Caterers

dena
Sheldon

CUISINE SCENE

CATERING — THE word
holds new meanin;; for me.

Something to tuck away (when
needed) and to call upon for a spe-
cial occasion. I now know, first-
hand, the value of such a person,

Recently iny husband and J host-
ed a sit-down dinner for 14 in cele-
bration of one of our favorite
French chefs. Right in our home.

1 cooked and baked, made lists
and organized and worked for a
good week — all fun, enthusiasm,
and lots of love involved. But boy,

‘when vou are a detail person like 1
am, and you are going it solo, one
does wonder who those caterers are
out there and what they actually
offer.

Well, if you have an affair com-
ing up — be it a romantic dinner for
two in your own dining room, a
wedding for 200 in your backyard.
a picnic for a dozen on your sail-
boat, a grad party picnic for an
entire hoard or a blow-out anniver-
sary for the whole family-and-
friend ensemble, a good caterer can
take al! the work and worry out of
it.

Enter Hervé Fabre. Where will
you find this oh-so-charming Nice-
born Frenchman?

He is director of outside cater-
ing, Le Gerard Catering at Hotel Le
Meridien.

One call to Fabre, and he will
personally come to your home for
the initial consultation. Together,
you will come up with an idea suit-
ed for you personally.

Fancy le barbecue? Pick a
beach, poolside or lakefront and
Fabre will gril] West coast salmon.
roast a gigot of lamb, and throw in
sweel corn on the cob.

Le piquenique? Let Fabre fix up
fanciful baskets with cooked lob-
sters, patés, terrines (his specialty).
freshly baked breads and some
gooey chocolate dessert.

Ideal for your own picnic under

EDGEMONT VILLAGE
Carer of Edgemont? Blvd. + Queens

Wednesday, Junie 22, 1994 - North Shore

help make celebrations

the sun. with Fabre’s special han-
dling and touch,

Psat down to funeh recently with
Fabre. shared aanised grill and
Many loo many pommes frites and
we talked about catering — a sub-
ject frankly. that baa not too
familiar with.

And my eyes were opened, [iv
affordable, (Not much more dan
hesting a dinner in your (asorite
restaurant And. most of all, itis
personal, with your own stamp on
it.

A bit about Fabre. Bora in Nice,
hotel school triined in France, with
stints in Germany, Holland,
England (at the Savoy), in the
Pacific, and finally to Quebee and
Montreal.

On the West coast, he was exec-
utive chef at Umberto's If Giardino,
opened up Al Porto in Gastown,
and hired a lot of our top chefs and
restaurant owners at present.

Next, was his own venture, Li:

* Gourmandise in Ambleside in West
Vancouver — a luxus French-style
deli and catering service.

“[ stocked 16 types of goat
cheese (kept just right) ... always at
least five patés and an assortment of
terrines ... and did it all myselft 1
was booked every Friday, Saturday
and Sunday solid, 12 months a year,
for private parties.”

Afier this exhausting venture,
Fabre sold his shop some two years
ago, traveled a bit “for fresh ideas,”
and Le Meridien believed in his tal-
entS enough to open this in-house
catering service.

lL asked for a sample packet
(yours for the asking) of some sug-
gested menus and ideas.

His theme dinners include:

@ Italian (with bocconcini salad.
prosciutto and melon. cannelloni,
olive bread, tiramisu and the like).
GA French buffet might include
greens with goat cheese, terrine du
chef, steak tartar, and a savory beef
bourguignon or cassoulet.

E&I New Orleans inspired? You bet.
Spicy chicken wings, barbecued
ribs, seafood gumbo. rice creole,
apple pie and a side of cornbread!

Then there’s Moroccan cous-
cous, Spanish paella and Greek
moussaka. Sit down and talk with
Fabre.

(1 must add this charming story)
Fabre told me about a lovely lady
who came to him recently and
asked him to cater a private roman-
tic dinner for two in her home.

The raison d'étre? She wished
to propose marriage to the gentle-
man she had been dating for some
time.

Fabre whipped up a fabulous
appelizer. prepared the gentleman’s
favorite potage (leek and potato).
served a crab pasta dish, and some
elegant rournedoes of beel with a

DLESS WHOLE *

983-9330

ts tune 22 Foy dra 2Ufa4

peppercorn sauce.

Dessert was a leart-shiaped
chocolate cake for two, which had
tobe sliced it half to serve. The
happy lady phoned the following
torn with the news dat the
answer Was odd! And they are now
happily married! (Who says chit
food is not the straightest tine loa
mia’s heart?)

Fabre shared a couple of his own
tecipes with me for you to try at
home for your own summer enter-
tuning. They are simple and won-
derful. Bow appetit!

And he added ts own Top 10
{ist for having « catered event of
your own, at home. His list
includes:

[. Invite people who you know will -
mingle weil together.

2. Create an event with a theme. A
theme to suit the guests,

3. Select a menu for that theme.
Something fun and currently in
style.

4. Organize. Do what you are com-
fortable doing and leave the rest to
the caterer. If you like to arrange
flowers, or prepare desserts, then do
it!

5. Let the caterer worry about the
weather! He added that in his menu
prices, “sunshine is included.”

6. Let Fabre visit your home to
assure that everything needed is in
order.

7. Have an idea of your own afford-
able budget and stick with it!

8. Don't try to impress anybody by
doing it all yourself. Be comfort-
able with what you attempt to do or
cook.

9. Don’t hesitate to ask Fabre to
cook the main course and you do
the rest.

10. Finally, relax!

GRILLED QUAIL SALAD

Fabre suggests this simple sum-
mer salad for entertaining guests. In
lieu of quail (if not available),
chicken breasts of duck will work
as well.

For the greens. select a mix of
assorted salad types, such as a mix
of gourmet mesclun.

Grill the poultry over charcoal
for the best flavor, Serves four.

4 debcned quail (fresh prefer-
ably), ski on
Assorted summer greens, about 8

c. (2 L)

1 Thsp. (15 mL) balsamic vinegar
! Thsp. (15 mL) honey

1 Tbsp. (15 mL) Dijon mustard
Sea salt

Cracked black pepper

News - §3
Eo EPC

NEWS phote Mike Wekefield

CATERER AND French Chef Hervé Fabre can create intimate
dinners from two to 1,000 right in your own home. Leave the
work and details to this master at Le Gerard Catering from

Hotel Le Meridien.

4% ¢. (125 mL) corn or peanut oil
4% ¢. (125 mL) olive oil
4 ¢.(75 mL) toasted pine nuts

Seuson fresh deboned quail with
salt and pepper. Set aside 30 min-
utes while heating charcoal to
medium-hot.

Prepare the dressing by whisk-
ing together the vinegar, honey,
mustard, salt, pepper, and oils until
emulsified and smooth.

Taste and correct for (possible)
additional vinegar. Set dressing
aside (may be prepared ahead of
time and chilled up to two days:
bring to room temperature before
using).

Grill the quails over charcoal
several minutes per side until just

cooked through (no longer pink),
golden brown and crisp on the out-
side, and nicely marked with grill
marks. Remove from grill. and
allow to rest 10 minutes before
serving.

To assemble salads, mound
assorted crisp greens in ventre of
four large dinner plates. Cut each
quail in half, and arrange two
halves per serving over greens.
Drizzle prepared dressing over
quail and greens. Scatter with toast-
ed pine nuts. Serve.

Mesclun mix of gourmet salad
greens is available on the North
Shore at Safeway, Something

See Rhubarb page 55

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