Bite Catering offers a variety of service formats, and if you are hosting an event with a limited budget or a casual affair that just does not call for service, our drop off format might be just the thing for you. Our signature bites are perfect for this, and you can still have a chic presentation of gorgeous and delicious food without the cost of hiring a staff to help during the event.

Select all room temperature bites if you would like to create a buffet of appetizers that your guests can help themselves too. You are welcome to select warm items as well, but you must be prepared to heat them and serve them right out of the oven. We do supply specific heating instructions if that is what you want to do.

Here are some tips for creating a beautiful display of Bites:

• Fresh flowers – one big or a couple of smaller bouquets – these can be ordered from us as well.
• Using real serving equipment rather than disposables.
• Candles
• Small pots of herbs for a rustic or Mediterranean theme – you can use these for cooking later!
• Linen for the buffet table; the color can match your decor or theme.
• Fun cocktail napkins that match the color or theme
• A Menu – simple print out in pretty lettering to ensure everybody knows what everything is. You can use a small chalkboard for a rustic look, or print it out and put it in a nice picture frame for an elegant touch.

Create different levels on the display. If you do not have custom serving pieces, you can most likely find something in your kitchen that will work. Try turning bowls, glasses, or baskets upside down and putting the trays on top. Or fill glasses with objects that match your theme – seasonal fruits or vegetables, candy for a kid’s party or dessert display – and use them as risers.

Look around in your kitchen – you may have things other than formal serving platters that you can use. For example, wood cutting boards are perfect for a cheese display, and baskets for bread or dippers. For sweets a cake plate is perfect – even if it is not a cake!

Think about what look you are going for. For a chic and modern display, white platters, glass, and clear bowls work perfectly. If it is a rustic look you are going for, go with wood and natural colors with rich red or green accents. For a tropical look, use tropical flowers such as orchids and woven baskets to complete the look.

When you place a drop off order with Bite Catering, your food will be delivered by one of our chefs. You can also order “set up” which means the chef will stay and help you create your display. We will make sure you have everything you need, just have it ready for the chef upon arrival.  Even if you just want to use our disposable platters - we will still help you create an eye catching display.

Baby Showers are always fun for us to do, and they go hand in hand with our specialty – minis!  The best possible back drop (Malibu’s amazing coastline!), great weather, and scrumptious bites all came together creating a fabulous It’s a Girl!  baby shower earlier this month.  As we do for many of our bites events, we did a beautiful stationary display as well as some tray passed appetizers, a dessert display, and refreshing drinks for the hot August sun such as homemade strawberry lemonade and Bellinis!

Our creative client also added some great touches – personalized water bottles, shell place mats, beautiful flower arrangements, and baby shower decorations hanging from the umbrellas.  Don’t worry if these ideas don’t come naturally to you – we are here to help and have lots of ideas for fun and fabulous displays for every occasion.

Some menu highlights are:

Watermelon Cube Salads
Sweet and Savory fruit salad served in watermelon cups

Sesame Crusted Seared Ahi Tuna
Served on a wonton crisp with Asian slaw and plum sauce

Quesadilla Duo
Goat cheese-chorizo quesadillas with guacamole, tequila salsa and crema
Roasted Vegetable Quesadillas with tropical fruit salsa and crema

Mini BBQ Bacon Cheeseburgers
Served on a homemade brioche bun

Give us a call so we can help you customize the menu for your next event!

Flower arrangements by Bobbi D’Itri

The Bobbi D’Itri storefront is in Beverly Hills on South Santa Monica Blvd.

To be “Couture” means to be made by hand…we lovingly make everything at Bite by hand – FRESH!!!  One of our favorites is flat bread and pizzas…we use these babies to do everything from flatbread pizzas to mini homemade gyros!  Check out that gorgeous dough…and Chef Martin putting some MUSCLE into it!  In the background you’ll notice our lunch…PIZZA!!!  YUMMERS

Just a sample of some of the yumminess going on this week…nutty caramel shortbread bars and Mini Lemon-Blueberry Pies…aren’t they gorgeous?  Lucky clients getting these…give me a hot cup of freshly brewed tea, a couple of these and I am SET!

Invites

Since a super bowl party is a casual affair, you want to keep the invites casual as well.  Online invitations rather than formal invitations would be perfect in this case.  You can use Evites, just simple emails, or invitations through Facebook.  Here is a great example of a simple yet fun invitation.

Decor

The sports theme is built in, so that’s easy!  Use the playing team’s colors, and if you are a real fan of either team you can play that up by hanging banners and using colors from that team.   A fun interactive approach to decorating is to create a table where the guests can make their own banners depending on which team they are rooting for.

Atmosphere

The main activity at any Super Bowl party is watching the game!  Create a fun viewing space with plenty of seating; make sure everyone in the room will be able to see the game from their spot.  Have snacks and drinks handy for easy access.  While creating the viewing space, don’t forget that there might be some guests who are not at all interested in the game; have a space for mingling as well, perhaps a separate room with a nice stationary display of snacks and a self serve bar. 

Menu

Last but certainly not least…the menu!  Classic super bowl food, such as buffalo wings or bbq ribs, falls into the comfort food category.  Because your guests will be preoccupied with watching the game, make the food easily accessible and even easier to eat!  Don’t forget our tips from last year and use the home towns of the playing teams for inspiration.  You can adjust the menu according to your crowd, but here are some fun ideas from our new 2011 Super Bowl Menu.  

Football Devilled Eggs with smoked paprika and chive garnish

Chili served in individual cups with cheese, sour cream and chives – you can play with the presentation of these chili cups by using take out containers and tying the spoon to the cup.

Mini Pulled BBQ Sandwiches (Pork, Chicken, or Brisket) served on a soft bun with tangy slaw

Football Cupcakes with vanilla bean pastry cream and topped with chocolate ganache, or something especially for the guys:  Guinness Cupcakes!

Here are some tips to help you stage a fresh, modern holiday party. There are two key elements to a cocktail party…the cocktails and the food! You might think you can get away with having a foodless cocktail party, but about an hour in you will see that you have made a terrible mistake as your guests begin to kick off their shoes and clear a space on the table top for a dance floor.

A popular approach for today’s cocktail parties is to choose a few select signature drinks. Rather than having a full bar, which can be quite costly, you choose two or three drinks to go along with the theme of your party. Set up drink stations for your various signature drinks! Let’s say that your drink menu is: artisan craft beer, local wines, Bellinis, and martinis. You can create three stations out of this menu and accompany each drink station with a stationary appetizer or two.

The first station is your beer and wine station. Cover the table with a linen and some holiday decorations. Arrange the beer and wine on the table along with the appropriate glassware. Create markers with the name and a brief description of each beer/wine so people know what they are drinking and are more inclined to try something new. Accompany the beer and wine with a beautiful display of artisan cheeses, fresh fruit, nuts, breads, and crackers.

The second station is the Bellini bar. This station has Prosecco and some fruit purees so people can create the flavor of their choice. Popular Bellini flavors are pear, cranberry (or mix the two for a great pear cranberry flavor), peach, and mango. Again, arrange the table with a linen, decorations, bottles of Prosecco, and you can have fun filling up assorted mason jars or pitchers with the various fruit purees. The colorful fruit purees make a lovely display on their own. Have fun making a sign letting people know how to prepare their own Bellini. Add a plate of assorted crostinis with seasonal flavors and colors to accompany the Bellini station. One of Bite’s winter favorites is pear and winter squash with crispy sage and freshy shaved ricotta salata.

Finally, have fun creating a martini station. Offer a traditional gin or vodka martini, a cosmopolitan, and something fun and sweet like a lemon drop or an apple martini. You can offer one, two, or all of them at this drink station. A Brie and artichoke dip and a spicy shrimp cocktail would work perfectly here.
Accompany the stations with some warm tray-passed appetizers or you can keep it casual and self-serve with the stationary displays. Either way, your guests will be sure to enjoy the creative and festive atmosphere, and your tables won’t show marks from those dancing shoes!

Give Bite Catering a call to help you plan your next Holiday Party.

Chutneys and Pickles are our Autumn storing days but this is a super sexy chutney I do at the Rhubarb season which is soon upon us. It is very easy to make, a gorgeous pinky color and it goes very well with chicken, pork or game. A sunny afternoon, outside with some crostini and pate’, this chutney, a bottle of white wine…you have a picnic in the making.

RHUBARB AND FRESH GINGER CHUTNEY

12oz Dessert Apples Cored and Peeled
120z Onions
10oz Fresh Ginger
2 Cloves Garlic
3LB Rhubarb
2tsp Paprika
½ Oz Salt
¾ Pint Red Wine Vinegar
Juice and Zest Of 1 Orange
1tsp Tomato Puree
1½LB Granulated Sugar

Finely dice the Apples, Onions, Rhubarb and Ginger . Add remaining ingredients and simmer for about 1 hour. Bottle in sterilized bottles and there you have it.

Tea has gone in and out of fashion as people have enjoyed other drinks socially, such as coffee and cocktails, but tea today seems to be here to stay.  With a society that is more health conscience than ever, tea is not just back in style, it is taking over!  In almost every trendy neighborhood you will now find a tea house, where the menu boasts pages and pages of interesting brews along with some light and often healthy fare.

Tea rooms are the modern answer to the classic tea parties.  However classic they might be, they are still quite alive and kicking.  You may not think of tea parties as being seasonal, but judging by the number of inquiries we have been getting lately for tea parties, tea party season is definitely upon us!  A tea party is perfect for a fundraiser, a baby shower, a bridal shower, a luncheon, a graduation celebration, a little girl’s birthday party, and many more special events.  It can be casual, elegant, or anything in between.  Make it fun by adding an Alice and Wonderland theme, or classic by modeling it after a traditional English high tea.

No matter which direction you choose to go with your tea party, the food is always a hit.  The key is bite-sized finger foods, and you guessed it…that’s our specialty!  Most traditionally, the menu would consist of little tea sandwiches and scones with various fruit spreads.  Small cakes, canapes, and baskets of fruit will add to the menu and make a beautiful display.

Tea parties can be formatted by offering individual table service, and setting up a small display on each table, or by creating one buffet, or food display, and a seperate drink display.  Let’s see, what beverages shall you serve?  How about tea!  It is nice to offer hot tea and iced tea, and a variety of blends giving your guests plenty of options.   There are Black, Green, White, Herbal teas, full-leaf and tea-bag just to name a few of the categories.  For an elegant touch, use a clear glass pot to brew one of the flowering blossom types of tea – made of specially tied tea leaves that “bloom” in the pot as the tea infuses. There may be people at your tea party who do not drink tea, so one or two non-tea options is recommended, such as lemonade or champagne.

Here is Bite’s newly released Tea Party Menu.  We are more than happy to customize this menu to fit your exact taste and/or budget.  Happy Tea Time!     Tea_Party_Menu