Client: Betaworks

Event: Dinner for 30 guests

Betaworks is one of my recurring clients in Manhattan and I honestly never know what kind of event I’m walking into when I cater. That’s part of the fun! This evening was a brainstorming session for a new publication, and I liked listening to the guests discuss how they would approach it. In turn, I hope the big, colorful appetizers helped see their ideas in a new light.

As guests arrived, they were greeted by a cheese and charcuterie grazing spread. I was very lucky to source my locally cheese from C. Hesse in Brooklyn. Dinner was based on an idea my aunt gave me a long time, “Filipino Noveau,” familiar Filipino dishes imagined in new, family-style ways. Atchara as a large format papaya salad instead of a condiment, steamed Jasmine rice mixed with fresh dill, sous vide kare-kare chicken garnished with pomegranate seeds, carne frita as a sous vide skirt steak with fried onions, banana leaf wrapped salmon filets, and wild adobo braised mushrooms.

For dessert, I called on my friends at Solid Wiggles for a decorative jelly dessert sampler. They are a low-ABV option at only 5%. I also put out a large tray of fun Asian fruits and two adaptations from Di An: fish sauce chocolate chip cookies with almond extract (instead of vanilla) and saba banana bread with white chocolate. It was pure joy answering questions about the various dishes and introducing Filipino concepts to folks who might not have known about them.