Bob Spiegel - Inspired Bites Unexpected Ideas for Entertaining from Pinch Food Design

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

GET PINCHED

Pinch (our definition):

1. A small addition of an ingredient that makes an entire dish better: A pinch of saffron makes bouillabaisse yellow and flowery.

2. A playful yet provocative squeeze between the thumb and finger meant to arouse awareness in the recipient.

3. A turn of phrase evoking a memory of an unbelievable event: Pinch me; was that a dream?

This book is first and foremost an inspiration manual. Instead of telling readers theres only one way to do things, we want to show there are no constraints. Theres no right way to serve an hors doeuvre or to entertain graciously. With this book, we hope party hosts feel free to start thinking creatively about how they present food at home. We want to help them venture beyond the kitchen and step away from the table. And most of all, we want everyone to have a good time.

Pinch Food Design was built on the idea of happy surprises and memorable moments. The word itselfpinchconjures up a sense of provocation (a little squeeze that makes you say oooh!), a jolt that snaps you out of a reverie, or a small but important cooking instruction. Adding a pinch of something to a recipe, like a nonna might do with her favorite sauce, makes the entire dish taste so much better.

We have nothing against conventional catering and event designit was what we lived, breathed, slept, and ate for decades, working at top-tier restaurants and production companies in New York City. But when we met in 2005, the words food designplacing equal weight on the food itself and the way its served, creating a mouthwatering and visually stunning presentationwere a pairing we had yet to consider. Each of us was firmly ensconced in our roles: Bob as a chef and TJ as a designer. We had no idea how pivotal our relationship to each other was going to be.

Our backgrounds overlapped more than we initially thought. Bobs dad was a second-generation furniture store owner, and TJ grew up in a French-food-centric household. Through our roots, we had an appreciation for each others craft. Not only that, but we both grew up in families who used food as the centerpiece of their community, where eating, cooking, and sharing food were central to a welcoming environment.

As we worked together more closely, we realized how much fun we had talking about the same dish from two different perspectivesnot opposite, but like the lenses of a 3-D camera, just a few degrees apart. As we tried to one-up each other over ways to present something as simple as sliced salami, we influenced one anotherBob started thinking about how to design and assemble each bite to make it more functional, and TJ began considering ways to present each food based on its shape and composition. We saw the creative possibilities of a partnership, and Pinch Food Design was born.

Having worked in the catering and entertaining industry for decades, neither of us wanted to be part of just another catering companywe wanted to revolutionize catering. When we founded Pinch, we followed through on our mission to reinvent the way parties looked and felt, to change the way guests thought about parties, and to give them the same thrilling experiences they were getting from groundbreaking restaurants all over the worldas well as experiences that restaurants could never pull off. Its the dual perspective, the ability to see through the others eyes, thats a crucial part of the Pinch philosophy. Looking at exceptional food from a different vantage pointwhether physically staring up at pizzas hanging from hooks, watching beignets slide into a pool of honey, or just seeing a familiar dish presented in a new formmakes you not just hungry but also curious.

That curiosity extends through each page of this book. Here, we offer a revolutionary approach to entertaining that throws the same old dips and frozen mini quiches out the window. Instead, fun, inventive, and sophisticated recipes and serving options aboundall of which look incredible and professional but are completely approachable for the home cook. Weve tailored our recipes to serve small cocktail gatherings and sit-down dinners for twelve or fewer people, with detailed instructions gleaned from our years of experience. We know its more fun to be part of the action, so weve detailed how to prep a number of components in advance so you can still enjoy your own party.

In keeping with our vision, which places equal importance on food and design, this book also encourages the home cook to consider creative ways of presenting food beyond standard serving trays. DIY projects in each chapter explain how to re-create some of our signature serving pieces and elements at home and offer ideas for reusing and adapting simple household items for display and presentation. In the chapters that follow, feel free to either adopt our recommended presentation tactics, especially when you are hosting a more elaborate event, or just simply make the food for a casual gathering.

Some Italians might eat a form of macaroni and sauce almost every day, but because there are hundreds of different pasta shapes, every meal feels different. Though theyre all made with flour and water, pastas offer infinite inspiration with their textural and visual variations. In the same vein, you dont have to use obscure ingredients or over-the-top preparations at your partiesyou can serve your favorite meat loaf, if you want! But the minute you mix it up, by serving your familiar favorites on a cluster of lamp shades instead of the same old platters, or by adding an element of spontaneity, like making your guests squeeze their own dipping sauces from bags hanging overhead, suddenly the regular repertoire becomes exciting and new.

And we see that excitement from our guests when they immediately whip out their phones to take pictures of our food as they walk into the roomalready excited by what weve presentedthen close their eyes in blissful satisfaction when they take a bite. Thats the ultimate return on investment: seeing the exhilaration and connection on our guests faces. With this book, were bringing the same sense of surprise and wonder to smaller-scale gatherings, so we can change how people entertain at home as well. You dont need to be at a multimillion-dollar event or a destination wedding to experience new and creative presentations: We can help you accomplish all of this in your own kitchen with your own equipment.

The act of cooking and entertaining, no matter if its four people around your dining room table, twenty people in your backyard, or two hundred people in a reception hall, is intimate at its core. Though we dont personally know most of the people weve served at our events, weve touched their lives. Its an amazing feeling to look around a party and realize how many people weve affected. Our end goal is to help people experience togetherness and have meaningful memories, and we hope that with this book we can help more people do just that.

But lets not get too emotional. After all, its a party! Lets have some fun.