As the leading caterer in Indiana we strive to provide our current and future clients with new and innovative creations for our menu every year. For 14 consecutive years we have hosted a New Menu Development Tasting, inviting industry professionals and clientele to a night of feasting and critiquing. Upon arrival guests are given a menu card and a score sheet accompanied with a warning of the dangers of overeating mass amounts of delicious food.
Each year we develop countless hors d’oeuvres, salads, entrees, desserts, and specialty cocktails to add to our extensive menu. We accumulate ideas throughout the year, but the research and development of these concepts usually takes place during a three month timeframe. During these three months, we internally test numerous concepts. We rate the item, take extensive notes and a photo to capture the presentation. Our designers and chefs even attend a catering conference to educate and inspire them on the food trends of the upcoming year. It takes a huge team effort to design and create all of our new menu items.
After undergoing three months of research, development, testing and tweaking we choose our top contenders to be presented at the annual tasting. We invite industry professionals and clientele to delight on the new menu items while encouraging their honest feedback. Their score cards allow them to choose a rating for each item and even leave space so that they may leave additional comments about the taste and presentation.
After calculating all the scores for this year's tasting, the top three new menu items were:
1. Trio of Truffle Hot Chocolates-Tequila Truffle Hot Chocolate, Coconut Rum Truffle Hot Chocolate, and a Traditional Truffle Hot Chocolate
2. Crostini with House-made Ricotta Cheese, Prosciutto, and Chive Pesto garnished with Edible Micro Flowers and Flake Sea Salt
3. Brined Chicken with Herb Butter on top of a Phyllo Crisp Mediterranean Cous Cous with Honey Rainbow Carrots, Red Pepper Puree, Charred Lemon and Petite Hearts of Fire and Citrus Micro Greens
To see more images of our menu items visit our Menu Gallery and be sure to view IndyVisual's film from the tasting. Special Thank You to all the wonderful vendors who helped make our tasting so successful: