Creating the perfect wedding menu can be downright difficult.
Here at Royal Fig, our catering menu has some clear guiding principles. What’s local? What’s seasonal? And how can we bring it together to make delicious dishes? With the expertise and leadership of our head chef, Courtney Antonov, we offer our clients a range of menu options and service styles for every occasion. It all tastes amazing, which is great for us, but can be challenging for clients who have to narrow down their options. That’s why we put together some quick tips from Courtney to help you create the perfect menu for your event.
Meet the Chef
Our head chef, Courtney Antonov, began working in kitchens at age 14 in Nova Scotia, where she’s from. While she was at university, she realized that her real passion was managing kitchens and creating menus filled with carefully curated flavors.
After working in local Austin restaurants, including Odd Duck, she began freelancing with the Royal Fig events team. She was a great fit and quickly joined us as a sous chef before becoming our head chef. She now manages our kitchens and is in charge of our inventory and ordering. She’s a great fit for our team because she’s just as passionate about our farm-to-table philosophy as we are. For Courtney, our relationships with local Texas farmers support environmental sustainability, while allowing us to source the high-quality, seasonal ingredients that are crucial to creating mouthwatering menus.
Courtney’s Top Tips
Courtney regularly creates menus for our team and the seasonal dishes that wow our clients’ guests. As a resident expert on creating great menus, we looked to her for some tips for creating the perfect wedding menu.
Be You!
You’ll probably hear this many times while planning your wedding, but it’s important to remember that this day is about you and your partner. Courtney often hears couples in our tasting room find a dish that they absolutely love but aren’t sure will make every guest happy. The reality is that there are too many diverse food preferences in the world to guarantee that everyone will love every dish. Choose the menu options that speak to you. Your food choices can be as much of a reflection of you as a photo display or other decor. Let it express your personalities and personal favorites, so your guests’ meals do what everything about your wedding should do — celebrate you!
Create a Balance
Another key element of a great wedding menu is balance. It’s crucial to include the dishes you love, but you also want a well-rounded menu. For example, even if you don’t love vegetables, you probably want to include them so that guests can have a complete meal with a balance of flavors and textures.
Make the Food Fun
Even with all of the traditional wedding entertainment (like dancing), guests can still get bored. In recent years, it has become popular to set up games and photo booths to keep guests engaged, but your wedding’s food offerings can be another way to jazz things up. Stations create an interactive experience that makes food even more fun. Choosing a station service format or simply adding a food station during cocktail hour is a great way to give guests something delicious to do.
Get a sneak peek of how delicious a menu with us can be by trying Courtney’s recipe for Grilled Summer Salad with Tarragon Vinaigrette and Avocado Mousse at home! Get the recipe here. If you’re ready to create a menu for your Austin wedding, please reach out to us for a consultation!