For Fabrizio Cadei and his kitchen brigade of the Le Méridien Grosvenor House banqueting team, the planning for this year's Caterer & Hotelkeeper Awards dinner started in February. It was then that the team first heard what the theme would be for the 2003 event.
Art on a Plate, the theme chosen by Caterer's projects team to celebrate 20 years of the Cateys, seemed simple enough. But just try thinking up dishes that are brimming with artistic flair and still practical enough to be served to 900 in one sitting - it's not as easy as it sounds.
Cadei decided to start by choosing the tableware. Caterer's group projects director, Jane Cartwright, had suggested the work of Dutch-born 20th-century master Piet Mondrian as a template. His classic Composition of Red, Yellow and Blue has blocks of colour divided by black grid lines - all squares and oblongs. Cadei decided to emulate this by using a couple of rectangular plates.
The starter and dessert lent themselves most easily to cornered crockery, but Mondrian's visual influence was also brought into the garnishes with the rack of lamb main course, in a rectangular timbale of saffron couscous, and in the bold red of stuffed baby peppers. The splash of colour from the strawberry and passion fruit coulis served with the lemon tart dessert was also Mondrian-inspired.
How about the rest of the menu? The first course was a courgette served with its flower, the latter stuffed with a sweet pea and mint purée (see link for recipe below). "The theme was a big challenge," Cadei says, "because it made us think in a different way about what we did, how we presented shapes. But I wanted to stay as seasonal as possible with the food. The stuffed flower was seasonal, fresh and light." In addition, the contrast of cool greens and soft, rounded, natural food shapes against an angular, starkly white square plate satisfied the creative brief.
The intermediate course was duck consommé, or a vegetarian option of spiced parsnip soup. What to serve it in caused much debate in pre-event tastings. Visually, a small oblong shot glass had more appeal than a round glass cup with a chrome handle but, given that the consomm‚ was to be served hot, would guests be able to pick it up? A simple solution was to serve it with a small teaspoon which diners could use to scoop out the steaming consommé.
Rack of Welsh lamb (sourced with the help of British Meat Foodservice) provided the culinary linchpin of the evening, with a classically simple, zesty lemon tart rounding off the evening. Both were straightforward logistically and technically for an experienced team such as Cadei's but, again, before the event the presentation had caused debate.
Inspired by Mondrian, Cadei wanted a block of yellow in a garnish with the main dish. The final arrangement was a flat-topped, square timbale of saffron couscous, but not before the concept underwent a few transformations. "We tried out a polenta sandwich, but found we couldn't keep it moist for 900 covers," Cadei reveals. "Once we had decided on the couscous, we tried a round mould - but that didn't work. Then we tried a deeper square mould, but that was too tall on the plate. Finally we found a more square, shallower one which worked."
There was also an exchange of views about where to place the two coulis served with the tart by head pastry chef Ernie Curson. At the top of the rectangular plate? At the bottom? Symmetrically arranged? No, too balanced and twee. Offset in the corner? Yes, that was the one - definitely Mondrian-esque.
It wasn't just the coulis that reflected the spirit of Mondrian. As with the artist's work, the tart, like the other courses, was deceptively simple. It takes a lot of resolve deliberately to pare down the elements you send out on a plate, particularly when you're cooking for your industry peers. Everything has to be perfect - otherwise, 900 knowledgeable guests will pick the menu to pieces. "This year, I was much more confident about the menu," Cadei confides. "I didn't want to try too hard to impress - I wanted us to get everything right."
The theme
The menu theme for the 2003 Cateys, Caterer & Hotelkeeper's annual awards, may have been Art on a Plate, but art wasn't confined to the food. Every aspect of the awards ceremony received the artistic treatment, from the table decorations to the wine - even the waiters had an art makeover.
The kickoff point was Mondrian's painting titled Composition of Red, Yellow and Blue. Its rectangles of colour were picked up in the food (saffron couscous in the main course, passion fruit and strawberry coulis colour blocks in the dessert) as well as in the table decorations.
There is an art to winemaking, of course, so it came
self-themed for the occasion. Coincidentally, however, Torres's Nerola Syrah, which accompanied the main course of lamb, also had a label design inspired by Barcelona's famous architect, Antonio Gaudi.
And the waiters? Well, for the first time in the Grosvenor's history, they were dressed not in formal apparel but in Montmartre-style long white aprons and T-shirts. Each T-shirt was printed with one of four interpretations of the Catey statuette inspired by artists or artistic movements - namely Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol, Cubism and Impressionism.
Table art
When florist Lesley Telling was told about this year's Cateys theme, she took a deep breath and racked her brain for art-associated items to anchor her table centrepieces. She came up with the idea of using an artist's canvas - minus the canvas - and paint brushes. With the canvas ripped away, she was left with a raw, wooden frame in which artfully to arrange a couple of brushes and two bright splashes of colour in the shape of a mango and a yellow calla lilly.
The yellow blocks of colour were also inspired by Piet Mondrian, providing a reference point for the black dressings on some of the Great Room's tables. From above, the tables became part of a huge picture frame.
"You have to do something that is instantly recognisable," Telling says. "If you make things too complicated, the effect gets lost."
The menu
Courgette flower stuffed with an Italian sweet pea and mint mousse
Duck consommé or spiced parsnip soup
Rack of Welsh lamb stuffed with aubergine caviar (or confit of fennel), pan-fried spinach, saffron couscous
Lemon tart with strawberry and passion fruit coulis
Palette of petits fours
Coconut kisses, macaroons, nougatine biscuit, orange jelly, peanut brittle, apricots in white chocolate
Wines
Anna de Codorníu Cava Brut
A classy, fresh, and complex Cava with a high percentage of Chardonnay. The blend is 70% Chardonnay, 10% Parellada, 10% Macabeo, 10% reserve with a bottle age of 18-24 months.
Beaujolais Villages Blanc Grand Clos de Loyse Domaine Louis Jadot 2000
Clean, crisp white, made with Chardonnay grapes, which balanced the low acidity in the courgette flower and sweet pea and mint mousse.
Torres Nerola Syrah 2000, Catalunia
Introduced to the UK at the 2003 Cateys and new to the trade, this is a blend of Syrah and Monastrell grapes displaying raspberry and ripe cherry fruits, with toasty spicy notes derived from 12 months' ageing in French oak.
Torres Moscatel Oro NV, Catalunia
Classic Spanish Muscat with floral, orange peel and raisin aromas.
The Grosvenor Studio
The artistic talent in the Le Méridien Grosvenor House kitchen was, once again, spearheaded by executive chef Fabrizio Cadei. His inner circle of collaborators included head pastry chef Ernie Curson, who has cooked at an impressive 18 Cateys; Said Jabrany, sous chef, larder; Brian Henry, sous chef tournant; and Paul Miller, kitchen manager. Between them, they have worked on a total of 36 Cateys.
Courgette flower stuffed with an Italian sweet pea and mint mousse
Rack of lamb stuffed with aubergine caviar