UW Congress 2012 dinner at The Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery

What a wonderful way to celebrate 50 years of the Canadian Association of University Teachers of German!  As part of Congress 2012, the CAUTG organized a reception and dinner for about 60 guests at The Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery.  The reception featured four passed canapes, offered to guests as they wandered the Gallery and explored the exhibits.  At 8:30, everyone found their seats for a three-course plated dinner with a focus on local ingredients.  The event organizer used a very unique method of communicating guests' entree choices to our staff - he arranged for small foam cut-outs of chicken, pigs, and a barn to be placed in front of each place setting.  When offering a choice of entree to guests, we simply require a master list of how many of each entree to prepare, and some way for our staff to get the right meal to the right person at the event.  This was certainly the most creative way to do this that we've seen!

Susi and Victoria set up tables in the Gallery before guests arrived.  

There was a great exhibit on in the main gallery, it ran down the centre of the room, and was a perfect way to split up the space for a small group.

 Victoria and the event team selected the linens for this event from our wonderful specialty linen supplier.  This table linen is called "Tiffany Techi" and features saturated embroidered dots of colour running along the stripes.  It was a perfect compliment to the sleek and modern gallery space.

The kitchen crew worked on plating salads while guests enjoyed the reception.   

The simple mixed green salads were topped with toasted hazelnuts, edible fresh flowers (from our garden!), and a disc of warmed Woolwich goat cheese

Stephanie and Simon are working on warmed sauces and heating the blanched vegetables (green-top carrots and Barrie's asparagus) 

Chef Kelvin and Lisa are cooking chicken and Breslau pork tenderloins with Wellesley apple butter 

The guests are mingling during the reception, dinner is coming shortly

 The kitchen crew is waiting for their signal to start plating the entrees.  Everything is cooked on-site at the event, and plated right before it goes out to the dining room, just like at a restaurant.