Awards, Inspiration, Education, Recognition and Ironing.

It was that time of year again, time to pack up, go to Vegas, and take on the world’s largest catering conference; Catersource and Event Solutions.

As you may or not know, I applied for a scholarship through the ICA, and was successful! The ICA sponsored my gala tickets, education package, and money towards travel and hotel. Needless to say I was delighted to have been given such an opportunity!

The Conference was held at the new Cosmopolitan hotel, which was jaw dropping. Or as Joanne said… it was “sexual” They had amazing led displays, mirrors everywhere, sleek modern furniture, and that was just the lobby! The rooms were just as impressive, with nice firm mattresses, Samsung widescreen televisions. Then you had the bathroom; the shower was a room in itself! A huge black tile shower with great pressure, and a tall full-length window that showed into the bedroom…. That’s right, a window into the shower from the bedroom…. Creepy? Luckily there was a blind, but it was on the bedroom side! So if you had strange friends that would have a fascination in pranking you, this would be ideal.

I had the fortune of sharing a room with Mr. Art of seduction himself, Patrick “Paterico” Sullivan. It wasn’t until I was led on my bed and turned my head to the side and saw “Paterico” eyeing himself up in the mirror in the bathroom, that I noticed this window problem. I looked for no more than a second, where he then turned and caught me looking! We both laughed and said, that has to stop straight away… Vegas was getting weird already.

Sharing a room with Patrick was definitely an experience. First off he has a heart of gold, and is very considerate. On the other hand he is very particular. Everything has a place and everything is folded to perfection. Also, if you ever need anything, he has it… the awards night (which I will get to later) was a suit and tie situation, and I left my navy tie at home! So I was going to go tieless. Paterico steps up and says “hold that thought”… head first into his suitcase he goes, and pulls out a rainbow of ties, every color and pattern you can think of, and points out a navy one and says “how about that one?” of course it was the exact tie I was thinking of. You need it, he’s got it.

Oh! And Lets not forget his ironing skills. He is probably the only person I know that would travel with a tin of starch… He does benefit from it though… you could cut vegetables on the ironed creases of his shirts!

So on Sunday, February 27th we all arrived, and went along to the main ballroom to help out Dan Smith and Joanne Purnell with their seminar “Dazzling Appetizers and Zazzy Beverages for the Cocktail Hour”

So in steps server Aaron Kaniecki in his finest black bistro to take the stage, while Pauline Parry, along with friends and fellow professionals Marcy Blum and Eddie Zaratsian took stage to try all the cocktails and appetizers provided by Dan and Jo. Meanwhile behind the scenes Patrick Sullivan is proving he is a man of many trades by making celery caviar.

So yet again with Good Gracious! you end up in positions you never dreamt of, not at one point while signing my visa papers, did I think I would be on stage in Vegas in front of hundreds of people…

Now my sole purpose in this seminar is to take either appetizers or cocktails from Dan and Jo (point A) over to Pauline, Eddie and Marcy at their lounge (point B). The distance between point A and point B is about 10 feet, but that distance in front of hundreds of fellow professionals turns to 100 feet, the drinks turn into ice on your tray wanting to slide everywhere, and what is usually a steady hands in placing appetizers on the table, turns into a trembling mess…. It’s a little bit different under pressure…

As if that wasn’t enough… Pauline Parry, my loving, wonderful, understanding, low maintenance boss, if you didn’t already know, is my Aunty. And if you were at Catersource this year, and specifically at Jo and Dan’s seminar, you would of learnt this information. She just decided to mention it when I was in the middle of walking the 100mile gap, while shaking like a leaf carrying slippery cocktails…. Now everyone’s eyes are on me!

“Everyone I would like to introduce you to Aaron, he is our Brit who is on a two year training visa with us, and he is working very hard to stay here permanently and also received the ICA scholarship award, oh and did I mention he is my nephew….” (Applause, applause, applause)

All I could do is let out a nervous smile and a wave, which now looking back on it was a bit like the queens wave. The things you do under pressure.

Needless to say the seminar was a huge success, with people crowding around the stage at the end to try and get just a few seconds with the speakers.

Monday arrives, and it is time for me to get to my ICA duties. Part of the deal for attaining the scholarship, is to volunteer to man the ICA inspiration zone, the lounge and the tradeshow floor booth. The ICA wanted to achieve 100 new members, and to get as many current members as possible to re-sign during this conference.



It felt so good to be able to give back to the organization that had given me such a golden opportunity, so I wanted to get as many new members as possible.

First of all I needed to get accustomed to the area I was in. This first time around I manned the ICA Inspiration Zone, which was filled with 5000 hours worth of work. This was in the form of pictures, examples, menus and much more. People could walk up, pick up a binder that tickled their fancy, and have a good look through and hopefully become “inspired”. New members to the ICA would receive a disk containing all the information within these binders, or people could bring their own USB Flash drives and download the information for themselves. Having such a brilliant area to work from made it easy to sell. The reason to sign up was there in front of you! It was down to me to slap the icing on the cake and make them sign!

Through the experience in the Inspiration Zone I managed to get a few new members! Not only that, I got to have a chat with some key ICA players, such as Jody Wimer, Pat Christofolo and Richard Kalnins. Probably the biggest compliment came from Pat. I said to the group that I had to leave to attend a class, and Pat responded “are you sure you can’t stay? You seem to be a natural at this, you are talking as if you have been on the board your whole life!”

Hearing those words from such a well-accomplished and respected caterer was a definite confidence boost.

Of course Catersource is all about education, and boy do they have it in abundance, classes going all day, every day from every topic you can think of.

So for me at this moment I am interested in sales, client relationships, social media and marketing aspect of the event industry. So I went along to “Story Selling” by Cliff Schamber of Marriott International who did a fantastic job. This class was about incorporating story telling into your sales pitches, this develops a relationship with the client, demonstrating that you are talking from experience, therefore they have reason to trust you. Very interesting.

Other classes I went to included “You Made The Sale, Now What!?” by Frank Christian from Festivities Catering, “Making Money with Meryl – Design” by Meryl Snow from Festivities Events, “How to Effectively Manage Social Media” by Jeff Hurt from Velvet Chainsaw, and many more.

Though all these classes were great, the one thing I will take away is the people I networked with. The great thing about Catersource is everyone is there for a good time and to make friends, so finding people to hang out with is pretty easy.



