10/10/2011

Catering in Lake Tahoe Part I

About eight hours away from where I live in the San Fernando Valley, lays the beautiful serene nature of a large hidden lake. Somewhere atop misty mountains and a forest of pine is the quaint lake side country backwoods of Lake Tahoe. North Lake Tahoe being within the California limits of camping, condos and ski/summer sports resorts and South Lake Tahoe partaking in the Nevada gaming and hotel life with bits of the California side activities peppered in. Both sides of the lake have views of the uncanny supernatural exquisiteness of luscious blue waters and green forests of pine as far as the eye can see. I love Lake Tahoe; it’s sleek, sexy, quaint, interesting and natural, all in one stunning place.

My recent trip there was for different purposes than normal. I went with my friend/old co-worker, Brandon, to cater a wedding. So we traveled the long haul in a Jeep packed to the brim with the essentials necessary to make a perfect feast for a very special wedding. The catering did not occur without the characteristic hiccups that caterers are generally accustomed to, such as: a truck dying, product not being delivered on time and a little bit of a storm, complete with heavy rain and lightning. But my co-partner in cooking crime kept his cool and stayed just one step ahead, even with the constant phone updates and scattered, unnecessary what-ifs. Brandon’s catering expertise is derived from his extensive ventures with companies based out of Santa Barbara. Currently, he is the Executive Chef of El Rey Cantina with two locations: one in Ventura and his most frequented location, El Ray in Camarillo. I knew that the trip would run smoothly, which it did, after we finally arrived at Lake Tahoe. It’s not easy for someone who takes care of two restaurants to escape either one of them for very long, but he managed well. On the other hand, I would have been a crackpot mess, worrying about the whole thing, but even if he secretly was, he hid it pretty well. Well played sir.

So after about four red bulls, a granola bar, a couple handfuls of goldfish, the most crazy lightning I’ve ever seen, a few stops at various in the middle of nowhere gas stations, a huge deer running out on the road, a crazy person with no teeth, no shoes and holes in his clothes screaming from the side of the road (don’t worry, I convinced Brandon not to stop—he can thank me later) and transmission problems with the Jeep going up the huge grade, we finally made it to Lake Tahoe. Then we spent an additional 30 minutes driving past where we were supposed to stay because the signs on the road were so hard to see in the pitch black night, not to mention both of us were tired from trying to talk and keep each other awake for eight hours, that finally we made it to our destination at about 3:30 a.m. We stayed and cooked in this home off of highway 50.

The kitchen was wide and had ample counter space, which was definitely necessary for such a demanding job as cooking for 100 people out of a home kitchen. With one oven and four burners, the key to our success was time management. Catering is a very different type of cooking. It has its ups and downs just like anything; I’m a more instant gratification person, which is why I was so drawn to work as a chef in the restaurant. Catering is about organization, preparation and execution. The menus are devised with these things in mind, first and foremost. Our menu was simple, yet ambitious when taking into consideration the realizations of home cooking, high altitude baking, and eight hour travel time between locations. The things that seem simple, when placed in an unfamiliar setting, can take an excessive amount of time and the ability to adjust is something that must be part of your culinary repertoire. I’ve catered on and off site many times during my restaurant career, but never working solely for a catering company. Things are different, but it’s always a fun experience.