Travels of a London Caterer

New March Newsletter...

2010-03-17T05:59:00.000-07:00

A quick one at the moment, just to let you know our new newsletter has just gone live... to take a read click on the tea cup below:

We will update you with our travels including the launch of Battersea Power Station at the end of the month...

What to do this summer....

2010-03-02T08:24:00.000-08:00

This year we have been developing a whole new range of menus and for summer we thought why not celebrate all things great about Britain....

So we have taken inspiration from all over the country and developed a brochure that not only outlines some of the exciting menus we have developed but the history behind how some of our loved, and also not so well known meals originated..... you might even find a poem thrown in for good measure too!

At the end of 2009, we were lucky to be rewarded the contract to exclusively manage the event space at the Bermondsey Square Hotel and this has also allowed us to get even more creative this year... So we not only can now offer our menus at a whole range of spaces but also create all inclusive packages at the hotel for our clients and potential clients to simply come and enjoy!

To see our brochure in full please click on the tea cup below:

For further information dont hesitate to contact us on:
020 8 453 3310 or events@purplegrapecatering.co.uk

Live with Chivalry...

2009-10-08T01:22:00.000-07:00

September was a great month for us, but a busy one so apologies for not writing sooner!

The great news is on 1st September we moved into our new production unit and offices. They are ideally situated just off the a40 in the heart of Park Royal. This couldn't have been a more perfect time for us with the addition of our new member of the team Sara Bertie, and also the increasing amount of venues and clients on our books.

We also launched our new menus for Autumn and Winter season; bringing our clients some very exciting and yummy new ideas, such as Pipettes of chilled artichoke soup shots with artichoke hearts and truffle; and a tasting plate of:

Warm bisque of lobster dressed with shrimps

Roasted salmon pea and mint puree

Wild sea bass with a leek and truffle mash

Click here to view the menus in full:http://www.purplegrapecatering.co.uk/flash-site/downloads/menu%20snippets,%20autumn%20and%20winter%202009.pdf

As usual we have had great fun working on diverse events in September and just one we thought might get you thinking for a future event for yourselves was a wonderful event organised by our lovely clients Limecard, with Chivas Regal.... where they created an evening of "Live with Chivalry"...

The experience is all based around their current campaign which aims to revive the values of chivalry by encouraging us to live life with honour, loyalty and gallantry.... It is about staying true to your word and leading by example, standing up for what you believe in no matter what.

This is a fantastic message for companies within this current economic climate who want to portray these exact principles to their clients.... The evening began with a selection of our wonderful canapes, served with a Chivas Champagne Cocktail - which was truly delicious! The event then went onto a tasting of variations of Chivas Regal together with a Chivas Regal cocktail enjoyed with foods such as chocolate, caviar and charcuterie.

Last but not least, FANTASTIC NEWS this month is that the premises license and planning application for the Boiler House at Battersea Power Station have now been approved and we are looking forward to working with the venue from December 2009.

The Boiler House is a unique event location at the heart of the Battersea Power Station, forming a spectacular setting for your next product launch, award ceremony, fashion show, screening, conference, reception, ball or Christmas Party.

Capacity is 500+ seated and 1000 theatre style of standing.

We are excited to be added to the fantastic Sunbeam Studios Exclusive Caterer List

2009-08-12T01:05:00.000-07:00

Purple Grape catering are excited to be working with Sunbeam Studios as the newest addition to their exclusive preferred caterers list.

All at Sunbeam are pleased that Purple Grape has come on board to offer clients their top of the line dishes in Sunbeam’s Grade II listed halls filled with period features alongside all the modern conveniences.

Purple Grape and Sunbeam are cleverly lined up to be able to offer great conference and Christmas packages while still being able to tailor each event to the individual client.

What is fantastic about Sunbeam Studios as well is that they power all 3-phase electrics from 100% renewable sources !

Please feel free to contact Emily at Purple Grape on 07595 220 465 or Roxy 020 8962 8690 to arrange a look around Sunbeam’s two large halls and private garden; ideal for end of summer parties.

We have also been lucky enough to recently be added to The Fleming Collection, Chelsea Gardener, Crescent Champagne Bar and the Boiler House (the proposed structure at Battersea Power Station)...

Please get in touch soon about Sunbeam, any of our venues or if you need any further catering information from us.

Up Close and Personal!!

2009-07-29T02:17:00.000-07:00

July has certainly been a fun one for us and its definitely been the party month! Not only have we had some great parties to cater at but some very interesting and exciting launches...

Below we have shown snippets of the teams favourites...

The month began with us assisting a well known lingerie brand with their Winter Season preview for press... It was very surreal being surrounded with lots of lovely underwear whilst listening to Christmas tunes - especially when it was a beautiful hot day outside!

We then followed this up with a fabulous beach inspired party. Our clients are lucky enough to have a fabulous courtyard in the centre of Mayfair and this was transformed to a beach promenade with oversized sandcastles and beach huts and fishermans netting... We complemented the theme with some great beach-side food which included the "have to have fish and chips" topped with a red onion tartare... Yummy!