I managed to meet some very interesting and knowledgeable people within our industry, such as Kristina Raines of A Joy Wallace Catering Production. Kristina was such a warming person, very “cheeky” as we say in England, and had a great sense of humor. I think she didn’t stop making fun of me when we were first introduced… so of course I gave some back! I enjoy a good banter. Of course there were some of the seasoned Catersource goers, Joanne Purnell keeping the tempo high with her partner in crime Ken Barrett, Pauline Parry doing her Pauline Parry thing, and then there was new edition Josh Parker from Verterra, who had a suite and held late night parties for everyone! (there were some interesting nights there…. But hey what happens in Vegas…)

One thing I also found, was following my recent visit to Kentucky for CaterArts, I recognized and knew a lot of people at the conference. Not to mention I got recognition from my oh so confident performance on stage on Sunday… People would come up to me and say “you’re Aaron right?”
ME: “yes I am…” (not having a clue who they are)
STRANGER: “we saw you on stage! Great job!”
ME: “ummm… thanks?”
STRANGER: “let me buy you a beer…”

celebrity overnight.

Now at this conference there is an award ceremony, called the Spotlight and CATIE Awards, which are national recognitions for caterers and producers alike. Let me start off by stating that there was a food I had never tried before… something so obscure, so different so strange yet so good… lion. Yes, I ate lion. It has a strange salty taste, and you cannot help but squint when eating it because you know what is in your mouth! Oh well, an experience nonetheless.


Back to the awards, Good Gracious! had two CATIE nominations, first was Dan Smith for Innovation and Mixology, which he went on to successfully win, and another for Best Table Top Design with Michelle Nowak, Sadly we were unable to secure this one, but still an amazing achievement to be nominated.



Also we were all eagerly anticipating one of the pinnacle moments of Pauline Parry’s career, where she was going to be inducted into the Event Solutions Hall of fame for 2011.

Bob Estrin, long-term friend of Pauline, and previous recipient of the Hall of Fame Award was the person to introduce the catering diva to the stage. As he mentioned her name, the whole room erupted… whistles, screams, chanting all for one person.

A huge sense of pride overwhelmed me not only because she is my boss, but also because she is my aunty. To be involved in business with her is such a pleasure, and an amazing opportunity. I am so proud to be part of the Good Gracious! Team.

As she stood up there, she owned the stage, a slight quiver as she first grabbed the microphone… but that was soon surpassed with fabulous stories and advice. As she read off each page of her speech, she would throw it behind her, as if to say lets move forward. Reflecting her personality perfectly if you ask me. Always looking to move forward with purpose and direction.

It was a proud night for all. If you have time, see Pauline accepting her award below.



Later on in the conference the ICA (International Caterers Association) had their Annual General Meeting, which is where I would be receiving my scholarship award. There were great speeches made by all, and a few other recognitions given out. One of which was unexpectedly given to me?! I received a Star Award for my helping hand in CaterArts, I was completely shocked and deeply humbled by the award.

Not only that, there was one other surprise to come. Pauline Parry, once again being praised and recognized for her amazing achievements, by receiving the ICA John Mossman Award, which has only been given out a hand full of times in the 30 year history of the ICA. The award demonstrates dedication of service towards the ICA.



An emotional Pauline stood up to accept her award and was speechless; it was so great to see her friends recognizing her and her dedication to the job she so dearly loves.

Finally, the trade show floor… I needed a map to get from one end to the other… IT WAS MASSIVE! You walk through and you have everything from fine cuisine, to big trucks. Video games to live bands, it had everything! No wonder this is the largest catering conference in the world! If you can’t find what you are looking for here there you just aren’t going to find it.

Catersource was unbelievable… stimulating, educational, emotional, tiring but worth every single penny. From Catersource you are sure to find one person you connect with, you will find new tricks to move your company forward, you will see how designs were done when you didn’t think they were possible!

I would like to thank Pauline for encouraging me to progress and presenting me with such amazing opportunity, the ICA for granting me a scholarship so I can take part in this amazing conference, and all the people who shared their knowledge and experiences with me.

Key Learning Points:

• Paterico is a, party manager, bar tender, chef, caviar producer, driver, human resources, womanizer, ironing expert and a pretty decent guy to share a room with.
• Pauline Parry IS a catering super megastar
• You can eat lion
• Networking is good for everyone, no matter what your position is
• Knowledge is key; attending classes is nothing short of positive.
• Doing is learning. Put your new skills into practice.
• Don’t look directly into the tickle hole

Why A Cow?.... Why not?

Working with Good Gracious! Events is never dull, someway or another GG! gets involved in some experimental, inspiring projects. Well this was defiantly one for the books.

GG! volunteered to contribute to a wedding gallery which was going to be presented by WIPA (Wedding Industry Professionals Association) at The Special Event in Phoenix in January 2011.

To conjure up this creation, four A – type personalities came together, along with their colleagues, in order to devise a gallery so unique, so amazingly different, that it would be the talk of the show. These four personalities were Pauline Parry of Good Gracious! Events, Eddie Zartsian of Tic – Tock Couture Florals, Vanessa Rockafellow of Cachet Wedding Designs, and Erin O’Donnell of BBJ Linen. Of course a special mention goes out to Dan Smith and Michelle Nowak of GG! who also contributed to the project.

Now where do I come in?

Well you should first of all know, that where I am sat in the GG! office is perfect so I can see Patrick in his office, all he has to do is lean forward in his chair and we can make eye contact… Now in the office with Patrick is our wonderful, amazing Vice President Martha Perez. So when most discussions occur, they do so in her office. Dan Smith went into her office to discuss plans for Phoenix, meanwhile I am at my desk working hard, oblivious to what’s going on. Next thing I hear is giggling, and Dan smith leaning over so he can see me at my desk wearing a cheeky grin… I of course look up and catch that “look” which always… ALWAYS means Dan has a wonderful, educational, purposeful task in mind for me…. Before I had a chance to ask what he needed I somehow had a suitcase in my hand, and I was being piled into the GG! cube truck in order to be the “muscle” of the operation.

Off we go to Arizona….



Traveling to Phoenix Arizona in the Cube truck was Dan, myself, what seemed like everything Rivre Works (rental furniture company in LA) has to offer, cheese, 12 wall panels, 6 large custom made frames, and much more… The point I am making is an already grueling 400 mile drive along the I-10 Freeway was not going to be made any quicker with all that furniture in the back!

With a bag stuffed with snacks and drinks, we decided to make the most of our time in the cube.



A short 7 hour drive later, we arrived in Phoenix, which to be honest can be better described as a ghost town. For a Sunday it looked dead. Not a person in the street, not a car on the road, just the sound of a street light buzzing

Of course upon our arrival, all Dan and I wanted to do was go up to our rooms and sleep, but typically it wouldn’t be a blog from me unless something went wrong right? The reservations which had been made for us, were not valid until the next day… So on the phone we get, calling Pauline, who calls Vanessa, who calls the hotel, who then tell us we are in fact staying in a different hotel for that night, and then moving back to the hotel we were currently in the next night. Nothing like more driving after a nice 7 hour haul…

The next day…. Set up.



Setting this gallery up was a real team effort. Our local carpenter Dennis Parry of DPC Woodwork and Bradley Delp were on hand to help us get the job done.

I at this point still wasn’t sure on how the room was going to come together, I mean I could see the furniture in the truck, I can see lots of random shapes, but how they are going to come together? I had no idea.

So Dennis Parry steps up to take the lead, we unload the truck in great time, all that’s left is to assemble the wall panels, load the frames, and then the surprise element. However, as in any catering job, you can only plan according to your surroundings… The same applies for design. We had hit a wall.

In this room we needed white carpet to be laid down, where we would then construct the walls onto. We waited 5 hours… 5 HOURS! For the carpet to arrive. We could not do any more until that was laid down. And 5 hours in catering time or design time is a day.

Finally the rental company arrives and provided what we needed, in steps the Aaron Kaniecki and Dennis Parry comedy construction duo. Those of you who may or may not know, Dennis is in fact my uncle, and we have had a previous experience with setting up these walls…

I realized upon this experience that I became a mind reader, Dennis would turn round and say “Son could you pass me the uh.. the uh…” and of course I would pass him the drill, or the screws, or the ladder, or just get out the way…

And there was plenty of “Son you are holding the wall wrong.” “Son you are passing me the screws wrong” And of course if he screwed something in wrong, dropped something, couldn’t find something…. “SSSOOONNN!!!!” you know who was to blame…

Of course this was all light hearted, and we actually got the walls set up in great time. Word of the day was Plum. Dennis would look over to me while holding the wall and say “Son is that plum?” “I don’t know Dennis I consider it more of a peach myself” to which he of course then explained how plum meant straight…

Now here is where it got interesting. The walls were set up, and mounted onto those walls were frames… then mounted onto the frames, were parts of cow… not real cow (like Lady Gaga's living room), polystyrene cow… as you can see from the pictures, it was split into three sections. I couldn’t help but say half way through… does any one else notice we are hanging a cow on the wall? It looked amazing though, the cow was 3D, just coming outside the frame, creating a modern art effect.



The 12 foot table was then constructed in the center of the room, florals came in, then the finale, the cheese cake. But not your typical cheese cake… a REAL cheese cake. The base was made with Parmesan, The next tier was three wheels of bri, Then a wheel of gouda, followed by a wheel of stilton. This was then decorated using hand made paper flowers from Mille Fiori. I had to hand it to the team, it was defiantly different…



The next day was the opening of the wedding gallery, and my oh my… what a reception… We were one of the first that people would see as they came through the doors. People would almost do a double take at our wall… come over to one of us and say… “excuse me.. is that a cow on the wall?”

“Yes” I would reply, one is Collin and the other is Isabelle, they fell madly in love on a trip to France…” People loved it.



Of course there was also a great response to our “Cheese Cake” People just loved the originality, snapping their cameras every second to take every detail home with them… the gallery was a great success.



The next day arrives, and it was time to break down. This time our local carpenter was no longer around to assist with the process, so it was up to me and my DIY skills to bring this thing down… and knowing Dennis Parry will be counting every screw, piece of wood and material, this process had go perfect…. “Gulp!”

Dan, myself and two fantastic helpers worked together to bring this gallery of amazing-ness down, and squeeze it back into our cube truck. Screw by screw, cow piece by cow piece, the gallery came down, and was done in record time! Dennis would have been proud… and I also proved my dad wrong! He used to say I wouldn’t know which way round to hold a hammer… PAH!

After an exhausting few hours, Dan and I looked at each other, and had the exact same thought… no words were needed… we both knew it was time for happy hour.

So quick shower, change and back out again to a local Irish pub we had been hearing about the whole trip. Seamus’ McCaffrey’s pub it was called…

Upon our arrival it was something I did not expect, out the shuttle we jumped to a an incredible reception… I thought I was a movie star for a moment… women screaming at me, screaming “We know you! we know you!” of course I look up, and struggle to see where the commotion is coming from. “WE KNOW YOU! WE KNOW YOU!” then right there in front of us, on the patio of this bar were young women… know I don’t mean to sound like a lad, but I have seen quite a few women in my time, and I couldn’t quite remember where I know these girls from. So I do what any other guy would do in that situation… Pretend like I did remember….

It wasn’t until someone at the back of the group was still screaming, and let out a cry “CaterArts!” the penny dropped. These are the people I met while we were in Kentucky for CaterArts! It suddenly all made sense! Which meant that along with these people would be our friend Kimberly Jones of Sullivan University.

So we went into the Irish bar, which was only next door, and gave Kim a call, where she then joined us for a cheeky beverage.

7 Pints for me and 9 Glasses of red wine for Dan later….we felt it was time to venture off and find the rest of our GG! family… next thing I remember, is waking up… Great night.

So following the crazy unload, the frantic set up, the confused questions, the amazing break down, and the intense reloading of the truck, it was time for Dan and I to hit the road and begin our journey back to Los Angeles….

What started as a hesitant decision to go along, became one I was glad I had made. I learned so much from others in our industry, and now believe that A – Type personalities can come together to create the most amazing designs. The most humbling part, is when people would come back by our booth and say to us quietly “yours is the best…” Though that’s not the point, it’s always nice to hear.

Phoenix, Thanks for the memories.

Key Learning Points:

• Phoenix AZ, is a bloody long way from Los Angeles.

• You will be surprised what can fit into a cube truck with the right level of organization

• I do know which way round to hold a hammer

• Plum Means Straight

• Working with creative partners can result in amazing original innovative designs.

