Customer Reviews

Secrets from a Caterer's Kitchen: The Indispensable Guide for Planning a Party

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Paris-trained Nicole Aloni offers help for every aspect of party planning from weddings to barbecues, from invitations to centerpieces to table settings and cooking utensils. Extensive menu plans include timelines and organizing suggestions, skill levels and presentation ideas. She provides advice on incorporating ready-made foods and utilizing outside services. There are lists and lists and tips on making your own lists.

With all this detailed and inspiring advice, Aloni doesn't even get to the 150 recipes until halfway through the book. From hors d'ouevres to dessert, each recipe is prefaced with serving suggestions and symbols indicating various factors, including complexity, price, do-ahead, last minute prep and more. Many also offer variations and leftovers ideas.

Aloni's world view includes substantial spectaculars like Carpaccio, Rack of Lamb with Tapenade, Tandoori Flavored Chicken, Shrimp Ravioli with Saffron Cream Sauce, Mushroom Strudel; familiar dishes like Baba Gannoush, Grilled Scallops with Bacon, Gravlax, Herb Garlic Crostini; lots of less familiar ideas like Porcini Broth with Creamy Polenta, Balinese Dumplings, Fish Tacos, and tweaked recipes like Chicken Liver Pate with Cherries and Pecans, Roast Tenderloin of Beef with Gorgonzola, Pear and Potato Gratin with Horseradish. There are side dishes - Spinach with Black Bean Sauce, Creamy Chard with Feta, several varieties of mashed potatoes and a short chapter of spectacular desserts: Coconut Mango Crème Brulee, Cappuccino Tart.

Aloni likes to play with recipes and presentations and offers adventurous cooks the benefits of her experience. Her book is full of ideas to wow guests or wile away an afternoon as an armchair party-planner.

What a book! Fun to read--not only is Nicole Aloni a witty and graceful writer, but with her background, she has hilarious and hair-raising tales to tell (Roast Duckling for Forty, anyone?) Add to that the incredibly interesting and not horrendously complicated recipes (think Chicken with artichokes and Olives) and her great tricks that you might figure out for yourself after working as a caterer for 20 years--everything from what to keep in your pantry to how to keep drinks cold without watering them down with melting ice to party theme and decorating ideas--all this and a sense of humor! A must read if you love to cook for friends.

If you follow Nicole Aloni's advice, you too will soon be considereed an accomplished hostess.

Full of practical advice on everything from Table settings, Menu planning, theme ideas, rental requirements, hiring staff, to a fantastic Food Quantitity chart ~ which will once and for all unravel that mystery of HOW much food you need to serve 25 on a buffet anyways. For me, this chart alone makes the book a gem of a purchase.

Add to all this information some hair raising stories, creative ideas, and Mrs. Aloni's witty sense of humour and you've got yourself a book that's a must have addition for everyone from the most novice hostess to the most experienced caterer.

This is not a Martha Stewart book, you don't have to make everything from scratch, purchased food items and decorations are welcome, even recommended, encouraging you to focus on areas that you have the most skill in, leaving other areas to professionals ~ very sound advice.

Also included are over 150 creative and tempting recipes to add to your repetoire. I can't wait to try the Coconut Shrimp

This is one of those books that will be dog eared, highlighted, and marked in many places with sticky notes.

My husband and I do alot of entertaining, but not on a grand "hire a caterer" scale. This book was exactly what I needed to host 4 or 40! The book is full of great recipes, but so are alot of cookbooks. But this book goes further. It has tables and charts and information about how much to serve, what kinds of glasses you need, how many ounces to plan on, entertaining your guests, setting themes, making sure your guests know what to expect, how to dress, etc. etc. The book doesn't have the glitz and glamour of full color photos...it has information you can actually use! After reading this book cover to cover (and using lots of the ideas and recipes!) I also had the great fortune to take a cooking/entertaining class from Nicole and learned even more! I now can't wait to get my hands on her new book!

I am planning on catering my own wedding with the help of a acquintance who does catering on the side. I have been looking for books that could help me plan a meal for 200 people, but without cheesy boring recipes. The reason I'm doing the cooking is we wanted some original and tasty menu items without breaking the bank. I also needed some practical information on how to pull off cooking for a large crowd without going crazy. This book is it, and it's the only catering book I found that fit the bill. Every other book I found had recipes like chicken kiev and casseroles. Snore! Even if you're having 10 people to your home, you can't go wrong with the tips and techniques mentioned in this book. It gives ingredient quantities as well as fabulous recipes and tips. There are even decorating and presentation techniques as well along with ratios for stocking the bar. The writing is crisp and intelligent without being stuffy and dull. All in all, a great book. A must buy for anyone planning a dinner party to hosting a large reception.

I enjoy cooking for 2 to over 20 people, and there can be so much to remember to have the entertaining/dining event turn out "just right".

Perhaps you have been to some terrific parties, many "ok" ones, and rarely to some you would uh, rather forget as well... so following this book's advice will better ensure that your event is among the memorable fun events!

This book has the commonsense keys to planning and carrying out all plans for the event, from scheduling the event, writing out clear and occasionally fun invitations, budgeting dollarwise for a simple picnic lunch or 7 course dinner's expense ($6 or $60 per person), budgeting for the right quantity of each food, whether it's lobster tails at a buffet, or ounces of turkey for a sit-down meal... it's all in here!

Learn correct place settings, kitchen equipment to bring along, bar setups and liquor amounts, rental of extra chairs and tables, where to put the buffet for best effect, ah, it goes on and on!

Did you remember to order flowers, when appropriate? Hire a bartender and or a DJ for larger gatherings, so you can mingle with your guests? Freeze and make flavored ice cubes, instead of diluting drinks with melted water from regular ice? Think of fun ways to "theme" decorate your event?"

Timelines are included so everything is prepared and placed in order, and making having your list to follow ensures that nothing is forgotten until the end, because it was "hidden in the refrigerator", or "left in the shopping bag".

Don't want to be embarassed halfway through the event by "Why didn't we think of that?" Well, get this book, and profit from Nicole Aloni's many years of great parties, and learn from her rare bloopers.

And, it has an ample number of over 150 "tried and true" recipes, as a bonus.

I have looked high and low for books to help me get started in the catering field, some would offer recipes, some would offer legal stuff, none really gave me any ideals on how to give a great party. This book has it all, budget, lists, ideals, and recipes! I love the stories! I liked the one about the assistant jumping out of the window, and the idea of dressing the waitstaff in victorian outfits, this is the kind of stuff I have been searching for.

The author's spent over twenty years catering major events: her experience lends to a guide which tells how to plan menus for both large and small gatherings, how to entertain under a variety of conditions, and how to create festive occasions. The party recipes here are packed with ideas and while dishes lack colorful photos, the advice is solid and the relatively simple dishes don't need much embellishment.

We found this book in the library when looking for help planning a buffet for 50 last fall. The guidance for amounts of food, beverages, glassware, etc. and the estimates about relative costs of different planning choices were absolutely invaluable. We're now planning a local reception for friends getting married out of state and the book is checked out of the library so we decided we'd better get our own copy!

I have read this book cover to cover twice now and I love it! Ms. Aloni has cleverly and realistically provided enough ideas that would make any party successful. She wisely admits that some people have to use take-out as an option to their cooking repetoir and it's not something to be ashamed of. Even though I have planned several parties there are several planning and cooking techniques that I will use with ease. It really is an indispensable guide for anyone. (The reference section in the back is especially helpful)