Our last dinner event of 2020. This Winter Hearth dinner was the last of the year, took place in March of 2020. As Covid-19 pandemic dominated the scene, our kitchen was silenced. This dinner, ironically was the pinnacle of our creativity putting out some pretty incredible meals during the decade of service and hospitality.

Looking back to a time when social gatherings with business colleagues was the norm. We have many beautiful spaces to put on events on campus. Changing the feel of this space and transporting the guest perception to a place outside campus; If for a brief moment, was an interesting proposition.

Previous events held in this locale repeat with the same table setup; just different tablecloths and skirting to suit the season. The white walls always remain the same. This was going to be a special dinner, and needed some imagination to step beyond the pale white walls. It had to be innovative and exciting. Something our guests would be talking about days after.

We have a great relationship with our client, and I believe we had to push the envelope to stay current. A new vision was on tap.

I envisioned a warm hearth as a gathering place. And a complimentary winter themed menu took shape on a separate track would be the chorus to repeat the echoes of this warmth. As the theme started to crystalize into a vision of “warmth”, I began to look at colors, textures and lighting. I was looking to affect all the senses, not just the food. We were still In the throws of winter and staying warm by the fireplace seemed appropriate.

It took several weeks of planning. A quarterly event, like this normally happens within two weeks of planning once the menu is approved upstairs. But due to what I believed would be some serious work, I got busy early; 6 weeks out. Working my timeline backwards, I started with the purchases and construction of building materials. Wood carpentry was going to be big here. And I was confident in my wood working skills. I was going to build something spectacular. As pictures show, I made my way down to home depot with my Hummer and started gathering the materials.

I had to balance this effort with maintaining a well run kitchen, as our daily operations are quite large. I was up for the challenge. I was committed to an all out effort and if nights and weekends were required, then so be it. Sacrifices were in order to get to a happy place.

We are renting catering equipment often. I believed I could save us some money. I decided I was going to make our own portable dry bar. One which we would be used over the years. It would have to be beautiful, and well built. And it had to be unique. I felt I could deliver that. A one of a kind portable bar. I was looking forward to what form this would take.

I love working my mind and hands. I feel satisfied if I can accomplish something I set my mind to. Crossing fingers and not cutting them off. Lots going on here.

The other major construction components would be fake wall partitions we could assemble modularly the day of the reception/dinner. The ever-so-present white wall with two framed pictures was going to be replaced by an illusion of old world brick via 3-D wallpaper. It would be transformative. As the whole idea began to take shape, I realized I stumbled on an old world look of something that could be familiar, as a wine cellar. I purchased a used oak wood barrel cask from Napa Valley. Also, a really old wood ladder, probably made in the 1930’s with paints haphazardly dropped and spilled; It looked like a Jackson Pollack painted ladder! This old ladder would add to the flavor of the overall look. Another important building material I chose to include was actual red paving bricks closely matching the wallpaper pattern. I was going to light the buffet tables with battery operated votive candles and old world overhang lights from warehouses from the 1940’s. We also purchased old patio strung lights. I repurposed stained 2×4 posts in concrete planter buckets to hang the lights from, I had from a previous event. Placing the newly built portable bar in all this would really finish the complete theme.

This was going to look really cool!

The pictures below show how we progressed from purchases to building things with hands. I brought my tool bag from home and recruited help from my staff, who are the best at what we do daily. (They’re the best group of people I had the pleasure to work with.) They were excited to be a part of this. They could see what was going to happen, and they were prepared to help in whatever ways they could. And I am grateful for having this dedicated staff. Just the best!! Thank you.

Below are pictures I recorded of the progression.

We used our kitchen dock area as the construction workshop. I prepared some diagrams on my laptop to follow cutting and assembling modular wall segments and other build components.

Derrick setting up the 3-D brick mural wallpaper.

On the day of the event, we will hang walls of brick, as the backdrop from which all the design elements will tie into.

I found some old fashioned lights we will use to light up the tables during the evening. Just looking at these wall segments looks very real indeed.

Looking at the brick wallpaper, I found some interesting red bricks suited to be used in various configurations. I also found these galvanized planter pots that was perfect for the application for our centerpieces to each dinner table, dotted with battery powered votive candles. We always use the same standard chafers everyone is familiar with. But this needed to be different as well. I designed the bricks to encompass the hot buffet trays of food, we would put on the buffet table.

