Taste of Downtown

[snousle]

In three weeks, there's an event coming up called Taste of Downtown, which is a kind of mass open house for downtown merchants, and I'm teaming up with the owner of the local pet supply shop to set out some appetizers and do some marketing.

They say there's going to be about 2000 people - I assume that is total attendance. I can't get a very firm answer on how much they eat. I figure I will put out 1000 each of two appetizers, since surely not every single person is going to go to every single venue. But that could change.

Making a thousand of something is an interesting challenge. Today I am measuring out small, sushi-sized lavosh sandwiches which I cut into pieces weighing 20g each. So that's 20 KG (about 44 pounds) of ingredients. No fancy assembly, just a finely diced salad wrapped in the bread. Today I tested ham and celery salad with mayo, it's pretty good. For the real thing I'm considering roasted duck if I can get the guy to pay for it.

For the other appetizer, I'm thinking of mass producing some tiny puff pastry shells onto which something will be piped and then sprinkled. Not sure what the filling will be but I want it to be vegetarian. That's gonna be about 10 batches of pastry, but once shaped they will freeze well in their raw state, so maybe I can do it well in advance.

This will be a big leap in terms of exposure so I have to make it look and taste great.

Comments

[allanh.livejournal.com]

I know this isn't what you intended, but the thought of a catering service pairing up with a pet supply shop brings up all sorts of unsavory images. "Sir, would you like to try one of our Puppy Puffs? How about a Canary Canape or a Penguin Pastry?"

[bbearseviltwin.livejournal.com]

I would also avoid chopped meat, or anything that could be mistaken for pet food ;-)

[allanh.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's true; I hadn't thought of that. People might think they're being served samples of pet food.

Hm.

[f8n-begorra.livejournal.com]

If you ever need an amateur (and free) sous chef/gofer on a Saturday, let me know!

[beastbriskett.livejournal.com]

The pet shop/food connection is hilarious. Play up the joke and you'll be remembered. :)

[jstregyr.livejournal.com]

From War of the Roses (1989):

Barbara: "Oliver, if you don't get out of here now, you have no idea how far l'll go."

Oliver: "How far? Tell me. We've been horrible to each other, but we had something - we still do. We haven't passed any point of no return."

Barbara: "I have."

Oliver: "I'm not convinced. Nobody who makes pâté this good can be all bad."

Barbara: "That depends... on what the pâté is made of..." [long pause] "Woof."

Oliver: "Bennie?"

Barbara: "A good dog to the last bite..."

[barbarian-rat.livejournal.com]

sounds like a great opportunity.