• Collin and Isabelle loved each other very much

• And if you are reading this, that means Dennis has counted the screws, got all of them back, along with his materials and tools… and therefore spared my life (Phew…)

20, 200, 350, 700...

Aaron Kaniecki - Rising star of GG! Events

B. E. T, formally known as Black Entertainment Television, was having a premier event, which was to feature two new programs. One called “Let’s Stay Together” and the other; “The Game”

As the saying goes, “When one door closes, another one opens” And in catering we believe this to be the case…. At least that’s what we think…

This event for BET couldn’t be a better example of just that.

With the New Year beginning, we wanted to hit the ground running, and our calendar for January looked pretty good. Our creative director Dan Smith had a small event in the first week for twenty people, which was pretty much ready to go. Then, out of no where it was canceled… Great, not even a week into the year and people are canceling parties…The door was closed on that one.

Then, another opened…

In the form of a telephone call from the television network BET, asking for us to design and cater for their premier event in the Directors Guild of America for 200 people. Now that’s an improvement!

What was great for me is that Dan asked me to go along to the walk through with the client, which was in fact only two days before the actual event.

So on the walk through we went, the client was very easy to work with, they just told us what they perceived as the ends result, and we can do whatever we want in order to make it happen.

They said "we heard that you are the best, so we trust your judgment" That's refreshing to hear...

So we were talking through some details, when the DJ for the event arrived. He then asked a key question… How many people again? The client turned round to Dan and I slowly saying “oh yeah… I need to mention something about that… its gone up to 350..”

No problem on our end, we were loving the fact that the count had gone up. The extras then followed, a VIP lounge, bars, a dance floor, GOBO’s, florals, the lot!

Our Custom Made BET GOBO

Dan and I left the directors guild with cheeky smiles.

So back to the office we went, where phone calls had to be made to the relevant vendors to ensure we can in fact accommodate all the guests.

The day before the event arrives, and more of the same… phone calls, planning and organizing. Then, Just before Dan Smith was about to leave the office that evening, the phone rings…

“umm, Dan… The count has gone up again… up to 700 people…”

So back on the phones, we need more liquor, more food, more rentals, more everything! But of course being the professional company we are, we make it happen.

One thing the client did stress is that these people know how to party… so be prepared.

Party day arrived, and I went along to the event site with Dan to set up. There were several different companies, in the same space working together like a well oiled machine. The step and repeat area was up in no time, with the red carpet rolled out. The florist were ready to go, the rental company were bringing in furniture by the second... it was all coming together.

Time for the event.

The event kicked off, with the celebrities dripping in slowly but surely through the step and repeat area. Cameras flashing, people screaming out questions, not to mention the stilts.. sorry I mean heels the women were wearing. The women were walking about eight feet tall on the red carpet, with super short skirts and a can of hairspray.

The Step and Repeat area

They moved straight into the screening rooms so we could then set up buffets and champagne.

The event ran so smoothly, and great credit goes to Patrick Sullivan of GG! with his new Service system. Everyone knew where they had to be and when. No one was asking silly questions, no one was waiting for something to do, it just worked.

Patrick Sullivan's New Service Dynamic

When I agreed to be involved in this event, I thought BET was just another struggling network on American television, full of aspiring actors waiting for their big break… That just shows how naïve I am.

Before I knew it I was serving champagne to the likes of Brandy, Ray Jay, and Eriq La Salle… There were several other faces I recognized but I’m afraid I cannot recall their names!

Ray Jay and Brandy

The event was a hit, the food was going, the liquor was going quicker.. The DJ was playing music I have never heard of, yet everyone else in the room knew. At one point there was a rap song on, and I was trying to ask this lady, who must have been in her 60’s, if I could take her glass… I might as well of been talking to the plants. She had no idea I was there.. she had her eyes closed, head tilted back, swaying from side to side rapping every word from this song… that was an alien experience. After the sixth or seventh time of asking I just took the glass.

The DJ Booth

When I thought I had seen it all, the DJ then played a track called “Cupid Shuffle” And everyone from the age of 14 to 60 was on the dance floor in their stilts or extravagantly noisy shirts, getting down to this song. And for those of you who may not know the song, there is a dance to it, which every one of these people were doing, in sync, step for step.

The Cupid Shuffle

Of course being from a small town I’m not used to seeing such behavior. I couldn't help but watch... instead of concentrating on the glasses I was picking up, I was watching the dance WHILE picking up glasses!

The DJ then called it a day and started packing away his equipment, and for the GG! staff the breakdown was efficient as ever.

You know you have done your job, when the client comes running up to you, gives you a big hug, and says “I can’t wait till next time” And that’s exactly what happened….. To Dan.

It was a real pleasure to work with the clients and all other vendors involved, and I just loved being involved from start to finish. Let’s keep these parties coming!

KEY LEARNING NOTES:

• Be prepared for changes and to adapt at any given moment.
• BET is in fact NOT a small network; it is very much at large!
• 60 year old women know how to rap.
• Inform ALL vendors of any changes, even if you feel it might not affect them, so you are all on the same page.
• Patrick’s new service dynamic works!

Absolut Cocktails and Courses

When trying to sustain yourself in the USofA or in fact any country, you are going to need money. Rent, car payments, health insurance, utilities, gas money, car insurance…. As you all know it’s not cheap! So any chance I get to work an event I do so. Not to mention the priceless educational value from working on event sites….

So Patrick, in his usual enthusiastic tone said to me, “Aaron! You want in on this one?” of course I always have to ask him, who, what, where, when and why, even after that I’m not always convinced... But he said, “We are providing the service, it should be nice and smooth”

Well once I heard who the event was for, I was on board. The event was sponsored by Absolut Vodka, and the food was done by none other than Grant Achatz, owner of three Michelin stars and Alinea restaurant in Chicago! Finally, Bamboo events from London were the organizers… I guess you are now asking, what did Good Gracious! do? Because food is taken care of, they already have an organizer? We were in fact drafted in to do the production for the event, and to serve the food.



The event was for bartenders from the Los Angeles area, to develop their knowledge on vodka, and to provide inspiration for original, exotic and exciting new cocktails. They had speakers, seminars, and about a million different types of vodka.

With that in place, lets start at the beginning.

