Contest Winner: Caramelized Pear & Gorgonzola Pizza with Tricolore Salad
Caramelized Pear & Gorgonzola Pizza with Tricolore Salad is the winning recipe of the 2025 Pacific Northwest Canned Pear Service’s CAN DO Challenge.
catering
Bold Flowers Debuts in Atlanta as New Floral Atelier From Bold Catering & Design
Atlanta-based Fifth Group Restaurants’ events division, Bold Catering & Design, launched Bold Flowers, a premier floral atelier specializing in refined weekly, seasonal, and bespoke floral design and installation.
Designing Catering Kitchens for Speed, Flexibility and Lower Stress
Across the industry, catering professionals are rethinking how advanced cooking and holding technologies can work together to create more resilient, lower-stress kitchens without sacrificing creativity or consistency.
Luxury Food Station Trend: The Caviar Bump Gets a Jump
Caviar is taking on new life as an event experience.
From weddings to luxury brand activations, caviar bumps and caviar bump bars are gaining traction as high-end hosts look for culinary moments that are both elevated and memorable. Among recent examples: Golden Goat Caviar’s Caviar Bump Bar at Venus Williams’ wedding, where guests indulged in the delicacy by licking it from the “bump” placed on the back of the hand.
20 Kitchen Innovations Award Winners Named by National Restaurant Association Show
The National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show has selected 20 recipients of its 2026 Kitchen Innovations (KI) Awards, recognizing foodservice equipment and technology designed to support day-to-day foodservice execution through smarter automation, sustainability and operational resilience.
New NACE President Jill Vidal-Raines on Leading the Association’s Next Phase of Growth
Jill Vidal-Raines’ path to the top elected role at the National Association for Catering & Events (NACE) didn’t start in a hotel ballroom or a catering kitchen. It started with rigorous sales training in the pharmaceutical industry.
Event Spotlight: The Chef’s Garden Collaboration at Ford’s Farm in South Florida
On the evening of January 24, 2026, culinary storytelling took root at Ford’s Farm in South Florida, as some of Miami’s most innovative chefs joined forces with a visionary farmer for an extraordinary farm-to-table dinner experience.
How Sodexo Delivered Standout Service for Centenary College Gala
For Centenary College of Louisiana’s bicentennial gala in Shreveport, Sodexo ensured the culinary experience was worthy of the historic milestone.
The Spotlight Centenary gala in late 2025 brought together donors, alumni and campus leadership to celebrate the college’s 200th anniversary. A longstanding campus partner, Sodexo—led by General Manager Shanta Chatman and District Chef Norman Hunt—worked closely with college leadership to build a menu that felt elevated without alienating a wide-ranging guest list.
Catering Trends: Small Plates Make a Big Impact
The once-ubiquitous heaping buffet platter is losing its place at the table. At corporate gatherings and weddings alike, caterers are seeing a decisive shift toward smaller, more curated food experiences that prioritize presentation and guest engagement over portion size.
That was among the key takeaways from the inaugural meeting of the CFE News Editorial Advisory Board, held this month. The board brings together leading U.S. caterers to discuss the trends and challenges shaping the industry.
