Brunch Buffet

Whenever Bri of Design Love Fest asks us to cook for one of her events we know that there is always some kind of a theme and design direction which is exciting for us to incorporate into the style of food we create.

Bri just moved her studio downtown to The Unique Space so she hosted her Blog Shop Class there for the first time a couple of weeks ago. The Unique Space is a building downtown that has been coverted into a bunch of modern loft studios with many creative, girly accents throughout. We used this theme to guide us.

Although Blogshop took place downstairs in the expansive lobby of The Unique Space, lunch was set up in Bri's studio upstairs which was perfect, completely light and airy with our buffet in one corner and a little bohemian sitting area in the other.

Matt made individual Cobb Salads with Chicken Roulade, Humbolt Fog Cheese, Marinated Cherry Tomatoes, Egg Salad, House Cured Bacon, Watermelon Radishes and the typical greens you see in a more traditional Cobb. We had our Ranch Dressing on the side. Remember when we featured the recipe here?

Our Mixed Grain Beet Salad is always a vibrant edition to any buffet, especially since it is completely vegan and gluten-free and delicious. Whole Roasted Alaskan Salmon was presented with various accompaniments like whole grain mustard, creamy herb sauce and house made beet cream cheese.

On the left is a Seasonal Vegetable Tartine which is a popular item we serve on our For Truck. This one had a candied fennel béchamel, crispy kale, roasted dijon endive, and roasted purple cauliflower and parmesan.

On the right is our Savory Pumpkin and Sage Hand Pie. Recipe to come.

Photos: Angela Koehler

And to end, a little sweet bite of Lemon Polenta Bread Pudding on Shortbread with Raspberry Jam and Meringue.

Pescatarian Buffet

My friend Yasmine has an acute eye for detail, that is one reason she is so talented with floral design. So when she asked us to do a little lunch buffet for her workshop at Poketo (see it featured on The Chalkboard), I asked Matt to whip up whatever he wanted because he has an eye for detail too and when you allow him be creative, he really works magic. 

This friends, is an Autumn Harvest gratin which has kale, sweet peppers, baby eggplants, pears and carrots. Matt said he put it together like a layered gratin or lasagna alternating the roasted veggies and pears (these leant a delicate sweetness) with béchamel and smoked mozzarella. That and a salad is a meal I could eat every night.

Okay, these were gorgeous. They started with a beet cream cheese (see that color there, oh, I die!), smeared on a toasted crusty bread rubbed with garlic and topped with a house cured salmon, green chickpeas, lemon cucumbers, and capers. Help me, I could've eaten the whole platter. These elegant crostinis took bagels and lox to a completely different spectrum.

Oh man, and these. Whoa. We have sliced roasted yams as the bed here for a whipped potato salad (yes, everything you find in a potato salad, whipped up and then piped out) and topped with deviled eggs and trout. I know you would lose it like I did over these. Honestly I was cramming them in my mouth and hoping no one would ask me a question, and it was real challenging at this time not to stomp the ground in joy. They were that sensational.

No, no, no... are you serious? These were vegan? How is that even possible you wizard Matthew Poley? Spicy Beet Gazpacho with a Persimmon Bruschetta. People were freaking out the most over these beauties. Look at the color! 

And there was a beautiful cous cous salad, and a gorgeous garden salad and a colorful crostini station, as well as our house wine, but you've seen all those. These items above here, Matt just came up with them on the fly this past Sunday morning while prepping for three weddings after a night of four weddings. That, in case you didn't know, is called bad ass. I didn't even remind him that Yasmine ate fish but no other meat, it's just his gift this catering thing. I marvel constantly. Constantly. There are a lot of great chefs in this city, their food is unbelievable and I'm so happy to call many of them friends, but Matt is in a class of his own holding down this rapidly growing company of ours while cooking like a magician. Stay tuned, he has so much more to cook for you.

See feature here

Shark Pig in The Salon

Our friends over at Shark Pig, the classy little movie making team based in Atwater (see the video they did for us here), they have been talking about getting their whole crew together for a party for quite some time now. They have depots all over the country so their team is traveling constantly, and they really wanted to make an effort to collect everyone together to throw a par-tay over here in our digs. Man did they ever!

To outfit our space, of course, were our pals at Yeah Rentals. Remember the other events they styled for us here and here? For Shark Pig we naturally went with a theme of grey (shark) and pinky-peach (pig). 

Guests entered in through The Salon before they went out back to our garden. Photos of each of their team members were scattered throughout the party along with "money" and team cards and pins to wear with a sharkypig logo.

Daniel Gibson drew all the chalkboards for this event. Pigs and Sharks everywhere. There were also little "work" sheets for guests to fill out.

We called in our friend Yasmine for some simple floral elements. Here she is sprucing up The Salon for another event. Her work never ceases to take my breath away. So, so pretty. Check out her Instagram here, she's one of my favorites.

Okay, let's talk cocktails. This is a drinking crowd and they wanted a bar that satisfied everyone. We served our House Wine and beer and of course cocktails....

GREYSMOKE

Vodka, Salmuera (house smoked sea salt solution), Grapefruit Juice, HLA Citrus Bitters

GINGER EYE

Old Overholt Rye, Whiskey, Herbsaint, HLA Fresh Ginger Extract, Torani Amer, Meyer Lemon

MARGARITA ESTILO HEIRLOOM LA

Herradura Plata Tequila, HLA Sour Mix, Damiana Liqeur, HLA Toasted Chili-Agave Bitters

PASSIONFRUIT & PEACH AGUA FRESCA

Oh yes, let's eat! What do you serve for a Shark Pig Party? Shark and Pig Tacos of course. And with those came a buffet of delicious sides, featured above.

Shark and Pig Tacos were composed off of our Oaxacan Wagon. Those menus you see were designed by our one and only Glen Nakasako of Smog Design. You should check out his Instagram feed here also, it's all about bold compositions that strike him, and is another feed I always look forward to viewing.

We also put snacks on the tables. No one goes home hungry when visiting our house!

Warm Crispy Jam Donuts with Rosemary Maple Glaze made the rounds after everyone got through the Taco Bar a few times. I believe The Third Man was playing on that movie screen. Love that film, one of my all time favorites.

What's a Shark Pig Party without a Smilebooth? That's me up there with Chelsy, our Drop-Off Catering Manager (who is moving on to the kitchen, and so we're hiring!), along with her husband, Rob, who works on events with us, and me and Glen hamming over there to the right. 

Oh and that Piñata! My friend's nanny made it. Good, right? Contact me at tara@heirloomla.com if you'd like her contact info for your own customized piñata. She can do just about anything.

You want to know who took all these photos? None other than Jennifer Emerling. She's about to take a month wondering around Bulgaria and London and she will be documenting it on Instagram here. Do yourself a favor and follow her, it's like having a coffee table book of gorgeous photography on your phone.

Shark Pig... nice party.

Brunch for DLF and Domaine Home

You know an event is going to be about the details when Bri of Design Love Fest has a hand in it so when she inquired with us to make brunch for a collaboration with Domaine Home, we were really excited. We love details.

The event was a floral class taught by Moon Canyon where a group of girls got to make their own arrangements and sip on mimosas with a champagne bar from One Hope.

So students didn't get tooooo tipsy, we set up an artichoke and dandelion greens quiche, strawberry hand pies, coconut jam points, cous cous salad, house-cured prosciutto and butter sandwiches, and a house-made yogurt bar with seasonal fruit from the farmer's market and house-made granola. I have such a weakness for house made granola and love how you can play around with the look of it just by adding different ingredients like black flax seeds for a pretty contrast. 

Those little canapés up there were a play on bagels and lox with beet-cured wild salmon (only wild for us, never farmed- here's why), whipped herb cream cheese, dill pollen, pickled red onion and capers.

Photos: Woodnote Photography

Those fun skewers were basically a greek salad on a stick. Cute, right? You can easily do it too, it's all about the quality of your ingredients. Red and orange cherry tomatoes, marinated fresh feta cheese, cucumber, kalamata olives (washed of their brine and then gently cooked in olive oil, hard herbs and citrus), then drizzle with a greek vinaigrette.

Just taking you on down to Yumsville. Thanks Bri for having us.

Our Food Truck in C Magazine

You may have already seen this wedding in C Magazine. It took place at the Ace Hotel which has their own catering but we were allowed to bring in our Food Truck for this extravaganza along with our friends from Let's Be Frank and Handsome Coffee. The next morning we cooked a brunch off site which helped with everyone's hangovers!

Photos: Max Wanger

Crostini Station in The Salon

Yum-ola.


Summertime Crostini Station:


Weiser Farm Melons, check.


Pudwill Farm Figs, yes.


Pickled Mc Grath Farm Baby Carrots, uh-huh.


Fresh Cheeses, Home-Cured Meats,Flatbreads, Marinated Olives, Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta,Spicy Cocktail Nuts, yep.


Oh, Pizza Bread Pudding, my personal fave, and Grilled Garlic Bread- a couple pieces are missing because I ate them, but yes they are there for the most part.


What's missing... a drink, but that's another post.

Cooking for Foodies

So we were thrilled when we were asked to cater an event for The Food Network at The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences where he would be speaking to an audience of 670 people who we then would feed in a variety of action stations. 


Why gush over Alton Brown? Because this is a guy who really thinks things through, considers and weighs everything he says, and we really appreciate that in a dapper fellow such as he. For example, when an audience member asked him what he would choose for his last meal if he was about to face execution he replied, "Duck confit because it takes three days to make."


Love him.

Thank you to The Food Network and Brandon Clark for providing us with these images and allowing us to have a blast!

Anatomy of a Crostini Station in The Salon

photo: George Simian

A Couple of Crostini Stations to Snack On

Everyone loves Amber. She's one of our favorite servers and clearly she's a favorite of our clients as well for that is who took these photos and sent them back to us. She stands next to a couple of versions of our Crostini Stations filled with house-cured meats, house-made pickles, roasted veggies, fresh cheeses, pizza bread pudding... adult snacks.

top photo: Diane Severt 

bottom photo:  Angela Hsu

Soon To Be On A Catering Party Near You

The second Sunday of every month we try our darndest to make it to the granddaddy of all flea markets at The Rose Bowl. We collect all sorts of wood and pewter and copper for our Rental Room. None of those stodgy white porcelain platters and matchy matched stainless steel flatware will do for us. It's a scavenger hunt and the race is on to stock up!