The day before the event, Patrick and I had to go over to the event site in order to drop off some of the hardware. “Between the two of us we will get this done in no time” Patrick says, “Easy” I remember him saying…

We arrived on site with our 11 ft 6 inch cube truck, which for some strange reason didn’t fit into the 10ft entrance? Right there is problem number one. So we thought we would park just outside the car park entrance and move everything in, however there was nothing but red curbs around the entrance... That’s problem number two. So we had to park across the street where there was meter parking… No quarters, I believe that makes number three. Upon finding some quarters, we opened the truck and started to unload onto our cart.

So with that one cart, stacked high with kitchen goods, we had to roll it across the street, up the curb, and then into the parking lot. We then asked the parking attendant where we needed to go, he pointed to the right… and you could see a sloping tunnel going further underground. So down this steep swooping slope we go, with cars wanting to pass us, Patrick nearly standing parallel to the floor trying to stop the cart from going down the slope too fast, and there is me behind pulling the cart attempting to achieve the same effect… glorious. Once at the bottom of the slope, we rolled around another corner, then into the service elevator. Squeezing everything we could in, including the cart, we went up to the 7th floor. Then just outside the elevator we were there! We had finally reached the rooms where the event was going to be held… now just to go back and bring the rest of the stuff up…

The day of the event arrives, and my wonderful, amazing boss Pauline Parry was on site from early in the morning. Along with our newest recruit Michelle Nowak, who was running her first event under the Good Gracious! name.

All morning I was working like crazy in the office in order to get my work done so I could go and help out with the event. Well that was short lived…

The phone rings and its Pauline, “Aaron darling!” Say no more… I know I am going to be doing something other than what I had planned…

“We need your help… can you drive to the event site, pick up this container, then drive to Azusa and pick up the valves and pumps needed in order to get it working, then drive back and drop it off here?” “Of course Pauline!” see how I have learned that response, no thinking time, no pondering, just an instinctive answer. Bosses LOVE that.

So off I went, unknown to me Azusa was that far away! Into the middle of nowhere I drove, with this tin receptacle, to see some bloke about a pipe…

After talking to this guy, who was very helpful, I managed to get the pieces I was looking for. But of course it came at a price. As usual I couldn’t just have a normal every day quiet individual, I had to listen to the gentleman’s life story, about how he came to be in this industry, how long he has been in it for. Then he wanted to ask me a million and one questions, where are you from then? How long have you been working here? With every sentence I couldn’t help but look at the clock thinking how I should be on the road!

Anyway, the car was packed up with everything I needed and off I went.

Time for the event… I walk into the cocktail hour room with my hands full of bags and uniform, and all I see running towards me is Pauline, looking at me saying, “We need bar fruit!”
“of course Pauline let me just put this down and then I will get some for you”
“we need some bar fruit now!” at that point it is drop everything and find fruit at all costs.

Every person that was at the event was a complete professional. Everyone wanted the event to run as smoothly as possible. After all we were working with some of the best in the business.

The rooms looked fantastic, with modern lighting, white tables, chairs, walls, while serving some of the most outrageous cocktails I have ever seen.

Credit has to go to DPC woodwork, for if it wasn’t for their custom carpentry, the event space wouldn’t have had the sleek, modern yet intimate feel.

One major thing I did learn is the restaurant business is far different to catering. You could see why Grant Achatz had three Michelin stars because detail was everything. Every single glass was inspected and polished; every bowl was buffed to shine.

An interesting approach was what they asked me to do with the main dining table. This was a 40ft mirrored table, which of course bared some smudges. So one of the organizers asked Tryfon and myself to clean it down using a bottle of 100% Absolut vodka..? It broke my heart pouring all that liquor on the table just to get rid of smudges…. What a waste.



The night goes on and the GG! staff are assisting with setting up and breaking down of the seminar room. Setting up was one thing, but breaking down was another… They had vodka sampling, a long with wine, waters, and then a spit cup… and we had to empty all these out into containers… I am not going to go into detail, but I have done more pleasurable things than pouring out spit cups.

Time for dinner. Did I mention that we were going to be serving 11 courses? They weren’t on nice normal plates either…

The Alinea staff prepared us for this, they did a great job in explaining to us how they wanted it served, how to carry the odd shaped dishes, and what to do if something went wrong. Very informative, we were prepared for anything.



As I said the courses are served in some bizarre ways. One was six tiny pedestals with edible cocktails on; another was an old ink well which contained a dip with a seafood skewer. The oddest one had to be the squid… no not the food squid, that was the name of the apparatus the food was carried on. The best way to describe it would be, one of those head massagers with numerous arms, which you just push into the scalp which then covers the head… one of those but much smaller, upside down with a tiny piece of pheasant in the bottom, then a giant oak leaf sticking out the top, which was then lit on fire… quite a dish.



Already being intimidated by the prowess of the kitchen, I was slightly nervous about serving the food, these aren’t exactly the normal plates to be carrying… to make it worse I was first out, and to take it a step further I had a food restriction within my group! So not only did I have to get the plates to the far end of the table without dropping anything, I had to make sure not to kill someone by giving them the wrong dish!

But of course all was well. The kitchen was like a well oiled machine, the communication was exceptional, and the food went out in fantastic time.



The finale of the night was the dessert. Once we got the nod we had to completely clear the table, everything had to go, absolutely everything. Then my heart was broken once again as I see a person from Absolut open a bottle of vodka, turn it upside down, and walk from one end of the table to the other, and back again. Eight members of staff then frantically mopped the table; everyone was stood on the outside of the room, with their chairs.

Then walked in the dessert… The Chef bought out pots of chocolate, creams, sauces, berries and allsorts! Silence took over the room in anticipation… He grabbed the chocolate and other sauces, and started pouring them on the table… no plates, no nothing, just on the raw table, blending and swirling all the ingredients. All the guests needed was a spoon. It was impressive, and defiantly unique.

The guests, after an eleven course dinner, and a large array of cocktails were satisfied to say the least. All liquored up they set off into downtown Los Angeles…

All that was left for GG! to do was clean up…

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• Whatever you are asked to do, just do it!
• Clearly the old fashioned three course meal has gone out the window… will we one day say “a standard 11 course dinner?”
• You can use almost anything to serve food… I think I draw the line at table though… anything lower I don’t think I would be too happy with.
• There is a clear difference between catering and the restaurant business, though they can defiantly learn from each other.

Champagne, Rips and Zombies

This was, as always, a very interesting event to work. Good Gracious! Events were fortunate enough to be brought in by Jeff Brown of Brown Hot Events to do the food for this wonderful event.

