The 92nd Annual Academy Awards® continues to be Hollywood’s most glamorous and highly-anticipated evening. The wins, losses, surprises, and upsets will be talked about for days (and sometimes years) — and all of that starts right after the show at the event’s only sponsored celebration, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ official post-Oscars celebration: The Governors Ball. This year will mark the Ball’s 26th year with Chef Wolfgang Puck and his accomplished team at the helm of the very heart of the soirée: its innovative menu.
As always, there will be classics, those dishes that ever-popular stars and attendees have come to ask for by name. “After the show, people are hungry. They want the chicken pot pie, the fried chicken, our smoked salmon Oscars, oysters, and naturally our pizza,” says Puck. But in addition to these dependably delicious options, will be innovative options to meet all manner of food allergies and preferences. In fact, 70% of this year’s menu will be vegan. And when skilled chefs like Puck’s team turn their attention to a specific type of fare, the results will be creative enough to delight all manner of eaters. This year’s menu will include innovations like compressed watermelon with agave and mint, hibiscus tacos, Hunan eggplant stir fry, and other veggie delights like carrot “bacon.” This will also be the first year for a new hand-stretched mozzarella and burrata bar.
At a company where employees mark their years of service by the number of Oscar ceremonies they’ve served with Wolfgang Puck Catering, this single night is the product of a year of careful planning that begins again the day after each year’s Ball. With so much attention going into the perfect event menu, what’s exciting us at PartySlate right now is that Wolfgang Puck Catering is offering this exact menu as an option for celebrations like galas, weddings, milestone birthdays, and product launches. In fact, the catering team will be recreating a delectable sampling of this menu for PartySlate’s upcoming event in Dallas, provided by Wolfgang Puck Catering — Dallas.
Back to the event at hand, here’s a breakdown by-the-numbers. The Governors Ball serves a staggering 8,500 glasses of Champagne and 40 pounds of chocolate (in the team’s iconic gold-dusted chocolate Oscars, alone) — all with careful attention to local sourcing of ingredients and stylish and interesting presentations. It will once again be hosted in the iconic Ray Dolby Ballroom on the top level of Hollywood and Highland. The floral team from Marks Garden has conjured a vision in glorious gold and purple, with a dramatic ceiling installation and 12,000 blooms in shades ranging from light lavender to deep violet hues.
Read on for more insider info from our interview with renowned Chef Wolfgang Puck as we head into yet another talked-about evening.
What new food trends are you seeing that affect your menu-planning?
Our company philosophy has always been making sure we have something for everyone and accommodate all tastes and needs. Since 2013, our menus have been 50% vegan and plant-based. This year we’re adding even more vegan options to the menu with 70% vegan/plant-based, and 30% vegetarian, meat and seafood.
What distinguishes this year’s Oscar menu from other menus of the past?
For the first time, the first bite that guests receive in the lobbies after the awards show will be completely vegan!
New plant-based menu items include Sweet Potato Tempura with Mint Cilantro Aioli, Maitake Mushroom Salad with Eggplant Baba Ghanoush, and Housemade Campanelle Pasta with Preserved Meyer Lemon, Artichokes and English Peas. And this year, our chocolate desserts are made with Valrhona’s Inspiration and Guanaja vegan chocolates.
Our company philosophy has always been making sure we have something for everyone and accommodate all tastes and needs.
What are some of the decisions that go into creating a menu for such a large-scale event?
We want to remain true to our philosophies and our beliefs and continue to source from local farms and partners, no matter what event we’re at including the Oscars’ Governors Ball. We want to make sure that we’re being environmentally responsible.
We want to ensure we’re taking into account a number of food allergies and lifestyle eating choices and create exciting dishes that offer diverse dietary and flavor options for guests.
How do you create a menu that addresses such a wide variety of food allergies and sensitivities?
Serving small plates has allowed us to have more variety in the menu. Whether vegan, vegetarian, or gluten-free, we make sure we have a menu that offers something delicious for everyone. We work closely with our farmers and suppliers to make sure we receive the best quality ingredients which are responsibly sourced and sustainably farmed.
We want to ensure we’re taking into account a number of food allergies and lifestyle eating choices and create exciting dishes that offer diverse dietary and flavor options for guests.
Did the plant-based nature of this year’s Oscars menu affect how food is presented/styled?
It has enhanced us and challenged our team to get creative in finding ways to replace the usual ingredients but still keep the integrity of the dish.
featured caterer
Wolfgang Puck Catering — Los Angeles
Wolfgang Puck’s name is synonymous with creative, high-quality fare and that holds true for their catering team as well.. We applaud their top-notch execution, seeing to even small details like making sure wedding couples get to try every dish during their celebration (and therefore has plenty of energy for dancing!). photo courtesy of Wolfgang Puck Catering