Functions market gearing up for festive season
/Delaware North's Markus Werner and William Inglis Hotel's Amanda Fuller reveal the festive function trends shaping this year's Christmas events, from interactive food stations and non-alcoholic cocktails to locally sourced provenance-driven menus.
Delaware North Australia corporate chef markus werner
With only a few months left until Christmas, planning is well underway for end of year functions, office parties and festive gatherings, including New Year celebrations. This time last year we reported that there had been a scaling back in function sizes, but this year it seems flexibility is key, according to Markus Werner, who as Corporate Executive Chef for Delaware North Australia is responsible for overseeing catering operations at a range of major venues from Marvel Stadium to the MCG and beyond.
“I think the market has turned around again from last year’s scaling back, certainly the demand is there but there is a massive requirement for adaptability, in that you have to be able to quickly scale up or down as required,” Markus says. “The traditional Christmas sit down is trending, but you can’t rely on it – you need to be able to scale up or down at the drop of a hat, be really open to ideas and think outside the box.”
Customer expectations are for interactive spaces with cool, exciting options – “like serving cocktails with smoking bubbles on top upon arrival, mini food stations which offer some surprise and delight and a lot of customer participation in what’s on offer – not just the traditional cookie cutter approach. The expectation around presentation is massive – people are asking for live flambéing, cheesecake stations featuring Japanese style soft cheesecakes are very much on trend. So you really have to be a little bit out there because the old approach just does not cut it anymore.”
The theatre and presentation around cocktails is fast becoming a centrepiece of many events. “Especially on arrival, customers will make for the espresso martini station or whatever cool cocktails you’re offering. And the non-alcoholic cocktails are just as important now – this started around three to four years ago and everybody thought it would trickle away again but it’s stayed and got bigger and better. We’re using infusions of rosemary and sea salt, bringing a whole range of different flavours into our mocktails because customers expect more than just a blend of fruit juice.
“The same is the case with your food – you can’t just do a simple Christmas pudding station, you have to come up with an innovative spin. Flambéing, dressing or garnishing to order, all these elements are on trend because customers want to see their food being freshly prepared and finished in front of them at the station.”
Markus adds that with the public’s growing interest in provenance, it’s important to showcase your brands and especially locally sourced ingredients. “I think branding is more on trend than ever – not so much the big corporate brands but more the local quirky ingredients. The more local produce you can have on your menu, the better. If there is a local gin distillery, bring their products in, use them in cocktails or to cure your ceviche, and always call this out on your menus.
“Provenance interest used to be confined primarily to your proteins but it’s now expanded well beyond that ”
“Seasonal produce is hugely in demand too, so use whatever you can get – finger limes, salt bush, whatever’s grown in your area. Those coastal, herbal ingredients are all on trend, so make sure you’re on top of what’s available, using it wherever possible and calling it out. Provenance interest used to be confined primarily to your proteins but it’s now expanded well beyond that – food that’s organic and sustainably sourced is always worth highlighting.
“Currently we’re using potatoes from Spud Sisters which come from the Ballarat region, our carrots are coming from the Mornington Peninsula, we have organic goat’s cheese from Meredith Dairy, we have salmon caviar from Yarra Valley Caviar and we’ve also started using their rainbow trout roe. These boutique brands tend to start out being known for one great product, but they’re all growing now so it’s worth checking out what else they have to offer.”
Scalability built into function packages
Markus and his team have bedded down all their festive menus, building scalability into the function packages. “People love food stations but they also want a certain amount of sit-down for some dishes at the table. I think they’re looking for the best of both worlds – the gathering together, hospitality part but maybe at the beginning and end it’s time for walking around and mingling, so ideally you want to include aspects of both in what you’re offering.
“Obviously budgets are also a consideration in all this, whenever you’re talking about upgrading or downgrading packages. But as I keep saying, you need to constantly think outside the box – your typical two to three hour drinks package won’t cut it anymore with an average beer or wine offer, instead you need to be offering quirky cocktails, stations, premixes. You need to be far more flexible and provide a broader selection.”
When it comes to cuisine choices for functions, Markus says South American is still highly on trend, but is evolving away from its origins: “We’re now going down the road of seaweed tacos with raw fish, and that may have the crispiness and freshness of the taco but I don’t think it really has anything to do with South America anymore!
“Tacos are on trend but they are changing – your prawn taco is no longer very traditional, it’s moving into the trendy food mixes. And raw fish is huge, I don’t think I’ve seen a menu recently without sashimi, crudo or ceviche on it.”
