November, 2010 - Aquaculture New Zealand

As the owner/operator ofDenver’s Catering By Design,Cade Nagy can cater for upto 50 events per day. After15 years working from theground up, he has valuableinsights into the multi-billiondollar U.S. catering sector,from large-corporate caterers,to the military through toevent-style catering, . In amust-see presentation for allfood exporters, Cade will besharing his ideas on how to gaintraction in this lucrative marketat the 2010 New ZealandAquaculture Conference.TorchedTorched was all about theatrics and theflame. Chefs wearing welding masks,used butane torches to brulee items suchas New Zealand Greenshell mussels andoysters, served on custom pounded metalplates. While welding-outfit clad modelsperformed on stage behind the buffet.When It RainsI’m always reaching for new ways of featuringfood. And this one was indeed a reach.From an original concept drawn, like mostof my ideas, on a bar napkin, we made eightumbrellas out of steel bars. Each was 6 footacross and topped with a plexi glass top for thetable. I then had our receptionist sew the handpainted fabrics together to stretch over theumbrella frame. All it needed then were a fewjewels and some sparkle. And did I mention wealso made hand made pulled sugar raindropchandeliers to go over each umbrella?In his secondary role asdirector of the world’slargest catering trade show,CaterSource in Las Vegas, Cadeis renowned for throwing lavishparties that heavily influencethe industry’s trends. Ahead ofhis visit, we reveal some of...The Endless BuffetThis, 65 foot diameter, circular buffet, was builtto feed 2000 caterers quickly and efficientlywith little line. It was divided into 3 equalsections. Each section featured suspendedhand painted tree branches that anchoredtable-top buffet décor. Candles, custom lightfixtures, and menu signs, were suspended fromthe branches. Because of the round setup ofthe buffet, it seemed to never end, as therewas not a real starting or ending point. Livingcentrepieces stood on a stage in the centre ofthe buffet along with chefs.The TowersWe created the towers concept to giveus a new look and design for serving avariety of items for different applicationsand to be very flexible with how theywere used. Each set has four 8-foot talltowers constructed out of plywood andhardwoods then hand stained or painted.The towers can be used as a single pieceby connecting height adjustable shelvestogether, or as individual units.Cade’s CoolestCatering Conceptsthe salad BARWhen catering to caterers, I was looking for thenext thing we could all do in our markets. Witha little play on words, I decided to do “the saladBAR”. We took classic drink names, The Cosmo,The Margarita, and Saki and turned them intosalads. Printed the menu items on the blackt-shirts of the “Salad Tenders”. You walked up tothis all white BAR that actually portrayed a bar.Ordered off of the shirt, we then tossed the saladingredients together in martini shakers andpoured into the appropriate glass. Cheers!The Living ChandelierThis was a new way of breaking a toastfor guests. We used a 7-foot diametersteel ring as the base for holding bottlesof champagne suspended 12 feet in theair with a sexy sequined athlete hung bytheir ankles through the centre. To reachthe champagne, they needed to use theirstomach muscles to reach up and grab thebottles. While upside down, they would popthe cork, then guests would reach up to thegirl with a flute in hand to receive the pour.Dangerous? You bet. But how cool?4 N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 5