Chafing dishes are making way for more action stations and interactive, build-your-own setups, as entertainment now shares the stage with stellar food at clubs’ banquets and on their buffets.
For banquets and buffets at Alpine Country Club in Demarest, N.J., chefs are now doing more than just carving at weekly and special-event stations. They’re also grilling and smoking everything from lamb kebabs to lobster, as part of “live” cooking displays.
“We’ve been getting requests for a lot of barbecue action on our buffets,” says Executive Chef Angel Camacho. “People will wait for something off of the grill, if it’s something they like.”
Summing It Up • “Live” cooking displays will encourage interaction between guests and chefs. • Having chefs prepare and serve a wide variety of tapas-style tasting dishes featuring worldwide flavors can add to the special nature of an event. • Hors d’oeuvres, desserts and cocktails can also be given special treatment in banquet and buffet settings. • Family-style service can serve as an icebreaker to help banquet guests interact. |
Whether it’s at a special event like a wedding or at a regular weeknight buffet dinner, Camacho notes that guests really enjoy interacting with the chefs at the stations.
“We do a barbecue buffet every Thursday night throughout the summer, and we reinvent our menu every week, so there’s always something new to talk about,” he says.
One popular offering at Alpine is the barbecue steakhouse buffet, with carving stations featuring four or five different cuts of steak. The beef, most of which is dry-aged, might include anything from “cowboy on the bone” steaks (also known as bone-in ribeye) to strip steaks.
Other buffet favorites include Camacho’s baby-back, three-bone short ribs or spice-rubbed whole pork racks, bathed in the house-specialty barbecue sauce, which gets its sweet heat balance from chipotle peppers and brown sugar. For a recent buffet, Camacho prepared veal kebabs marinated with togarashi, za’atar and Greek yogurt on the grill.
He also likes to use cedar planks to cook fish, such as trout with applewood-smoked bacon, whole bronzino or snapper, on the action-station grills. And for a high-end Bar Mitzvah, Alpine’s chefs live-grilled three-pound lobsters, filet mignon, New York strip steaks, oysters and clams casino.
Fifteen percent of Alpine CC’s membership is of Asian ancestry, so buffets often include Asian-style ribs, Korean barbecue and char siu—skewered pork tenderloin cooked until charred. “It looks black on the outside, but is still pink on the inside,” Camacho explains.
In addition to grilling, the club might have as many as eight chefs working a buffet, preparing everything from sushi to pasta.
Rolling Out a Show
The house-made pasta station is always a big hit at Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort & Country Club, reports Executive Chef Brian Wykoff. Guests can watch as the pasta is being rolled out, cut and cooked.
“Live action makes a buffet more of an event,” Wykoff says. “Guests ask a lot of questions of the chefs, and they enjoy that a lot.”
At Pinehurst, Wykoff has had as many as 10 chefs at a time preparing and serving different tapas-style tasting dishes from around the world. “We’re seeing more buffets like that at weddings here, because they encourage mingling and conversation among the guests,” he says.
Party-Ready Produce Although live action stations are front and center at many of Executive Chef Angel Camacho’s buffets at Alpine Country Club in Demarest, N.J., the chafing dishes haven’t been retired. Camacho (pictured at left) notes that he is seeing a big increase in interest in vegetarian entrees and side dishes for buffets and banquets, many of which are still are presented in chafers. “I’ve been doing a lot of dishes where the vegetable is the centerpiece and the protein plays the accompaniment role,” he says. “I have a big garden and grow many of the vegetables we serve.” The buffet table and banquet plates at Alpine might include grilled or smoked tomatoes, glazed sunburst summer squashes or local New Jersey corn slathered in Old Bay butter or basil lemon butter, tied up in its own husk and grilled over charcoal. Broccoli is also charred, to add more depth and complexity of flavor. Leeks take on entrée status at Alpine when they are marinated whole in extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, charred until almost burnt, then carved like meat and served with a sprinkling of Maldon salt. Even the regular Thursday night barbecue buffet gets a gourmet touch with grilled stone fruits; fire-roasted peppers to top sausages, brats and house-made chorizo; and multiple variations on baked beans, including one recipe that incorporates brandied truffles. |
In the South, pig picking is a party staple and at Pinehurst, the grill is rolled out so that the guests can watch the pig slow-roast. The chefs serve the meat right off of the grill. The property is also considering building a permanent barbecue pit at the pool, Wykoff reports, that would be used for New England clambakes.