Jeff Brown’s team did a great job with the décor, the colors were all white and yellow which reflected the clients product. The bar was first class, and the tables for the buffet were truly unique with a custom made table top.

The event was for Veuve Clicquot, a champagne company which is rich in history. Every year they put on a polo match which they would sponsor, providing champagne, food and entertainment for the guests. For several years this event has been held in New York, however before that, the event was in Los Angeles. This year the match was bought back to Los Angeles in an attempt to see if they can make it a permanent switch.

Enough back ground work, lets get to the nitty gritty.

Upon arrival I had to drive my semi new, sparkly clean car through a dusty park trail, which then had to go through horse manure while parking in a corral. When stepping out of the car, the wonderfully refreshing smell of horse poo stung my nostrils… Got to love catering!

The Good Gracious truck was all ready there, and like always the kitchen staff is there working hard in order to get everything unloaded and set up.

The event site was magnificent, very classic, simple and elegant. There was a large polo field, with a bank on one side filled with deck chairs and umbrellas, and flat space on the other, which is where our VIP tent was stationed. The white sofas, carpet, walls and bar, accented with gold accessories really made everything pop. Jeff and his team did a fantastic job.

Eventually everything was unloaded, the buffets were set up and the final details were put in place.

Time to change for the event… did I mention this event had a theme? This event was based in the 1920’s. So of course we had to dress appropriately, and by appropriately I mean like a numpty, and for all you Americans reading, by numpty, I mean idiot.



I know I am from Europe, but the polo shirts they asked us to wear were too tight even for me. It was so tight it may very well of been sprayed on. The trousers showed my ankles (which are apparently how they wore them) with white dap shoes, jazzy braces that hold the trousers up, and a wonderful trilby hat to top it off. OH! And not to forget the ascot.



Though I describe the uniform this way, it was nice being in a different uniform to black bistro. Not only that, I had three young women helping me put my clothes on. So it could have been worse…



Once changed, and I had finished laughing at all my colleagues, it was time to charm the audience. Amazing champagne was being tray passed as the guests arrive, while the most fantastic hors d'œuvres were being provided by our kitchen. Such appetizers included mini Croque Monsieur’s with ham served in a thin crepe pocket with melted gruyere cheese. I know… yummmm.

Before long the VIP section was buzzing. People dressed to impress, some in 1920’s attire, and others in the most expensive sun dresses money can buy. But everyone made an effort. Of course there were a few familiar faces around from both the small and big screen which is always fun.

The event was now fully underway, the match started, and everyone was enjoying themselves. As far as they were concerned everything was running smoothly. Of course that is never the case now is it!?

This crowd loved a drink, so much so that the bar could no cope with the demand! So I grab two bottles of champagne and venture round in an attempt to refill people’s glasses. Of course as I go round you get people saying “oh I would love some, but I don’t have a glass…” then of course you are not going to say get it yourself, so you go behind the bar to get a glass, then once you step behind the bar another guest shouts out to you that all they want is one glass of champagne, and you are not going to say no to that either. It was like a domino effect, except I was playing EVERY domino. So after pouring the person at the bar his one drink, he then wanted one for his friend who just turned up… brilliant.

I served them both, then ducked under the bar, grabbed my two bottles of champagne, one glass, ignoring all the calls from the bar, made my way through the crowd to then find the one person who I was trying to pour this one drink for. I found him, he took the glass and I poured some of the finest champagne into it, I turned to his partner and said “for you madam?” while showing her the labels of the bottles…. I think you know where I am going to go with this….

“oh go on then, I wasn’t going to have one but since you’re here I will… could you get me a glass…?”

The cycle continues….

After everyone was remotely satisfied with their beverages, it was time for me to concentrate on the food again. The Buffets looked fantastic with some of the most delicious food displayed. My main role of the event was to bus, meaning to clean everything away, glasses, napkins, plates… I know what you are thinking… glamorous?

So I get one of our large trays in order to carry as much as I can, to then go back to the scullery with it, I do about four trays full and it comes to my fifth… What I am about to tell you is 100% true down to every detail.

I fill up the tray and make my way back to the scullery area, my arms are shaking because the glasses are so heavy, and people are standing in the way and aren’t moving. I fight my way through the crowd while balancing the several glasses on my tray, I walk into the scullery area and the side is full of dirty glasses where people are in the process of putting them away. The tray is getting heavier and heavier, you can hear the clinging of the glasses because of my arms shaking. One of the people at scullery saw me struggling and so told me to place the tray down on some boxes, I bend over and I’m about an inch away from putting the tray down… then disaster struck. The worlds largest rip occurred, and my trousers from front to back ripped clean through, there I am with a heavy tray in my hands, squatted down wearing a 1920’s outfit, holding a super heavy tray and my bum hanging out for the world to see. What an image.

So off to wardrobe I went, dropped my trousers, handed them over to the alterations lady and stood there in my boxers while they were repaired. Again… glamorous.

My trousers are now repaired, and I arrive back in the kitchen for desserts. As I walk into the kitchen I see Randall Melon and Dan Lundy talking to a couple of other waiters as if we were about to embark upon a military operation.

“stay close, don’t let anyone get near you, move quick so we can get this done!” inspirational stuff there from Dan Lundy.

Of course I had no idea what they were on about, that was until I stepped back out onto the floor.


I had the fortune of carrying the double lemon crepe pockets, which are thin lemon crepes folded with lemon curd and zest, and are absolutely delicious I might add.

We walk five yards onto the floor and people start swarming us, we are in a line holding the deserts high above our heads, and guests are reaching up like zombies to grab anything! Every single individual asking if they can have just one. Saying “please, for me!” I believe one person said, “do you know who I am?” (I didn’t have a clue).

We reach the buffet table, which can only be described as a bee hive. People buzzing around trying to get to the deserts. We stand in a line, and pass the food to Randy who is at the front, people still trying to peel off the plastic to grab a cheeky crepe. You would think these people have never been fed before!?

I have never seen anything like it. One of my colleagues was carrying some chocolate cupcakes towards the buffet, when someone from behind her reached around to grab one, and ended up knocking the whole tray on the floor. She got quite upset about it. In my eyes there was no excuse for people to behave that way.

