Giuliani - The Cocktail Party

When I was a little girl, my favorite game to play with my mother was What Do You Want to Be? She would sit me on her lap, look me in the eyes, and ask me this all-important question, Mary, what do you want to BE? If my wish was to be a princess, she would gently press her finger against my lips, and poof! I had lipstick. A slight brush of my head and there was my tiara, sprinkles of magic dust followed, and ta-daI was a princess.

We must have played this game hundreds of times. I was everyone from a zookeeper to Charo from The Love Boat. But not once, even growing up in a family whose lives revolved around food and parties, did I look up and say, Mommy, I want to be a caterer.

Please keep in mind this was LONG before the days when that magical chef with the orange Crocs showed up; when people ordered food to eat rather than to Instagram. WAY before vodka was infused with bacon, and before tacos were gourmet, when the party-throwing world was a Pinterest-pressure-free zone. This was more of the Im gonna work in the food industry because Im on parole kind of times.

After graduating from Georgetown University, I figured it was no more games, I actually did have to figure out what I wanted to be for real this time. Id set my sights on being an actress, so I worked as a coat check girl at Nobu (where I was fired and given the honor of being called the most inconsistent, unreliable employee theyd ever had), auditioned for James Lipton for a coveted spot at The Actors Studio (he basically laughed me off the stage), worked for an entertainment agency (where I was fired for sending in my head shot for the role of Meadow Soprano instead of one of the actress I was supposed to be representing), dabbled in fund-raising, took jazz dance classes, went to grad school for a semester, and played a terrorist in an off-off-off Broadway play.

After a string of short-lived jobs, and not much success in the acting world (unless you consider being an extra in Whit Stillmans The Last Days of Disco success), I randomly answered an ad in the New York Times that listed Upscale boutique catering firm seeks temporary employee to work with art, fashion, and entertainment clients.

I was drawn to entertainment and temporary. A week later, I began my new role as Mary Giuliani, Catering Sales Representative.

When I walked into the office of New Yorks DM Cuisine, I knew very little about table settings, samovars (look that one up), steps of service, or how to properly spell the word hors doeuvre. At the time, my kitchen cabinets at home contained a fondue pot, six mismatched martini glasses, and my moms M-O-M mug.

But, little did I know that this job, which I took with no greater hopes than to be able to pay my cable bill, would be my ticket to a world I could only have imagined entering, with a trusty pig in a blanket as my admission ticket!

For the first time, it all made sense: I was good at throwing parties, loved working creatively with food and drinks, and found that my greatest joy came from stepping back and watching our clients enjoy themselves at the parties I was overseeing, which were like mini theatrical performances. And while Robert De Niro was never gonna hand me that Oscar, I traded in that dream for another and offered him a tray of crab cakes instead.

But wait, dont think that this revelation came easily or overnight. I would spend many years working harder than Id ever thought possible, under the guidance of a most talented catering chef, who would also turn out to become one of my biggest mentors, Daniel Mattrocce.

If this were a movie, this part of my life would be the visual montage moment. You know what Im talking about. Its the best part of the movie! The music speeds up, all starts to go well for the charactershe starts with flour in her hair and a burnt chicken, and by the end of that one song she has a new haircut, a great new outfit, is walking confidentlyand that chicken? It finally comes out of the oven perfectly!