Skirt steak for tacos is often carved on the club’s buffets. So is fish grilled in banana leaf, or baked in clay with fresh herbs and citrus. “The clay is cracked in front of the guests, making a dramatic presentation,” Wykoff says. “It’s one of the ways we take a familiar food item and give it a ‘wow’ factor.”
Bonuses on the Bayou
Carved-to-order Wellingtons are elegant enough for a party, but they can also translate well to an action station. At Beau Chene Country Club in Mandeville, La., Executive Chef Hosie Bourgeois uses pork loin instead of beef with the traditional duxelles, or sometimes goat cheese and herbs, to keep costs down.
Other action stations at Beau Chene CC might showcase preparations as simple as frying green tomatoes in cast iron, blackening shrimp to go over Maytag grits on induction burners, or preparing sesame-ginger guacamole to top off Korean pork tostadas on fried wontons.
Build-your-own mashed potato martini bars are still very popular at many clubs, but some chefs are putting their personal spin on this basic format. For a poolside buffet at Beau Chene CC, a bloody Mary bar features a variety of unique garnishes, including seared scallops, shucked oysters, bacon, and pickled vegetables. A taco bar gives guests filling choices that can range from mahi mahi to sweetbreads to Wagyu brisket, and toppings that span the globe from Asia to the American South.
One of the most popular interactive stations at Beau Chene CC is the macaroni-and-cheese bar. This bar displays at least six or seven toppings, including chopped local tasso, bacon, caramelized shallots, curried lamb chili and goat cheese fondue (for guests who want to increase the cheese factor). Bourgeois also does a corn grits bar, highlighting his New Orleans roots with accompaniments like grillades and head cheese.
Sweet Beginnings, and Endings
When it comes to passed hors d’oeuvres, Bourgeois says he throws out all the rules and tries to surprise guests with unexpected flavor and ingredient combinations.
“I can shrink any dish into one or two bites,” he says. “I get tons of compliments on these little plates at weddings and banquets.”
Some of the tiny tastings he has created have included coq au vin nachos on truffle chips, Cuban pork cigars (prepared flauta style), Creole tomato soup with mini-grilled brie and pancetta sandwich bites, blue corn bread pudding with Bearnaise sauce and andouille, and braised lamb shanks with corn-mint pancakes and heirloom tomato jus.
Desserts at Beau Chene CC can include mini-beignets with a demitasse of café au lait, and mini-fried ice cream scoops crusted with panko in a cinnamon tortilla, with local honey and chocolate ganache.
For dessert, Alpine CC’s Camacho takes the basic sundae bar and makes it upscale, by offering made-on-the-spot waffle cones and/or fresh-grilled doughnuts to use as a base. He often serves gelato instead of regular ice cream at the bar, in a variety of flavors including intriguing combinations such as olive oil and black pepper.
At Pinehurst, a make-it-yourself s’mores bar lets guests roast their own marshmallows over an open flame (chefs are on standby to help younger guests).
And of-age guests always have a great time creating cold, cocktail-like concoctions from crushed ice, flavored syrups and alcoholic add-ins at Beau Chene CC’s “booze ball” bar (an adult take on the local sno-ball).
All for the Family
At Alpine Country Club, Camacho has incorporated family-style service into his banquet menus, at the request of some members. For these events, he presents the first course plated in the traditional banquet format, then one style of fish, two types of meat, potatoes and vegetables, all served family-style. Passing the family-style platters around is a good icebreaker, he notes, especially at tables where the guests may not already know one another.
Slowly but surely, brunch buffets are gaining in popularity for business events at Pinehurst, according to Wykoff. “Eggs Benedict is a huge thing and, here in the South, so are grit cakes with country ham, as well as country sausage and thick-cut bacon,” he says. “And everybody loves quiches for breakfast and lunch.”
The important thing to remember for a brunch buffet, Wykoff says, is to keep things on the lighter side. At a carving station, for example, he suggests featuring fish.
Recipes:
Chef Hosie’s Booya-Mary
Lobster, Lemon and Baby Artichokes
Grilled Artichokes with Smoked Olive Oil Mayonnaise
Cobia with carrot ginger puree, cherry tomatoes, mandarin oranges and seasonal vegetables
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