Creative Foods and Drinks Will Enliven Your Soiree
Chicagoland experts provide their thoughts on festive dishes to serve your guests
(Published in the Chicago Holiday Party Planning Guide)(July 2018)
There’s a venerable proverb that proclaims: An organization is only as strong as its weakest link.
The same can be said about a company holiday party. Regardless of how well the other facets of your celebration unfold, if the food you serve resembles that of a weak sausage link, partygoers will notice. And they will talk.
To avoid having your spread excoriated by your peers, it’s a good idea to serve creative concoctions that will have the break room buzzing come Monday morning. We know you’re overloaded with life’s daily entanglements and finding the time to unearth inventive party snacks is a challenge, thus, we enlisted the thoughts of Chicagoland entertainment experts who provided us with a slew of imaginative cuisine and beverage ideas that will liven up any soiree.
Delectable dishes
When the guests first arrive, they will undoubtedly be feeling the chill from the frigid Chicago winter. Aside from warming them up with a stiff drink or two, you can hearken them back to the sweltering summer months with a dog-days-of- summer meat spread. A tailgate-themed meal of hot dogs, brats, coleslaw and burgers will appeal to the blue-collar members of your company, and even the more affluent sorts will appreciate the chance to graze like a commoner for a few hours.
If that option is a bit too rudimentary for your highbrow associates, Bryan Josephs, kitchen manager and lead chef from Parties That Cook, a mobile culinary events company, suggests serving items like sweet potato latkes with cranberry jalapeno relish, crostini with honey glazed ham, goat cheese and sweet pepper jelly or roasted lamb brochettes with mint pistachio chutney.
"I love these recipes because they are fairly simple yet bring a unique twist to holiday favorites,” Josephs said.
If the thought of preparing even a morsel of grub for the party is too overwhelming for your hectic schedule, Chicago is awash with accomplished restaurants and eateries that will happily serve inventive dishes.
Take, for instance, Jake Melnick’s Corner Tap. Natalie Kay, group sales manager for Jake Melnick's, recommends offerings from Jake’s private events menu like chicken and waffle bites made with honey butter and cayenne syrup, firecracker shrimp consisting of crispy breaded shrimp tossed in sweet Thai chili sauce, and mini bacon-wrapped hot links with a chipotle crema.
“These are the perfect bite-sized foods for a party, they pack huge flavor but are easy to eat while mingling,” Kay said.
Hilary Saurer, director of sales at Levy Restaurants at River Roast, is a fan of Thanksgiving-style fare at holiday functions and suggests setting up a carving station and pairing a roast with sides like a beet salad and sweet potatoes.
“This makes for a fun and interactive dining experience while offering delicious dishes your guests will enjoy,” Saurer said. “The holidays are the times when you can let go of your diet a bit and really splurge and these items are so delicious, they are worth a splurge.”
Enlivening libations
No party, company or otherwise, is complete without spirits to lift everyone’s … spirits.
Melissa Hahn, senior account lead for Global Enterprise Solutions, proposes hosts should serve vibrant drinks that not only appeal to attendees’ taste buds but also entice their eyes. And if you can pair your drinks with a festive film that fits the season, even better.
“I suggest to get creative with your drinks,” Hahn said. “Have a holiday theme selection and utilize the red, white, blue and green colors to enhance your holiday theme. I would suggest coming up with some fun names for drinks, or you could even make a spin on your holiday party with some of the best holiday movies.
“Here are some fun drinks to serve,” Hahn added. “A candy cane cocktail (candy canes crushed for garnish combined with strawberry vodka, white crème de menthe and cranberry juice); candy cane Kahlua hot chocolate; Santa Clausmopolitan (vodka, cranberry juice, lime juice and cranberries); salted carmel eggnog; jingle juice (cran-apple juice, red Moscato, prosecco, limes, vodka and frozen cranberries); Jack Frost (shredded coconut, pineapple juice, vodka, cream of coconut and Blue Curacao); classic cocoa with a twist by adding white chocolate; cranberry mimosas or a cranberry mule (cranberry juice, vodka, lime topped with ginger beer and whole cranberries).”
Kay is a fan of a spiced pear sangria, featuring dry white wine, brandy and pear juice stirred together to form a base and coupled with sliced pears and cinnamon sticks, which, when stewed overnight, add extra flavor and spice.
“(This drink) is a perfect complement to all of the flavors you’ll see during the holidays,” Kay said.
Martha Link, corporate catering manager for Harry Caray’s Italian Steakhouse in River North, thinks the winter frost won’t dampen guests’ cravings for an adult milkshake.
“Clients and planners are always looking for unique items to get their guests’ attention at a holiday gathering,” Link said. “We have found our ‘boozy shakes’ are a fun and different twist on the holidays. Despite the cold weather in Chicago, our Kahlua eggnog shakes will warm up the crowd.”
Another way to warm up the crowd is to serve searing or spicy drinks, and Josephs is partial to providing hot chocolate with candy cane-infused whiskey and a ginger spice elftini containing ginger-infused vodka, cranberry and lime juice.
Succulent sweets
Tis the season for your officemates to bake copious amounts of desserts while flexing their creative muscle in the kitchen.
You can rival their artistry with imaginative creations of your own, like: eggnog gingerbread trifle; sparkling cranberry cheesecake (the sugared cranberries add the sparkle); Grinch-inspired cupcakes (made, naturally, with green food coloring); Christmas light cupcakes (using M&M’s as the imitation lights) and ugly sweater cakes (decorated to look like an unseemly sweater with whatever treat combination you can devise).
Josephs recommends an intriguing alternative to traditional Christmas confections in the form of pumpkin rugelach Jewish crescent cookies with a pumpkin spice flair. If that doesn’t fit your fancy, Josephs says mini apple tarts with a bourbon glaze will pique partygoers’ interests.
Whatever you opt to serve, Nina Madonia, director of business development for Inspired Catering and Events, advises you do so in a manner that motivates guests to socialize while nibbling.
“The interactive theme is picking up steam and continues to be incorporated into corporate events,” Madonia said. “Planners don’t even need a theme, necessarily, to include some fun games or activities. The idea to keep guests engaged with each other as well as the event itself is the main goal here. On the catering side, we are still working with planners to have visually appealing food stations and chef interaction.
“At Inspired Catering and Events, we have a cute French crepe station, where guests line up for delicious made-to-order delights with mouth-watering toppings including fresh fruit, Nutella, chocolate sauce, caramel and whipped cream. We need to have two or three stations because everybody loves them.”
Hahn shares Madonia’s sentiments and thinks international fare will give your event an aristocratic feel.
“For a great networking and conversation piece after your dinner, have a cookie or a dessert bar,” Hahn said. “A creative idea would be to work with your chef to come up with a traditional holiday dessert menu from around the world. Have a little history behind the dessert you’re serving. You can serve flan from Mexico; chocolate almond croissant or madeleine cookies from France; amaretti cookies from Italy or melomakarona (a traditional egg-shaped Greek cookie made mainly from flour, olive oil and honey).”
After all, if your skinflint company won’t ship the office to Paris this holiday season, a globally inspired spread at the party will still have your guests feeling like world travelers. Especially if they squint. Through blurred vision, the Damen Avenue silos kind of resemble the Eiffel Tower.