THE TASK WE PRESENTED TO SEVEN CONVENTION-CENTER AND HOTEL CHEFS MIGHT HAVE SOUNDED SIMPLE:

Create a menu for a cocktail reception and sit-down dinner. But therewas a twist. Taking a page from the hit Food Network shows

“Dinner: Impossible” and “Restaurant: Impossible” —in which Chef Robert Irvine has to cater a live event or save a failing restaurant while sticking to an impossibly tight

budget and a severely compressed timeline —we asked PCMA Senior Vice President of Meetings and Events Kelly Peacy, CAE, CMP, to impose some parameters. And Kelly, who went to culinary school in a former life, did not disappoint. Here’s the scenario she created, for a challenge we’re calling “Menu: Impossible”:

EVENT:

A DINNER CELEBRATING INTERNATIONAL MEETING DESTINATIONS IDEA:

PCMA invites 200 meeting planners to a dinner to meet some of the organization’s

International Meeting Partners, who represent destinations and venues all over the world. They will have a one-hour cocktail reception with passed hors d’oeuvres, followed

by a sit-down dinner. The idea is to mix and mingle the international planners at the tables, and offer a menu that highlights the PCMA partners’ diverse destinations.

REGIONS THAT ARE REQUIRED TO BE REPRESENTED:

Canada, Mexico, Asia, Mediterranean, British Isles, South America, Caribbean, Australia HEAD COUNT: 300 VENUE: Hotel ballroom BUDGET: $35,000 inclusive

That’s all the instruction we gave our participating chefs, who are responsible for F&B at convention centers and hotels across North America.

And we found that our challenge was something of a Rorschach test for them.

Given the exact same conditions and the exact same limitations, each one respond- ed with something unique —with different ingredients, different preparations

and presentations, and even different approaches to capitalizing the names of their dishes. Some of them included specialty cocktails and wine pairings in their menus, while others broke down appetizers and even entrees according to the international cuisines we required of them.

WE’RE PLEASED TO PRESENT THEIR MENUS HERE, ALONG WITH

SHORT INTERVIEWS THAT OFFER SOME INSIGHT INTO HOW THEY APPROACH COOKING FOR MEETINGS AND CONVENTIONS.

It turns out that Menu: Impossible was very possible— creatively, elegantly, tastily possible.

40 pcmaconvene June 2011 www.pcma.org