Our academic department held a dinner for its faculty members and their partners to celebrate the tenure of a longtime chair. I was charged with assisting the new department chair, who hosted the dinner, and the senior faculty member who offered his home for the occasion.
Upon calling Mise En Place early in the morning, I knew that we would be in good hands if we selected this caterer because, on the phone, Chef Dan Petrie (who was walking to work in San Francisco) answered all of my questions professionally, respectfully, and patiently. I had never helped to organize an event like this, and Dan explained to me all of the factors that I needed to consider. In retrospect the phone call functioned as an interview, with Dan remaining my top choice as I continued to obtain quotes from other caterers for my two faculty members. Then the department chair needed to attend a three-hour meeting, while the other faculty member left for the airport. Soon afterwards Dan emailed me to say that another party was interested in our date, but he was giving me the opportunity to secure the date because I had contacted him first. Other faculty members authorized the selection of Mise En Place, one of these faculty members who had had this caterer saying understatedly but without qualification, "The food is good."
Immediately Dan began to work to ensure that our event would proceed seamlessly and spectacularly. He asked me to obtain the dietary restrictions of our guests, because this information was needed to determine the menu. On this first day of our interaction, he spoke for 40 minutes with our department chair about our menu --- my chair saying about Dan's online calendar, on which you can schedule a phone call with Dan and which sends invites, "He's so organized!" --- discussing and advising on which dishes were popular based on our dietary preferences. Our menu is shown below. Dan assisted crucially with wine, putting my department chair in contact with his wholesaler. After Dan suggested wines that would accompany our menu well and my chair selected from this list, I was able to arrange for the wine to be shipped to the site of the party.
FIRST COURSES: Romaine, treviso and Baby kale salad, pomegranate, winter squash, asian pears, turmeric spiced almonds, goat cheese, green goddess avocado dressing; Roasted rainbow carrot salad, coriander, avocado, cara cara oranges, toasted pumpkin seeds, herbed lemon-tahni sauce
MAIN COURSES: Black cod, cauliflower puree & florets, almonds, sultanas, brown butter; Eggplant "steak",preserved heirloom tomatoes, warm goat cheese, pine nuts, romesco sauce
SIDES: Charred broccolini, calabrian chili paste, oregano, almonds, pecorino romano / Sauteed brussels sprouts, oyster mushrooms, shaved manchego cheese, sherry vinegar; Israeli couscous, saffron, marcona almonds, citrus oil
DESSERTS: Mason jar panna cotta - chocolate & caramel
Chef Calieb Jones headed a team of four chefs who served us on the day of the event. Our headcount increased slightly on the day before the dinner, a change which was no problem for Calieb. Based on the seating arrangements of our vegetarian and vegan eaters, Calieb planned appropriate Family Style Service (how many plates of which dishes would go where). Calieb listed for me down to the last detail all rental equipment that we would need.
During my first phone call with him, Dan strongly encouraged Family Style Service, saying that it would best meet our needs. Family Style Service consisted of Calieb's team bringing dishes family style to our tables and clearing used plates. This service ended up being essential due to the limited mobility of our emeritus faculty members, who would have faced physical challenges with a buffet style dinner, and the constrained space of the private home. The staff delivered a four-course menu and clear plates quickly without our guests needing to repeatedly rise from their seats.
Table Service by Mise En Place consisted of Calieb's team assembling and arranging tables and chairs in the room; setting up tables, chairs, linens, plates, silverware, and glassware; and rinsing off and putting away rental equipment. This service ended up being essential not only because of the large amount of physical labor involved with these tasks for a large dinner party, but also because the staff creatively solved unanticipated problems, such as the need to optimize the arrangement of tables and chairs from what we had originally envisioned. Our initial plan would have resulted in tables that were much too crowded.
The fabulous dishes that Mise En Place prepared (our guests had extraordinarily high standards) and the flawless service that Calieb's team provided meant that everyone could relax, appreciate each other's company, and focus on simply enjoying one of the most memorable occasions of the department.
Thank you, Dan, Calieb, and your team!!! read more
