Plant Based Wedding Menu - Q&A with Caviar & Chips
Let’s talk about plant based weddings!
With the demand for plant based food on the rise and the spreading awareness about veganism I decided to catch up with fellow herbivore and industry supplier Marc from Caviar and Chips to hear what he had to say.
Tell us a bit about yourself.... Who are you and what do you do ?
My name is Marc and I am one of the co-founders of Caviar & Chips. We're a bespoke catering company and we cater for weddings and events all over the country. My co-founder, Jonathan, and I started Caviar & Chips in 2017 when we were at Business School together. Jonathan had been an amazing chef for pretty much forever and he'd ran restaurants, bars and hotels and my background was big brand sales, marketing and fundraising.
Jonathan was planning his wedding day with (his now wife) Gemma and they had a clear idea of what they'd like for the wedding catering. They wanted to create a menu from some of their favourite experiences together - restaurants, holidays and favourite foods, but they couldn't find a caterer who could help, so Jonathan told me he was just going to do it himself.
We then realised that there must be other people who were struggling to plan their wedding day the way they wanted and so we decided to create a catering company that was truly bespoke. We start all of our menus with a blank piece of paper and craft a menu around the food and drink that couples want. We cater everywhere from woodlands to stately homes and everywhere in-between. We bring kitchens if we need to and we have a brilliant team of hosts and chefs that help bring it all together and exactly how the happy couple imagined it could be.
Marc in wedding action!
What is your favourite type of wedding and why?
Wow that's such a hard question to answer. I think I get quite emotional at weddings - I'm quite an emotional kind of guy and I get wrapped up in the celebration and the openness of how weddings bring people together. For guests you can be put together on the same table during wedding breakfasts having not known each other before and then leave at the end of the night having found new friends. For families it can bring siblings together and parents together with their children as there seems to be an acceptance that on a wedding day we can just be a little more open with our feelings. Then of course for the happy couple getting married it's just such a magical thing that two people find a connection and want to commit to each other forever. I'm a hopeless romantic having met my wife when we were at school together, so I just think every wedding is awesome - I feel really lucky that I get to work in this world!
What are your thoughts on veganism as a whole?
So I'm vegan myself as are my wife and two children and we have been for the last four years. I think food along with many things can be about personal preferences and for me, my preference is to be plant-based. I have a number of reasons why I am vegan and they range from impact on the environment, health, animal welfare and also because there are so many great plant-based foods and vegan products out there.
Of course as bespoke caterers we cater for any kind of wedding whether that includes menus that are vegan, vegetarian or couples planning to use meat from their family farm. We know that at least 10 - 15% of guests at any event will have a dietary requirement of some sort and so it's great to be able introduce dishes that people may not have tried before and be creative beyond the realms of risotto and melon! We've had couples choosing the vegan option over the meat option on a number of occasions and it's great that awareness and willingness to try different dishes is growing.
I've had so many experiences at restaurants and events where I feel the vegan option has been an after-thought or that I'm served in a way that alienates me from the rest of the group and then all of a sudden we're into the "why are you vegan?" debate! For us at Caviar & Chips we want every guest to enjoy their meal, whatever it is and to be looked after in a way that is inclusive, thoughtful and ensures every guest has a great experience. We're not trying to influence people's food choices, just ensure that whatever they choose it's perfect for them and their guests.
Do you get many clients requesting a fully plant based wedding menu?
We've certainly had a few couples come to us and ask for a fully plant-based menu. I guess there's a small barrier to some with our name Caviar & Chips which doesn't shout "vegan caterer". But we're not trying to be vegan caterers either, we just want to provide delicious bespoke menus for couples whatever they would like. I think when some couples have heard that I'm vegan or we've had referrals from couples who had a great vegan dish at their wedding then we do get people coming to us for a full vegan menu.
We did a great wedding together in a tipi in Derbyshire for a couple called Alex & Chris and their menu was fully plant-based. I was really excited to be involved in crafting their menu with our chefs. Our chefs are incredible as they have so much food knowledge and love experimenting with different ingredients and formats. Alex & Chris had a canape reception followed by three-course sharing menu and then evening street-food. Alex's family are from the Caribbean and I remember we took Alex's Grandad's recipe for Carribean Black Bean Stew and served that for the evening food which was a nice personal touch. It was their wedding that we also served a trio of desserts that included Roasted Pineapple with Mango Salsa, Carribean Eton Mess and Apple Crumble with Custard which we've seen pop up on a few menus since then.
Pretty much with every menu briefing we have with couples when we first start talking through menu ideas we do get people asking for ideas for vegan canapes or a vegan meal and so it's great to be able to reel off lots of ideas and examples that we've created in the past.
Vegan trio of desserts
What's your favourite vegan dish to cook and why?
So as you've probably gathered by now I'm not the chef in our business, but I do love working with our chefs and picking up their hints and tips for what I can try at home. I do love a great plant-based burger or pizza as a treat or when I just feel a craving! I also like making a lot of curries and stir fries and I'd like to say I have a signature dish, but I'm very happy to just get a load of vegetables and throw them in a pan and start creating some sauces with coconut milk and spices. I really enjoy a Katsu Curry and my daughter and I have a little routine of frying battered tofu and trying different flavours together. I do enjoy a good cake too and our chefs make a great vegan chocolate brownie which I love recreating at home and it goes perfectly with a coffee in the afternoon!