More Props

I found/purchased a used Red Wine cask oak barrel from Napa Valley. An old used ladder adding flair to the dessert table for the evening. Also picked up these inexpensive slate tiles. The slate tiles I’ll use to hand write buffet food identifiers for each menu item for the evening. I stained wooden crates and filled with straw to hold our wine bottles as ornamental treatments to the buffet tables.

The Jenga Bar? Old rustic meets Modern art.

I mentioned earlier, I was looking to build our own portable dry bar we could travel with on campus and set up quickly. I found an example of a pallet bar online and drew up plans for it’s build.

Lights and extension electric cords for blenders were included and cleverly hidden. The bar had to be a sturdy, well built to remain at the campus for years to come. It also had to be beautiful, as a nice piece of furniture.

Here is the build sequence in picture format:

A lot of wood went into the frame. Pretty sure this could survive a tornado or hurricane.

I picked up natural cedar planks used for enclosing backyards. In my home’s garage I stained cedar planks into 3 colors: Smoked Grey, Black and Dark Brown. I also left some cedar planks in their natural state. I made a mess of the garage, but sometimes artists are messy. (Later. I’ll turn my garage into a man-cave. But that’s a story for another time.) After the cedar planks dried out, I brought them back to campus to assemble the boards into a jigsaw pattern of a popular puzzle game called “Jenga”. The picture of the wood puzzle “Jenga”, was my inspiration. So I christened the bar, The ‘Jenga’ Bar.

I cut down all the colored stained cedar boards to various lengths to mix size and color to an interesting scheme of the Jenga puzzle game, as the bar takes its form.

Putting together the final pieces on the ‘Jenga’ bar. It has electric connectivity and lighting for the bartenders in dimly lit rooms. Attention to detail, I worked the inside of the bar with moldings of cedar planks, as well as all the trim on top.

Karina posing as my first customer, waiting for John to take the helm.???

The evening we worked so hard to get to……..

As the weeks past, we were in good shape to move into prepping all the food. The day of the dinner, we started hanging wall panels in modular sections which would transform a plain white-walled façade into perhaps an old world wine cellar.

Lighting inserted into modular panels.

Props and ‘Jenga’ bar staged on the dock, ready to be rolled out. Strung patio lights were hung around the ‘Jenga’ bar.

Tables are set with centerpieces, tying the buffet to the seated dining area.

The ‘Jenga’ bar, readied to be a showpiece for a gathering place. Guests will soon arrive to mingle and chat with colleagues prior to being seated for dinner.

Hand-written slate tiles were placed in front of menu items to identify the buffet tables’ bounty. Votive candles everywhere. The room looked spectacular, as the skies turned to night, and the room darkened. At this time, I am heading up the dinner production in the back of house, so that our guests will be taken on a unique culinary dinner; one for the ages.

I think this was absolutely beautiful. I achieved all the goals I set out for, 6 weeks earlier. The wall and the red bricks piled to the back of the buffet table, give the illusion of bricks falling out of the wall. I was surprised by the illusion. The walls and red bricks lying on the buffet table played into depth perception and perspective in a dark room only lit by the buffet table. What was real, and what was illusionary?…….. A little more magic added to the evening!

This was quite the evening. Something, I will never forget. I’ve been a chef for 30+ years. And this was some of the best stuff I ever put out. Although, I led this journey, I could not have done this on my own. I had much help from a greatly appreciated group of hard working and talented individuals.

The dinner menu for this evening follows:

Mixed Baby Greens with Dried Cherries, Goat Cheese, Poached Apples, Maple Pecans and Raspberry Vinaigrette

Heirloom Tomato Salad with Balsamic Cabernet Vinaigrette, Roasted Onions and Blue Cheese

Pepper Crusted Short Rib with Cognac Green Peppercorn Sauce and Tomato Pearl Onion Chutney

Crab Stuffed Chilean Sea Bass with Lemon Tarragon Sauce

Caesar Grilled Asparagus

Roasted Butternut Squash Quinoa

Baby French Beans Lyonnaise with Feta and Walnuts

Wild Rice Pilaf

Fresh Berries in Mason Jar

Strawberry Stack

Chocolate Pecan Torte

For a walk around of the dinner space before our guests arrived, check out this video of the Winter Hearth Dinner. This video clip is raw footage of dinner tables and the ‘Jenga’ bar. No music……

Video of the “Jenga” Bar during its construction. The inside of bar and outside trim is being worked on, while this video shows a 360 video perspective. Lighting and Electric extension cords are also being installed. See above pictures for a look at the finished piece of art.

Categories: Dinner, Receptions