while soy products, sushi and other raw fish are popular with younger people, they should not be served as a first course to allow for the preferences of older guests. If a buffet is chosen, Puck recommends one preset course such as a salad, to let everyone sit down and avoid long waits in line. Choices should be made among foods that keep up well; for pasta, tortellini or ravioli is preferable.

Known for playful presentations, Puck still always treats the food as "the most important thing." To recreate the fine dining experience of Spargo's, his legendary Beverly Hills flagship restaurant, Puck prepares everything at the last minute through careful organization and a substantial labor force. He strongly advises against being skimpy on either food or labor. For sit-down dinners, he plans for at least 25 percent extra food, while for buffets, he ups that margin to at least 50 percent.

"It's the whole package-the food, service, drink, everything-you don't want to run out of anything," he warns.

Carl Schuster, president of Wolfgang Puck Catering and Events, estimates that typically one waiter is needed for every 10 guests, one bartender to every 50 to 75 guests, one manager or captain to every 100 guests and one culinary for every 20 people. However, if the kitchen is distant, even more staff is needed...

Written by Fruma Efreom; Photography by Ron Manville