But once again that trusty learning note came into play. Know your audience. We had to walk all the way through the party in order to get to the dessert station; we weren’t making any progress with it. So I am proud to say that I took the liberty in saying, lets just tray pass the dessert, that way everyone wins. The people get their dessert, that makes one less buffet we have to break down, and it is all done in a peaceful manner. Magical idea if I don’t say so myself.

That’s exactly what we did, and everything came together, the kitchen were able to start breaking down, the buffets could come down, and the rest of us were bussing… (I didn’t have the guts to use a big tray since you know what…)

The event winded down, everyone couldn’t wait to pack the truck, close it up, send it off and drive home.

I must say thank you once again to Brown Hot Events for allowing us to work with them on this event. Though I make everything sound so difficult in this blog, it really was a pleasure to work with them, and their décor, production and team really made the event come alive. I know Good Gracious! are looking forward to working with Jeff Brown again soon.

KEY LEARNING POINTS

•Even the most sophisticated crowds can get out of control

•Adapt to the situation, don’t force something that is unlikely to happen, to happen.

•Work and communicate with the production team to create a successful event

•You are not stuck in one role, you could help on the bar one second, loading the buffet the next, bussing shortly after followed by having your trousers being repaired.

Cougars and Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

As previously mentioned with this job, who knows where you are going to be working, it could be in someone’s back yard, in a grand hall, on the beach… or in a very, very expensive store where the guests have very, very expensive taste….

So I got asked by Patrick in the office if I would like to work this specific event, he said it’s an easy one, a quick in and out job. Of course I said yes.

We travel to The South Coast Plaza shopping center to sit outside what can only be described as a CIA interrogation room. The door had a spy hole which can see in ALL directions, I was expecting a paranoid security officer to let Dennis and myself in, of course who opens the door… Patrick. (He had arrived a few minutes before us)

Now when Patrick mentioned that this would be a quick, smash and grab job, he wasn’t lying. Though what he failed to mention was the setup BEFORE the smash and grab.

Between our small group we had to carry the equipment through a narrow corridor, into an elevator, turn the corner in another small corridor, onto the shop floor, where we then squeeze into a tiny customer elevator, which takes us down a floor, where we then open a huge mirrored door, to carry the equipment up some stairs to the staff kitchen which was the size of my big toe…. Yes Patrick, in an out indeed…

Once the kitchen had been organized, and wine and champagne was pre poured, the event got underway.

Of course being a server, you cannot help but be nosey with your surroundings, I could see these expensive clothes all over the place, $1000 blouse here, $3000 dress there… if carrying a tray of wine on a marble floor with slippery black shoes wasn’t tough enough, having to worry about not wrecking any of the clothes (which must have been hand made by angels to be that expensive) was just another thing to add on the list.

Luckily I escaped without hindrance… sorry I know you were all hoping for the opposite!

So back to the party, guest are coming in and enjoying the amazing food we had to offer from cucumber lobster cups, to cheese cake stuffed strawberries.

There was one problem with this crowd though…. They were all women in their forties, with lots of money, however not much of an appetite. The thought of eating something would ruin the one cracker they had earlier on that day… heaven forbid they have a small beef carpaccio crostini and that distorts their oh so “perfect” figure. Time to turn on the charm.

The food had to go, so I opted to try and sell it. Of course like everything else throughout this blog I had an advantage. You guessed it, the accent. I start talking to a group of three women, and I said “Would any of you lovely ladies like a strawberry stuffed with cheesecake?” They loved it… “Can you say strawberry again please” and of course I had to oblige… thoughts of me on Venice beach acting out as a street performer flashed through my mind. I almost asked for a dollar. (I am joking of course!)

But that’s the business, I milked it, mingled with the guests, and tray after tray started to empty. The food really was amazing, and all the guests agreed. It seemed that the guests didn’t mind a 23 year old English male coming up to them and asking about stuffed strawberries…. How odd?

Repeating myself from earlier, Patrick was right. The event really was a quick job. But now came the break down. By this point Randy, Paul, Kevin, Patrick, Dennis and I just wanted to get the job done. So down the stairs, through the store, up the elevator, through the shop floor again, through the tiny corridor, up another elevator, through the CIA interrogation door, load the van, drive home, open fridge, grab beer, sit down and watch TV is exactly how the unload went.

That’s Catering!

KEY LEARNING POINTS

•Patrick’s saying it is a quick job doesn’t necessarily mean it is going to be an easy job.
•Catering is going to throw obstacles at you, ours just happened to be an obstacle course.
•Know your audience, find how to relate to them and they will appreciate you and the food so much more.
•Make the client feel that you and the company you work for is the best money they have ever spent.

CaterArts 2010

In the catering industry, you need to have a thirst for knowledge, because there is always something new to learn. Weather it is a new technique, negotiation method, or just keeping up with the mods and cons of the modern day world.

CaterArts is a conference put together by chefs, for chefs. This year it was held in Louisville (or shall I say Loolville) Kentucky, and over 100 chefs from not only the United States, but the world came to gain knowledge in order to aid them in their respective companies.

So I packed up my Brand new, never before worn chef’s jacket, chef’s trousers and other necessities, and off I went to Kentucky.

First impressions of Kentucky were fairly average. It was a lot greener than Los Angeles which is always nice, the weather at that point wasn’t too hot, and the accent in my opinion was very entertaining. So to start, a solid thumbs up.

Dan Smith and I arrived to the hotel, only to discover that everyone else was out taking care of their duties, so of course we had to wait for them to return, and as a result we ended up at the bar.

Before I go on I feel I have to back track. During the shuttle ride from the airport to the hotel, the driver got hold of my accent, and of course I told him I was from England, where he then said that he had picked up an English lady and her daughter the day before, they dubbed her “The Queen” because she had such a way with words and getting what she wanted…. Could you possibly guess which English lady and her daughter flew out the day before? Hmmmm I wonder who?

Back to the bar.. So Dan and I were sat at the bar, and as I ordered my drink, my accent got recognized again. “Oh I love your accent! Can you say Harry Potter for me?” of course I had to oblige, you never know there might be a free drink in it. The bar maid then went on to say that she had an English woman and her daughter in the bar last night… she said they begged her to keep the bar open, “one more glass” they said. She too referred to this lady as “The Queen”. By this time Dan and I looked at each other and said one short simple name, but with such a huge meaning…. Pauline.

Great to see Good Gracious! making their mark nice and early.

