Tony Loschiavo

Tony Loschiavo and his L-Eat catering company have fed thousands of wedding guests for 25 years. Gremolata's Malcolm Jolley got up with the master caterer just as the wedding seasons starts to gear up.

Gremolata: How are wedding meals different from other occasions?

Tony Loschiavo: The key to wedding meals is that they should be a feast, so there should be more food than other occasions. Wedding food should be about indulgence, festive foods - food that is a departure from the everyday.  Historically, people showed their place in society by serving the most luxurious meal possible, based on quality and quantity.

G: What's the most important thing to remember when planning a wedding meal?

TL: You can't please everyone so don't even try. You shouldn't try to spend too much time designing a men that everyone will eat, or else you run the risk of serving really plain food such as chicken and mashed potatoes. You should serve food that represent a festive occasion to you and that you consider to be special. The food should also represent your culture if this is important to you. Choose a menu that is feasible to prepare successfully at the venue you selected, for example you may be slightly limited if your wedding is taking place in a tent.

Also, trust your caterer, your caterer plans lots of weddings throughout the year, they know what works and what doesn't.

G: What's worse: bridezilla or the mother or father of bridezilla?

TL: Multiple zillas is the worst situation because it is very difficult to get a clear vision from a group. If there are too many people involved, it gets difficult to plan successfully. For example, if you have as many as six people at a menu tasting it is difficult to get a consistent vision for the food as too many different people's tastes are hard to balance.

G: Are there any tricks to saving money while putting out an elegant spread?

TL: Focus on the quality above the quantity. Choose which items you want to be special on and don't try to make every item special. We recommend splurging on the first thing that people see which is the hors d'oeuvres, then save something special as the last thing that people remember, such as a passed sweet treat.

G: Are there any requests you just won't do?

TL: We either work with reputable suppliers or we insist in being involved with every aspect of a function. We won't do anything that will jeopardize the experience. We won't drop below a certain level of food or service. We just won't try to cater a function with an insufficient amount of staff or with less than the best quality food. It is in our best interest to only do the best possible job we can for our clients and their guests, since this is how we develop long-term relationships with our clients.

G: What's the most memorable wedding you've catered?

TL: One of the most memorable wedding we have catered was at the ROM for the Kalles-Rocket wedding because the speeches were extremely special, there wasn't a dry eye in the place. Sometimes it takes very little to make something very memorable.

G: Have you ever catered a wedding that didn't happen? Did the guests still eat?

TL: Close. We catered a wedding that we knew shouldn't take place where the bride and groom fought on a regular basis. The wedding was wonderful and all the guests ate the food but the marriage was over within less that a year.

On the upside, since the food was incredible, both the bride and groom enjoyed it so much that we had the opportunity to cater two more weddings!

G: You're also a sommelier. What do you recommend to your wedding clients when it comes to selecting wines to accompany their meals?

TL: Pick wines that match the food best, of course. Also, the wines should not be so specific that they don't appeal to the average palate. Avoid the extremes in the winemaking process: avoid oaked whites, avoid reds with underripe tannins. Keep in mind that wines need to have a balance between balance, ripe fruit, acid, alcohol and tannin. You can find finely balanced wines in any price point.

The wines should compliment the food & also a sip of wine should cleanse the palate between bites. A wine should therefore have a higher acidity. The wine is going to be consumed primarily on its own it should have less acidity and the wine that is being served with the main dinner needs to have more.

Picking the right wine is important. Wine and food enhance one another and when they're well matched, like the bride and groom, they are way better together than they are apart.

Contact Tony Loschiavo at www.leatcatering.com