The Event: Client Celebration of Presidential Gourmet Catering with the Royal Ontario Museum.

The Date and Time: Wednesday, November 23, 2016  6PM to 9 PM

The Event: Client Celebration of Presidential Gourmet Catering with the Royal Ontario Museum.

The Venue: ROM, Age of Dinosaurs Gallery

The Target Audience: food and wine event planners and media.

The Availability/Catalogue:

The Quote/Background: PG Catering does corporate events, weddings, home and office parties, with about 30 venues that they are associates (including the Ontario Science Centre, the ROM, Roy Thomson Hall, et al). They have a wide-range of sustainable menus for all their events. Some of what they can do were on display tonight. Their new Exec Chef Jay Suppiah provided a new menu, which began with hors d'oeuvre in motion followed by food stations and a dessert display table. This food preview showcase was complemented by a good upscale range of Canadian wines. For more details see www.presidentialgourmet.ca

The Wines: These were pretty impressive wines for a media/preview gathering.

 

**** BEST -- Four Stars (91+ in Quality/Price Rating terms):

-Henry of Pelham Cuvee Catharine Brut Rose NV  VQA

-Bachelder Niagara Chardonnay 2013 VQA

 

***1/2 BETTER -- Three and a Half Stars (88 – 90 in Quality/Price Rating terms):

-Thirty Bench Riesling Winemakers Blend 2015 VQA

-Mission Hill Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 BCVQA

 

*** GOOD -- Three Stars (85 – 87 in Quality/Price Rating terms):

-G. Marquis The Silver Line Pinot Noir 2015 VQA

 

The Food: this is what we were here for...THE MENU !!

 

"Hors d'oeuvre in Motion"

 

-Pork Belly Mini Sliders (braised pork belly and pineapple slaw sandwiched between Polynesian style pineapple buns: a meal in themselves!)

-Portobello Poke (Portobello mushroom on top of a taro chip with togarashi cream)

-Huili Huili Chicken (chicken, ginger, soy, garlic, mustard and sherry

served in a crispy spice wonton taco: my absolutely fave dishes of the night)

-Shrimp 'n' Grits (Creole spice, coffee and micro cilantro served on a spoon: grits were more like polenta)

 

Food Stations

 

-Japanese Sujuki Market (chicken katsu, sushi rice, scallions, sesame seeds, nori

Vegetarian option: braised Japanese eggplant) – took some time to build, so there was a line-up.

-Maple-Candied Muskoka Trout (smoked cucumber, citrus segments, fennel slaw, cocoa-vanilla vinaigrette: great flavours_

-Deconstructed Beef Wellington (truffle jus, King Oyster mushroom, roasted Brussels sprouts: I'm not a fan of beef or of Brussels sprouts, but this won me over)

 

Dessert Display (I try to stay away from sugar, but could not resist the red velvet and the verrine. My wife Ann helped me out on this one.)

 

-Petit Gateau

-Vanilla Yogurt Mousse with Maple Fudge and Strawberry Gelee Center

-Dark Chocolate Mousse with Cherry Ganache Center

-Matcha Tea Mousse with Yuzu Mousse Center

-Carrot-Walnut Cake with Buttermilk Glaze

-Red Velvet Cake Pops with Cream Cheese Icing

-Orange Chocolate Layer Cake

-Verrine (buttermilk panna cotta, plum gelee, almond tuile)

-Tartelettes (citrus pate sucree, orange pastry cream, fresh fruit)

-Mendiant (chocolate pate sucree, gianduja ganache, toasted pecan, candied lemon peel)

-Eclaire (butterscotch pastry cream with glazed marzipan)

-Macarons, Chocolate and Spekuloos

-Chocolate Mint Truffle

-Guava Pate de Fruit

-Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Bon Bon

-Passion Fruit Marshmallow

-Montelimar Square

The Downside: I wished I had a larger appetite and could eat some of the desserts.

The Upside: a chance to also see the famed Dale Chihuly glass exhibit of 11 installations.

The Contact Person: ruth@thesirengroup.com; rick@presidentialgourmet.ca

The Event's Marketing Effectiveness and Execution (numerical grade): 94.

Chimo! www.deantudor.com