Where do you get your cooking inspiration from?
Well of course I'm going to say our chefs at Caviar & Chips for one! Led by Jonathan and our Head Chef Mike the team are super creative and just have such a talent for cooking. Being a bespoke caterer we very rarely make the same menu twice and I think that gives everyone a good understanding of food and how ingredients work together not just about a dish in its own right. I do like following some of the plant-based chefs like Bosh and also Matt Pritchard the Dirty Vegan - they've got some great recipes that are easy to follow for any novice, aspiring chefs out there!
Executive chef Jonathan
What's the best thing about being a wedding caterer?
There's loads of great things about being a wedding caterer. We get to be part of what is probably one of the most important days of a couple's lives. Working the way we do, we often feel like an extension of their guests and part of the family and we form some lovely relationships with couples that we work with as people tend to book their catering at least a year in advance. We get to know couples and their families well as we arrange our menu tastings in the couple's home and suggest they invite friends and family to help with the decision making and it plays out just like a private dinner party with your own chef in the kitchen. We love creating moments and experiences that are part of the wedding planning as much as the wedding day as the whole build up is something that is an experience in itself. I love the fact that we get to create what is essentially the couple's first meal together in marriage - which is quite a milestone. Being there for the whole day is great too. When we're serving drinks, serving canapes and the wedding breakfast and then the evening food and making bespoke cocktails behind the bar we really get to know the guests well and the day can be great fun.
What are your favourite vegan canapes you serve at weddings?
Oh gosh that's tough, but some of my favourite vegan canapes are cherry tomato with black olive tapenade - I think they look amazing and taste delicious. I really enjoy Grilled Artichokes with Harissa Dressing and who doesn't love an arancini?! We make some great Wild Mushroom Arancinis that are really tasty.
Give me an example of a mouth watering menu
Well, I'm going to stick with our plant-based food theme and pick out some of my favourite dishes that we've served at some great weddings:
Canapes with a glass of Nyetimber English Sparkling Wine
Grilled Artichokes with Harissa Dressing
Cherry Tomato with Black Olive Tapenade
Wild Mushroom Arancini
Red Pepper Palmiers
Balsamic Tomato Tarts
Starter course with a bottle of La Perriere Pouilly-Fumé
A sharing board with:
Falafel, Olives, Sun-dried Tomatoes, Charred Peppers, Roasted Mediterranean Vegetables, Stuffed Chillies, Charred Asparagus, Buffalo Cauliflower, Garlic & Rosemary Focaccia, Hummus, Balsamic Vinegar & Olive Oil
Main course with a bottle of Seven Springs Syrah
BBQ Cauliflower Steak
Served alongside
Garlic & Thyme New Potatoes
Tenderstem Broccoli, Fine Beans & Chantenay Carrots
Tomato, Parsley & Mint Bulgar Wheat Tabbouleh
Pre-dessert
Gin & Tonic Granita
Dessert with a glass of Montes Alpha, Curicó Valley Late Harvest Gewürztraminer
Dark Chocolate Cheesecake (made with cashews)
After-dinner
Turkish Coffee, Turkish Delights and our chef's hand-painted chocolates
Evening food
DIY Dirty Jackfruit Burgers in Brioche Buns
With Buffalo Tomato, Gherkins, Red Onion, Mayo, Mustard, Jalapenos & Fries
What have you got going on a Caviar & Chips?
Well during this time we're working with a lot of couples to help rearrange their wedding days and whether that's finding dates in autumn and winter or looking at similar dates the following year. We're set-up to deliver four events on the same day so that helps with availability and so far we've found alternative dates for everyone. We're also seeing couples planning their weddings in 2021 and 2022 so we're crafting new menus with couples looking forward to their big day in the next year or two.
We're working with some great venues, marquees, tipis and yurts around the country and we're starting to become a regular feature at some of these great places which we're really enjoying. Much like with Boelle Events, we love working with suppliers who have a similar approach to ourselves, that are client-led and are more values driven and that makes for a great partnership and more importantly experience for our clients.
We've recently opened a pub in Kenilworth, Warwickshire called The Famous Virgins & Castle It's a lovely old 16th century pub that we took on in March this year, but very quickly had to close again through lockdown, but we're looking forward to opening again. A lot of our catering guests were asking us how they could enjoy our food when they're not at a wedding so opening a pub with a great pub food menu seemed like a good idea!
We're also working on our own boutique venue in Shropshire. We're currently working through planning permission with Shropshire Council, but fingers-crossed we can look to open in the next year or so and this will be a 17th century boutique wedding and events venue with seven en-suite bedrooms and we'll be able to provide the Caviar & Chips experience throughout every aspect of the wedding
If you want to find out more about what Caviar & Chips have to offer you can find them at caviarandchips.co.uk