That same week we catered at the Ministry of Sound Summer Party... The theme was "what i wanted to be when i was older... when i was younger" and there was certainly some interesting costumes!! From Wonder Woman through to Jimi Hendrix and Michael Jackson - and yes the moonwalk was out in force!! The weather held up wonderfully so we were able to barbeque away in their fabulous courtyard and highlight for me had to be the marinated rosemary, lemon & garlic lamb shoulder.

Finally last week we had loads of fun at the launch of Ministry of Waxing - a new waxing salon on South Molton Street. The evening began with lovely lychee bellinis followed by lots of bubbly and "beautifully shaped" canapes. Including seared tuna wasabi with pink ginger & wakami and crisp cones filled with watermelon, feta and olive salad.. The weather just about stayed dry for us with just a few sudden downfalls but it certainly didnt keep the guests from having a great time:

All in all a very lovely and creative July for us which has kept us on our toes and certainly ensured we also looked our dapper best!!

Next month its another exciting one for us... which also sees our team increasing and a move to our brand new depot! Pictures and all the news next month! Hope the sun shines for you all in August!!

Our June Travels...

2009-06-22T06:09:00.000-07:00

This month has seen us not only travelling around London with a real array of different clients but also being added to the recommended caterers list of The Fleming Collection http://www.flemingcollection.co.uk/ in Mayfair and The Chelsea Gardener just off Kings Road http://www.chelseagardener.com/

Our highlights of the month for us have been:

1) A high end publishers lunch in Camden - where we offered guests a selection of canapes and traditionally British tasting plates. Including a ploughmans with a twist and a smoked chicken Caesar Salad... We have looked after this client for a number of their sponsors lunches now - and they are always a fun one for us - mostly because its a challenge to come up with new ideas when we are hit with the constraints of no kitchen, heating facilties and quick turnaround... so chefs always need to create fantastic cold options which still have that wow impact that the level of guest requires

2) The Event Magazine After Party at Ministry of Sound in Elephant and Castle... We were honoured to look after the catering at the after party hosted by Ministry and allowed us to be highly creative with our menu ideas. The theme was the future of events and our futuristic waiters all dressed up as waiter clones where in the future retro "white-tie" chic was now in!! Items on the menu included goats cheese truffles rolled in biscotti, black sesame seeds and mixed herbs and tasting plate of herbed salmon with a cauliflower puree and baby spinach salad.

3) Our last highlight for this month was no less than 10 events in one evening for Mercedes Benz from locations such as Watford thru to Loughton ! If the logistics were not already hard enough to deliver canapes, drinks, equipment and staff to 10 dealerships; our friends on the tube added in the extra challenge of it being on the day of the tube strike, oh and the junc for the M1 and M25 at Watford was closed due to an incident!! However, everything went very well and the client was incredibly happy... which was just fantastic!!

Now... I did promise you last month an insight into our quirky "this isnt what i was expecting to eat" menu - unfortunately the event has been postponed but not cancelled... and snippets of the menu include:

Parcels of salmon filled with a wasabit cream mousse... creating a wonderfully spiced, surprisingly green filling when cutting into the parcel...

"Seafood" Bangers and mash with a rich red wine sauce and samphire.... naturally guests would have expected a more traditional pork sausage - but this would have been a refreshing change from the normal sausage and would be brilliantly complemented by the samphire!

Next month we will be bringing you even more news about new venues we have brought onto our books - one of which is going to be incredibly exciting for us; as everyone will know of this famous landmark!! If we get news sooner I will be letting you know immediately and if you want to contact me directly I can also tell you more as we are just organising exclusive previews which cant be missed... email me on emily@purplegrapecatering.co.uk if the intrigue is too much and you want to be part of the exclusive viewings...

2009-05-21T10:20:00.000-07:00

We have had a very busy few weeks at Purple Grape and are thoroughly looking forward to this bank holiday to rest up and re-energise!!

Its been an incredibly varied month of events including an 18th Birthday party and a 50th birthday which was an Asian Inspired canape and bowl food reception -

We transformed our clients home into a series of different highlights of Asia... from the oasis of the sake and chinese tea room, with lots of low seating, scented candles, serene music....through to the hustle and bustle of a Asian food market outside where we had a variety of wok stations cooking away together with a wonderful sushi bar consisting of maki, nigiri, sashimi and extras such as hijiki seaweed & soy beans salad... The kitchen became the hub of the evening where we served cocktails including a Japanese Cherry Blossom Margarita and a Mango and Lychee Collins with Tanqueray Gin

Another highlight for us was a lovely private lunch for a client in richmond where we served a glorious 4-course menu which consisted of:

Espresso cups of Gazpacho with rocket oil and parmesan

---

Cocktail of lobster and crayfish, dusted with smoked paprika

---

Trio of Modern English Plate:

Confit of belly pork crackling and sage

Tornado of beef with a trio of cheese ravioli and a gorgonzola cream

Tea smoked lamb on a bed of sweet potato

---

Selection of miniature desserts

Next month it looks like its going to be just as busy with us only today creating a surreal style 3-course menu for a quirky arts dinner for our clients...look out for the ideas we came up with in our next blog!