While the traditional Christmas fare of turkey with all the trimmings is still in demand, Markus says the general expectation is for lighter, fresh offerings.
“I think customers do want the comfort of the traditional fare, but they’re also looking for the best of both worlds … so maybe you’re serving tacos and ceviche from stations when they walk in, then later they’ll sit down for a family style table setting with different roasts and beautiful sides, then move back to interactive food stations for the desserts and cocktails. And with this approach, you can scale up or down relatively easily.”
Focus on bespoke offerings
William Inglis hotel director of Food & beverage amanda fuller
As Director of Food & Beverage at the five star, equine-themed William Inglis Hotel overlooking Warwick Farm racecourse in southwest Sydney, Amanda Fuller oversees 23 unique event spaces, including the spectacular Sales Arena built to house thoroughbred horse auctions and regularly hosts gala events.
“Our focus is really on bespoke offerings – tailoring our functions to what people want, and because we have such a versatile space we’re able to be highly adaptable,” she says. “We’re actually able to host three weddings simultaneously, which not many venues can do, and with the high ceilings in the area we’ve had events where silk dancers have descended from the roof!
“It’s really a unique space and I think in the current climate, where demand may be dropping off because of the market uncertainty around interest rates, it’s more important than ever to be giving people what they want and we have a dedicated F&B team which does just that.”
“Christmas is about nostalgia and convivial dining experiences and that’s never going away”
When it comes to festive fare, Amanda says there is a strong focus on the traditional among the hotel’s customer demographic. “I think Christmas is about nostalgia and convivial dining experiences and that’s never going away. Prawns, Christmas ham and turkey, passionfruit pavlova, all those typical Australian festive choices are important to have on the functions menu as we head to the end of the year. We’re quite simple in our approach – we prefer really good produce that’s been respectfully prepared and served, we’re not about reinventing the wheel for Christmas. It’s all about sharing a lovely meal with family and friends.”
the impressive exterior of the william inglis hotel
Taking customer requests and running with them
Amanda credits her “super creative” Chef de Cuisine Jack Basoff (interviewed last issue) as “being able to do anything”: “That gives us a lot of flexibility to take any customer request and run with it. And while a lot of hotels have multiple event spaces, not many have an arena which can comfortably sit 650 – in fact we can probably stretch to 750, so that means we can host everything from formal sit down dinners and elaborate weddings to our candlelight fever concerts which are truly immersive experiences. The smaller suites can cater for up to around 25 comfortably and we have a beautiful garden pavilion overlooking the racecourse, so it’s a really special venue.
“We do a lot of tastings prior to the actual event to ensure we’re fulfilling our guests’ expectations”
“What also sets us apart is that the team is committed to providing restaurant quality food, mass executed for events – we really hang our hat on our bespoke offerings and we do a lot of tastings prior to the actual event to ensure we’re fulfilling our guests’ expectations. We change our restaurant menu seasonally and we do that for our events as well – some big venues will have menus in situ for a long period, but we want to bring seasonal influences into what we’re offering.”
Amanda says live cooking stations are much in demand – “we’ll do sashimi stations, live oyster shucking, chocolate functions, cacio e pepe which is fresh pasta tipped into a parmesan wheel. All these add an element of theatre to create engagement for canapes or standing events. And because we’re in a semi-rural area and we have that fresh seasonal focus, a lot of our customers want top tier MB5 wagyu roasts carving stations with fresh seasonal accompaniments. We’ll happily do it all because we’re not rigid, we can flex really easily to whatever the customer wants.”
Showcasing ingredients sourcing
Like Markus, Amanda emphasises the importance of cocktails on the function menu, both with alcohol and in ‘virgin’ mode. “We’re just about to kick off a great collaboration with Aperol for spring and summer – there’s a real appetite for spritzers as we head into spring and the Hugo spritz is very much on trend. Non-alcoholic cocktails have grown in demand as people become more health conscious, and our demographic also enjoys a lovely quality wine and a really nice craft beer. We’ll often partner with spirit providers for events, for example we hosted a Wild Turkey dinner over winter showcasing their different types of whiskey and pairing them with food.”
Local seasonal produce is called out on the hotel’s restaurant menu with a map showing the sourcing of ingredients. “We like to showcase how we’re minimising food miles and the fact that we value sourcing food that’s grown locally. It makes good sense for anyone because not only does fresh seasonal produce taste better, it’s more cost-effective to purchase.”
