Death & Vodka – Bites

While we think that decorations, food, music and engaging activity are important to the success of a party, we find that there’s usually one or two of these components that really take center stage.  Decorations were definitely the main focus at Death and Vodka, but we wanted to make sure that the food was time-period appropriate as possible.  Mainly, we wanted to ensure that food added to and didn’t detract from the theme of the party.  We always try to spread food out throughout the party to try to make sure there’s not a giant bottleneck in any one place.  It also allows people to easily reach for a bite to eat, no matter where they are.  

For this party we looked at the food stations as “restaurants” and grouped the food based on the type of food that would have been served there.  In order to achieve this goal, we did a little research. First, we turned to The 21 Cookbook, Recipes of Love from New York’s Fabled Restaurant by Michael Lomonaco.  This cookbook provided us with a look at favorites from one of the most famous speakeasies in New York (we know it was opened in 1930, but close counts in menus and horseshoes).  We also turned to the New York Public Library’s menu collection.  http://menus.nypl.org/menus/decade/1920s.  This was a great resource because it gave us a vast number of menus from across several genres of restaurants.  It also provides a list of unique dishes for different years.  That gave us some guidance for food we might want to feature.  

 The goal was to keep everything bite sized. We had a couple of challenges that we ran into.  One was keeping hot foods hot, and the second was finding a way to serve up rice pudding and Waldorf salad.  We solved the first by finally investing in chafing dishes.  I highly recommend these especially when crockpots and slow cookers might take away from the theme of your party, or when you need to keep food hot and don’t have an outlet nearby.  No one wants to have to worry about tripping over extension cords at a party.   We solved the second with mini plastic dessert cups.  We don’t usually use plastic or disposable dishes except as back up, but these were clear and didn’t detract from the food. I also can’t imagine the clean up of that many small cups. 

At each station we tried to have a variety of food choices including some vegetarian and gluten-free options.  Below is a list of the food groupings and what we served in each group.  I will say our biggest pain point is managing to get the food out in time, but not too early especially with the seafood and other refrigerated items.  So, we don’t have a ton of food pictures.  Next time!

Upscale (This was based on the 21 Club)
Salmon mousse in pastry cups
Smoked salmon on pumpernickel bread
Shrimp Cocktail
Charcuterie Tray (featuring pork roast and roast beef)
Melon
Waldorf Salad
Cream puffs and chocolate covered strawberries

Italian (You can’t have a “mob” party without Italian food)
Bruschetta- we had regular and vegan options
Caprese Skewers- we had regular and vegan skewers 
Meatballs 
Antipasto tray
Tiramisu trifles
Cannoli

Casual (we looked at diners and basic hotel menus)
Fruit Cocktail skewers with marshmallows
Vegetable tray with 1000 Island Dressing (according to the NYPL site 1000 dressing  was a new trend in the 20’s)
Deviled Eggs (Duke’s Mayonnaise is Gluten free)
Chicken a la King dip with crackers and French bread
Pineapple Upside Down Cakes
Devil’s Food Cake
Angel’s Food Cake

Funeral Home
Finger Sandwiches – pimento cheese, chicken salad, 
Sugar cookies
Butter Cake
Hello Dolly Bars