Time goes by and Joanne, Pauline, and some of the other board members arrive. Time to go to our rooms.

Joanne and I had booked a room with two double beds in, weeks in advance, we often share rooms together when going on our travels, and it’s no big deal to us… Well, unknown to me, when Joanne arrived the day before, she had changed our room so she could be next to Ken Barrett, her partner in crime. Well this room had one bed… and there were no others left in the hotel. You can imagine my delight.

Anyhow, the next day CaterArts got underway, and I have to say, I have never met such a random bunch of people in all my life. Different backgrounds, accents, stories, ages… but that’s what makes CaterArts so amazing, everyone has something unique to bring to the table.

The opening night party was great! the food was so good, and of course the company was excellent...





I got to meet some great characters, such as Ron Rando from New York. He and I had good banter on the trip, he couldn’t stand my accent, and I couldn’t stop imitating his, it was a match made in heaven. Also he was the mastermind of the amazing pasta class…. It was a shame that everyone already knew how to make pasta.



Other Characters include Ken Barrett, the ever organized in control and composed individual. Andrew Spurgin, a man who loves fish, so much so he gave a full presentation on it. Not only that, he is the only American I have had the privilege of meeting who says “tom-at-o” and not “tom-ate-o” but a thoroughly entertaining man, full of knowledge and a statistical genius.

Joanne Purnell, the delegating, partying, never sleeping, ever organized individual who wants nothing but to succeed and party… both of which she is doing very well!



Janet Woodson…. The crazy, out spoken tiny fire cracker, who knows nothing but have an amazing time and to include those around her.



There were all sorts of other people of whom I had the fortune of meeting, like Andrew Bonner (if I knew that was his second name while I was in KY, he would have had a lot more abuse) and our 5am trip to IHOP. Elgin Woodman, she also tagged along to our IHOP adventure… there is another story there, but I think that is best kept quiet… poor waitress..

And of course Richard Chenoweth, which I dubbed “Sean Connery” because in my English opinion he is a ringer for the bloke (that means a look alike) and the jokes never stopped. We thought with my voice and his looks, we could re-create Sean Connery’s most famous Bond line… “Shaken, Not Stirred!” So one wine fueled evening, Richard sat on my lap, like a dummy, and as he mimed the words, I would hide behind him and actually say them… well I have never seen tears from everyone at once. Richard and I are going to Vegas with our act and hoping to reach heights of which are unknown to any celebrity superstar. We are going to take on the universe.



Back to the reason we are there, CaterArts’ educational seminars were great. They help out chefs with current affairs, new innovative ideas, and inspiration. Jason Capps did a seminar on going green, and proved how it can work and propel you to the top. Dan Smith and Mark Baldwin did a great seminar on mixology, this shows another dynamic, that it is not just all about food, but how drinks can bring an event or a meal to life.



One thing I will take away from this whole experience, is even though technically everyone at that conference is a competitor, no one held back with sharing knowledge which would help over come certain situations. These people may only see each other once, maybe twice a year, but they are such a loyal and tight knit group. This was evident after earlier this year they lost one of their companions. Chef David Keener tragically lost his battle to cancer, which shook the CaterArts conference. He was a professional, a chef, a friend to everyone, and to hear the kind words from Kimberly Jones and other speakers really bought this home. But nothing showed more, peoples care, kindness and generosity than this next story.



Every year at CaterArts, there is a trip organized in the aid of education. So this year, they took us to a farm to learn about composting, followed by a winery to… of course try wine. Now after several mistakes by the driver we arrived at the farm, to see a middle aged woman stand on a big pile of poo and get her hands all in it. I have to say the whether that day was nothing I have ever experienced before… it was so hot… I had to stuff paper towels under my arm pits!! Sorry if that was too much information.




We then went to the Winery, had a great meal in the baking hot sun, followed by the bus journey back. What was to come was the best part of the trip…



We sat on the coach, with a chest of ice cold beers, wine, and Janet Woodson’s two buck chuck. At the front of the bus, above the driver (who actually looked like Ringo Star) was a red digital clock.

Joanne and I sat next to each other, while Elgin and Andrew sat in front…. Then I couldn’t help but over hear their conversation. Elgin looked to Andrew and asked how long he thought it would take to get home, he replied, an hour. Elgin disagreed with him and said it would be longer. Andrew then said that he bet Elgin $1.00 that the coach would arrive at a specific time. Elgin matched the bet.

Being the competitive person I am I of course had to get involved, so I matched their $1.00 bet and created my own time. Joanne then wanted in on it, she created her own time… well talk about the snow ball affect, Elgin and Andrew looked like no strangers when it came to taking bets and peoples money, they got a pen and paper out, started writing everyone’s time down, and taking $1.00 bets. The idea was, the closest person to the time once the bus came to a complete stop outside the hotel would be the winner and take home the pool.

Well this thing got out of control, from somewhere came a $20.00 bet, and then another, and another! Elgin looked around at me and said how much money they had! The whole coach was buzzing at this point, wanting to get involved. Elgin then came up with the idea that the winner would take home $20.00 and then the rest would go to the David Keener fund, which a scholarship was made in his name.

Once that was announced, the whole bus had a different mentality, Janet Woodson got out of her seat, with a hat in her hand, and started walking up and down the bus collecting, she came back with three hats full!

This was then followed by one of the owners saying he would put in $250.00 if all the other owners would follow him. Of course they all agreed.

On a short bus journey, the generous people of CaterArts raised $5000.00 for the David Keener fund. The eventual winner didn’t take any money, he had bragging rights. The full amount went to the fund. Now that’s special.

To round of an amazing week, GG! designed the closing party, the themes was Red Decadence, and Dan Smith did a fantastic job at turning the room we were in all week for classes, into a room with sophistication and style.




This whole experience left a big impression with me. Remember, I am a newcomer to this, and I felt like such a big part of the family… AND IM NOT EVEN A CHEF! I can only imagine what chef's would get out of this experience.

Very educational and inspiring. See you same time next year!

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• I thought Vegas was hot… KENTUCKY IS WORSE!
• You can learn a lot from a middle aged woman standing in poo
• There aren’t that many fish in the sea (thank you Andrew Spurgin)
• Everyone already knows how to make pasta
• Everyone wants to learn, and everyone is individual, contribute wherever you can
• Comradery is needed in order to help each other through these economical times
• CaterArts is a family.