Food Station Suggestions

Food stations are a fun way to get your guests to mingle. Generally food stations offer a single type of food like seafood or a particular cultural theme like Asian. Choose several to give your guests a variety of tastes and perhaps the chance to try something new!

Fire and Ice Seafood

Iced shrimp with cocktail sauce
Iced Chesapeake oysters and little neck clams
Steamed mussels with lemon grass, coconut milk & chilies
Sautéed garlic shrimp tossed with angel hair pasta
Pan-seared cocktail crab cakes with jalapeno with crushed corn and thyme cream

Asian Noodle Bar

A selection of three hot noodles served from woks in brightly colored Chinese take-out cartons with chopsticks
Teriyaki beef noodles with scallions
Thai chicken satay noodles with peanuts and coriander
Chinese vegetable noodles with eggplant, pepper and onion

Yo! Philadelphia

Miniature Philadelphia cheesesteaks with sautéed onions, mustard and ketchup
Miniature Italian hoagies
Pepperoni calzone
Caesar salad with creamy parmesan dressing
Soft pretzels with yellow mustard

Our Food

Entertaining Tip

BY STEVE POSES

Decorating Hors d’oeuvres Platters

In the beginning say, about 30 years ago, our big styling strategy in the catering kitchen was to use flower blossoms on our hors d’oeuvres trays. I never loved this approach; the flowers had nothing to do with the food and staff tended to get carried away with over-flowered trays. To me, the food is the point, and the purpose of decorating any food is to show it off. Today, we use an occasional spray of orchids or a single blossom, but more frequently hors d’oeuvres are arranged on a bed of thinly sliced green apples or lemons. We also like to use a bed of dried beans, which come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and colors, so the effect is almost like a painted backdrop. (If you do this at home, take care not too use beans that are too small, as they could stick to your hors d’oeuvres and provide a potentially tooth-breaking crunch.) In general, when it comes to decorating platters, less is more. Consider simply adding a sprig of fresh herbs or a bed of kale for a burst of green. Platters can be prepped long before the hors d’oeuvres are added.