Week 1 Down, Week 2 On!
2012 TuttoToscana Brigade: Rachel Murphy back center right
Special Event Management and PR Team Member Rachel Murphy presents updates on the food and wine for the renown James Beard Foundation event located in the heart of the Village in NYC. The TuttoToscana group comes together for this weekly wrap-up of the week. Find out what we are improving and changing for the upcoming events in New York City.
Once a week the entire group for TuttoToscana meets up and discusses about this past week. Every class has a review about what they have worked on and what we need to know so that we can collectively learn about adjustments to recipes or talk about the wines being served.
Each of the students preparing the food for the events stood up and talked about a dish that they had prepared in class this week. They described exactly how the dish is cooked and then talked about the wine pairing so the connection is made between the two. If the student didn’t say everything correctly, they sat back down and looked over their part again so that at the end they would be tested again. We also watched the video of the class working on the speed when plating. Everyone was suggesting different ways to work on speed and setting up the station for a smoother plating transition. Also, we covered about different plate designs and how the menu was set up from how the foods become slightly richer as it moves though the menu and how the plating colors are set in a way so that the complements each other. For example, we talked about the cannelloni and wild boar was set so the chickpea and cauliflower coulis was next to each other then the plate followed by putting the cannelloni on top of it, slightly off set, with demi glaze on top of the cauliflower coulis complementing the darker colors of the chickpea coulis.
The wine knowledge was refreshed according to different labels and grape varietals. Again the students went over how to pronounce each of the wines so that they can properly introduce them to the guest. Each student was trying to make sure they put their American accent to the side and really think about each letter that has to be pronounced. Timing was covered for the James Beard events so that we can properly serve all 82 guests as soon as they get their food in order for the guest to enjoy the pairing of food and wine.
The final part we covered was the planning behind each of the previous two areas. We talked about our event sheets with everything and anything we will ever need to know about our events and event sites.
We talked about who our clients are going to be at each event and began covering the details about Queen’s College and De Gustibus. We wrapped with our questions asking more about how service is being covered and clarifying about the prep and event schedules through the week we are in New York.
More information about our two events based on a Chianti theme at the James Beard Foundation can be located by visiting the JBF website for the lunch on October 26, 2012 or for the dinner on October 27, 2012. Next week we are covering our next event at De Gustibus at Macy’s Herald Square.
We will be sending updates, news flashes, and behind the scenes sneak peaks over the coming weeks. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook!