Early Autumn Wedding, Dining Under the Stars

We recently catered this gorgeous early autumn wedding at a private home La Jolla home.  The bride wanted an intimate alfresco dining experience under the stars for her family & closest friends. And the Menu reflected her Italian heritage.

For starters the guests we’re served a selection of tray passed hors d’oeuvres, such as a Peach Caprese Skewer peach with fresh mozzarella & basil leaf with a balsamic glaze. Cabernet braised short rib on creamy mashed potato served in a spoon. Tuscan Flatbread Pizza with rosemary roasted potatoes, carmelized red onion and gorgonzola. And lastly Gamberoni Spiedini, grilled shrimp skewers marinated in orange and fennel.

Tables

For the romantic sit down dinner underneath the stars, the first course served was Gnocchi sautéed in olive oil, butter, peas & Proscuitto served with a Marscapone cream sauce.  The salad course was a refreshing and bright, watercress and melon salad, with seedless ruby watermelon and crumbled feta on upland watercress with a balsamic reduction glaze.

And the choices for the main course were equally as impressive. Your choice of  grilled filet of beef with a green peppercorn sauce. Pan seared local sea bass with lemon buerre blanc & crispy capers.  Oven roasted polenta cake with roasted tomato and spinach ricotta, all served with locally grown grilled seasonal vegetables and aritsanal Ciabatta bread.

Marissa & Maggie’s Wedding at 828/Brick in Liberty Station

IMG_4009Marissa & Maggie’s Wedding at 828/Brick in Liberty Station on October 24th.
The venue has a very raw organic feel. Vintage brick. Edison string lighting. Exposed concrete floor. A tall farmhouse feasting table for the couple and their wedding party with farmhouse stools. Food stations were on wood farmhouse tables. Florist Annette Gomez absolutely killed it – the room was so romantic with oodles of candles and bursts of fall colors (oh those bronze lillies!)
What did we eat? For starters….our roasted beet and local & in season citrus salad;
then on to our signature tenderloin of beef; and then our made to order dim sum basket filled with a thai basil chicken lettuce cup; a duck & sun-dried cherry in bao with pickled slaw; a homemade potsticker; a selection of sushi rolls. Last but not least Street tacos – carnitas & mahi-mahi  and avocado-feta salsa, served with our grilled stuffed pasilla chiles with papaya mango salsa, and our decadent (but worth every drop) roasted poblano corn pudding.

Savor the quintessential flavors of the season

“People who love to eat are always the best people.”
Julia Childs

9f862d2675125ad5ac52fd6a5a7850ae-612x344It is that time again.  Summer has turned to fall, Halloween is a week away, which means the holiday season is quickly upon us.  Like it or not, it’s time to relish in this joyful time of year and make it your most festive and DELICIOUS ever!  Whether you decide to cook for your guests yourself or have your event catered, check out our inspirations for our custom holiday menus.

 

THE MOST DELICIOUS BRIGHT & TEXTURED FALL SALAD
Crisp mornings and fall flavors are approaching, and there is nothing better than a warm salad coupled with cozy knits to celebrate.

Cheddar-Apple-Biscuits-with-Bacon-Jam1APPLE CHEDDAR BISCUITS + UPDATED BACON JAM
Tender, golden biscuits infused with aged cheddar, apple and onion with sweet and smokey bacon jam on the side. To me, this is a plate of pure happiness.

A Simple Carrot Soup Recipe
You are looking at the simplest of carrot soups.  It’s an example of how a beautiful meal can come together with a bit of care, and an impossibly short list of ingredients.
Boozy Belly Pumpkin Cupcakes
So addicting!

Yotam Ottolenghi and Ramael Scully’s Pistachio and Pine Nut-Crusted Halibut

 

Crown Point Welcomes Kerensa Lorton To The Team

CheersMeet Kerensa, our new executive of Sales and Event Planner.  Kerensa tripped and fell into catering at the ripe age of 18 as a summer job during college. Thus began a life time love of food and culinary exploration, now she is known for her experimental cooking and keeps her friends and families plates full with an ever-evolving array of tasty dishes.

Having taken a roundabout journey collecting tools for her toolbox including a degree in commercial photography, time in advertising, as a photo shoot producer, and a cooking class instructor; she has honed her skills for organization, aesthetic, and curating of flavors and returns to catering with an inherent joy for food and a full force Can Do attitude for event production.

Along with our new team addition, we decided to spruce up our website as well.  Check out new images and updates to see the refreshed new look!Wedding

 

 

 

 

 

Baluga Kisses

 

 

What if riding the waves meant changing the world?

pb156All of us at Crown Point view ourselves as family.  Much more than co-workers or just showing up to do the job.  We’re lucky we get to support one another, share our family experiences and most of all learn admire one another for some of the amazing work we do when were not punching the clock.  Orsika’s our very talented Sales Executive’s, husband, Peter, is an avid surfer and volunteers for the organization Surfers Healing. Last week he was lucky enough to mentored our Kitchen Managers, Maria’s grandson, Luis.
Surfers Healing’s, mission is to enrich the lives of people living with autism by exposing them to the unique experience of surfing.  To learn more or to get involved, visit www.surfershealing.or

Check out these amazing photos of Luis and Pete  getting “gnarly and “hanging ten.”

pb167

I scream you scream we all scream for ice cream!!!!

im23
In celebration of  National Ice Cream Day, July 19th we have decided to ALL Scream For Ice Cream!
While Glamping on our annual family trip to Santee Lakes last year Grandma Lita made ice cream in a bag for the kids.   They loved it.  And then we thought, hey, why should Mom & Dad miss out  and we came up with some “adult” ice cream treats.  So we’ve included some of our favorite recipe idea’s here.  Try them out!
How to make Ice Cream in a Ziplock Bag, Anxious to get started, Click for Recipe here
And now for the adults, 10 Out-of-Control Grown-Up Sundaes. There is literally something for everyone, just “name your poison.”
SALTED CARAMEL, BOURBON, NUTTER BUTTER, AND CHOCOLATE CHUNK ICE CREAM  or if your more the fruity type check this out GRAPEFRUIT, GUAVA, AND RUM SORBET.  What the heck try all 10!
And it turns out you can improve on perfection. A scoop of creamy vanilla hits the spot on a sweltering summer day, but a new generation of chefs and gourmet-shop owners can’t leave the iconic cone alone.  Details Magazine did an amazing job of compiling, The Ultimate Guide to Gourmet Ice Cream, highlighting the country’s best new shops!
ice-cream-bar-250
 

Baby, Baby, We have a NEW Addition to the Crown Point Family

We have a new addition to the Crown Point Catering Family 🙂 Our THIRD generation of Hamilton’s, Little Liam is 1 week old today, born May10th, weighing in at nearly 10lbs and 22 inches long!  He’s already fitting in to 3-6 month clothes. The proud parents, Jon & Eliza Hamilton, are getting into their new roles while trying to juggle their own eat, sleep, play routine.
Avid gardeners and advocates of living off the land, it won’t be long before they are making Little Liam’s food from scratch…..
We found this great blog, on The Diva Dish, check it out! BABY FOOD 101 PART 2: WHERE TO BEGIN AND PUREEING IN BULK

Dreaming Of Summer

Our team of avid gardeners (with a little help from our friends in the worm bin) have been harvesting broccoli, cauliflower, kale & herbs.

Roses are always popping up too.

IMG_4390
Next up for spring to summer plantings are more herbs, lettuces, squash and heirloom tomatoes. A few of our petite tomato favs are Sweet 100 and Sun Sugar – pop in your mouth goodness. And the San Francisco Fog heirloom is delish fresh with burrata or roasted to find even more depth of flavor. If you’re already dreaming of summer, check this it out!
 

Strawberry Season is Upon Us!

Table01In case you missed it and didn’t get the memo – STRAWBERRY SEASON IS UPON US! It’s spring, the sun is shining and things are growing.  Tis the seasons for a springy house party, pretty flowers, delicious FRESH food, all which for US equals, happy clients.

With strawberry season in full swing, we love to serve this fresh berry & mango salsa with locally caught Sea Bass. We also vegged it up and served with our grilled pasilla chiles stuffed with cheeses, pine nuts and olives. yum!  The sweet and savory combo can’t be beat!
Celebrate the season and create your own strawberry salsa.
Strawberry Mango Salsa ~ 3/4 Cup Strawberries, finely diced, 3/4 Cup Mangos, finely diced, 1/4 Cup Red Onion, finely chopped, 6 Basil Leaves, finely chopped, 1 TBSP Fresh Lemon Juice, 1/4 tsp. Sea Salt, and 1/4 tsp. Black Pepper. Combine all ingredients and allow to sit in the refrigerator for a few hours, covered. It keeps well in a sealed container for about a week.

A Spring Evening At The Japanese Friendship Garden

FullSizeRender-4Was there a line, yea maybe. Did it matter to our 300 guests, not even a bit. What were they waiting for? Nearly 4000 pieces of fresh made to order nigiri, sashimi and Chef’s whim speciality rolls. Patrick and his esteemed team at Fresh Sushi Catering absolutely positively charmed the crowd! Although sushi was the highlight we also served our signature tenderloin of beef on crostini, made to order gnocchi bar, local seabass, a smores bar and Michele Coulon’s cheesecake lollipops.
FullSizeRender-2FullSizeRender-1
FullSizeRender-3

The Dogwood Fuchsia linens and gorgeous Cherry Blossom stems were the perfect finishing touches for our early spring evening at The Japanese Friendship Garden.

Here’s to all the wonderful vendors who made the evening perfect!
Classic Party Rentals