# Exercise Your Vote



## tigerwoman (Jul 18, 2002)

Last week we had a very exciting and prestigious opportunity to cater a small private fundraiser for Hillary Clinton on the upper West side of Manhattan, where Bill Clinton was the featured guest and speaker.

You may have read about it in the news (it was in the NY Times, The Post, Newsday & the Daily News as well as all the major channels) since it was a pretty unique venue for a fundraiser. A spin studio (stationary bikes) donated their space and my client organized the event called "exercise your vote" by inviting 40 people to contribute to the campaign (2,300 each max allowable) to hear Bill speak, take a spin class and enjoy some of our hors d'oeuvres and non alcoholic shots.

An exciting opportunity for any caterer.

But what to offer the reformed fast food junkie when he'll be addressing issues of health care and the fundraiser, aptly named "Exercise Your Vote" was taking place in a spin studio. Therein the challenge.

Our spa hors d'oeuvre menu, designed especially for this event were guilt-free, yet didn't screamed "health food. . In our 20 plus years of designing menus and catering for clients from New York to London, France, Turkey, Florida, Tennessee, D.C.,, Baltimore, and California, the premise is always the same, custom designing the menu to the event and attendees is key. In recent years folks have become more health conscious and we've been called upon to create and execute all vegetarian and vegan weddings, produced vegan boxed lunches for a huge animal farm rights conference that Peter Max sponsors, and incorporated healthy indulgences into elegant upmarket menus offering foie gras and beef wellington bytes.

Our challenge was to figure out what would be healthy, yet not unappealing and entice guests to partake in the offerings both before and after the exercise part of the program. Healthy indulgence was our guiding light.

Apparently this may turn into a new form of fundraising and there are already plans in the works to spin off (ha pun inteneded) and repeat the event in LA and Miami. Let me know if you are interested in participating in something like this - not promising that Bill will show up everytime but my client is very well connected. It really was a blast...and in any case a candidate that we both support.

It was really exciting, fun and interesting to hear him speak in person. He is even more charming and uber intellegent. He looks great by the way, having shed all those extra pounds he put on in the white house years. Althugh he declined to get on a bike saying he had already taken a run that morning. William Jefferson Clinton is my favorite President to date and it really was a honor and a priviledge to meet him. Even my son was more impressed than the time we catered for Fifty Cent or Fiddy as his "friends" call him.

here's our press release after the event menu and photos follow...

Bill Clinton spoke to a "spinning" exercise class last Thursday evening on Manhattan's Upper West Side, talking about health care policy and reform to a group of 40 women and men dressed in tee shirts that read "Exercise your Vote" "Be counted, be heard". The event raised almost 100k and lasted about 2 hours including Clinton's speech, question and answer session with the former President, photo ops,spin class and hors d'oeuvres. One participant commented that she had never seen so much makeup in an exercise class.

A good client recently called to ask CuisinEtc to cater a last minute intimate fundraising event on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The guest of honor? Bill Clinton, former President of the United States.

An exciting opportunity for any caterer.

But what to offer the reformed fast food junkie when he'll be addressing issues of health care and the fundraiser, aptly named "Exercise Your Vote" was taking place in a spin studio. Therein the challenge.

Lisa Teiger, of Creative CuisinEtc., has risen to such challenges many times. Like great performers, great caterers are known for their versatility. She and her partner Andrew Crossan are totally non-partisan when it comes to working with both Democrats and Republicans, clients from coast to coast and even across the pond in the UK, France, Turkey and beyond. From bar mitvah and bat mitzvah to weddings, landmark birthdays and corporate events, CuisinEtc headed by Lisa Teiger and Andrew Crossan specialize in what they like to call "transglobal fusion cuisine" incorporating both food concepts, trends and unusual décor items from their extensive travels around the world.

The Clinton fundraiser event, part of Hillary Clinton's initiative to raise 26 million dollars within the last month, was catered by CuisinEtc of New York City. This small boutique caterer known for their creative presentations came up with a menu of innovative healthy hors d'oeuvres with lots of vegetables and fruits and no fried foods (or trans fats), and non alcoholic shot bar to compliment the health care theme of the evening. Healthy indulence was the guiding light.

Mr. Clinton was given a token gift of jelly beans by Lisa Teiger of CuisinEtc with the slogan, "Democratic Jelly Beans", They're for Everyone "Hillary in 2008" He laughed and said he'd be sure to share them with Hillary.

For further information contact:
 website here 

photos here - you may have to register first to view the album

The red-white-and-blue fruit salad in mini glass espresso cups was a big hit, as was the cucumber shot glasses with baby carrots, spring crudité vegetables such as baby grape tomatoes, yellow squash, haricot vert and enoki mushrooms with yogurt watercress dip. We used a magicians trick of dry ice to produce smoke under the swinging Moroccan lantern platter that the smoking chicken was passed on. (note:not sure about the following sentence) The comments we got all evening were "WOW", "how creative", "delicious", "perfect after exercise" "very cool presentation" "can I have your card" Even liason from Hillary Clinton's staff sought me out to ask for a business card.- so we felt that we had hit achieved our goals..

We also wanted to offer guests some refreshing natural beverages, so the idea of a shot bar offering soy honey lime lassis, virgin mojitos with fresh mint and sparkling housemade orangeaide seemed the perfect solution.

Of course, everyones favorite was the chocolate dipped strawberries with amaretto pipette shooters and the cherry tomato BLT's. Those items fit the ying yang of healthy indulgence. As is the rule at events where there is no seating, most everything was easy to eat in just one or two bites or to eat while standing, (e.g. the asian crab coleslaw in cute little red Chinese to-go containers) and something not only Bill Clinton, but the other health conscious guests would want to eat before or after an exercise program.

Lisa Teiger
Creative CuisinEtc
Specializing in Transglobal Fusion Cuisine…

Here's the menu we created for the event.

CuisinEtc Spa Menu Hors D'oeuvres Thursday March 22, 2007

….Individual Crudité Bundles in Veggie Shot Glasses 
with Spa Watercress Dip

…. Crazy smokin' chicken satay

….Crab coleslaw with Julienned Vegetable Salad, 
Passed in Petit Red Chinese Containers with Chopsticks

….Cherry Tomatoes BLT Bytes

….Asparagus spears wrapped in smoked salmon & wasabi pate

….Tuna tatare with wasabi crème in petit cones

….Fresh Strawberries Dipped in Belgium Dark Chocolate 
infused with amaretto pipette

….Red White & Blue fruit salad served in mini expresso cups

Shot bar
…..French sparkling orangeaide shots
…..Soy Honey Lime Lassi shots
…..Virgin mojito shots- with sparkling limeaide and mint
…..Sparkling water


----------



## the_seraphim (Dec 25, 2006)

ive gotta say im impressed... sounds like your not going places... your already there with a restaurant chain set up lol


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

What a super opportunity! If they'd like to come to STL I'd be more than glad to cater their fundraiser.

Good menu. First thing that came to mind was fresh juice drinks. I like you're combos.


----------



## tigerwoman (Jul 18, 2002)

Have you ever tried the soy yogurt? It was my first time and I quite like it, but with addition of the honey - lime it's really great and refreshing.


Last year we found this great honey lime concentrate from the Phillipines that uses a special Phillipino lime called Kalamansi Lime - which from the fragrance seems similar to the delicate and flowery scent and taste of key limes and tropical limes you find in southeast asia. We've been using it alot in dressings, greek yogurt, drinks, salads, fish etc. I posted about it on the supermarket thread too.


----------

