A Rundown of Their Services : Party Hosts Name 12 Popular Caterers

Discriminating party givers most often find caterers by asking friends for referrals. Others say they collect cards from culinary wizards they meet at other parties.

There may not be a definitive, all-time best caterer in Orange County, but when hosts and professional party planners were asked for their choices, several names in the Orange County-Los Angeles area were obvious favorites. Ten caterers who seemed the most popular, plus two special cases, are listed below, along with their strengths, capabilities, prices and lowest-cost menus.

As caterers tend to speak at length about their sauces, accompaniments, desserts and other specialties, menu suggestions have been abbreviated. Most prices reflect food costs alone. Beverages, labor costs, taxes, gratuity charges, decorations and rentals are almost always extra.

Culinary Classics, Laguna Hills

Contact: Terri Woodard-Polster, (714) 768-8884

Minimum: $600; none for takeout orders

Prices: $12 to $60 per person, food only

Capable of serving up to 2,000 people

The $12 dinner buffet: oven-fried, stuffed eggplant triangles; canneloni florentine with herb-marinated artichoke hearts and mushrooms; roasted red and green peppers; layered ice cream bombe with amaretti cookies.

Terri Woodard-Polster did more than teach her staff the art of formal service--she wrote a manual on the subject that, among other things, insists on white-gloved attire, prohibits the stacking of plates and instructs unoccupied waiters to stand watch during dinner, lest a diner drop a napkin or require a refill of wine.

Considered quite versatile, the company is frequently called upon for theme parties.

The Golden Truffle, Costa Mesa

Contact: Alan Greeley, (714) 645-9858

Minimum: $500; none for “gourmet to go” service

Prices: $10 to $60 per person, food only

Capable of serving up to 1,200

The $10 dinner buffet: Caribbean roast chicken; ginger prawns; fried jicama with horseradish; tomato buffalo mozzarella salad with red peppers.

“We don’t do meatballs. We don’t do frozen food--no chicken ‘wing dings’ or rumaki,” said Alan Greeley, who prides himself on originality in food, decor and party concepts. His hors d’oeuvres menu includes marinated octopus and wild boar sausage; his party history, a Roman bacchanalia in which he delivered guests to a Huntington Harbour home in gondolas.

Admitted Greeley: “I’m known for kind of crazy stuff.”

Hemingway’s, Corona del Mar

Contact: David Stephens, (714) 645-2900

Minimum: $500; none for takeout orders

Prices: $15 to $60 per person, food only

Capable of serving up to 700

The $15 menu suggestion: hors d’oeuvres of caviar pancakes, potato dill pancakes and tomatoes with chevre cheese; buffet with stuffed tortellini; exotic fruit display with raspberry-stuffed melon basket.

Director David Stephens counts fine food, formal “all male” service and exceptional presentation with a “New York flair” among the strengths of Hemingway’s catering division, which recently began operating from a facility separate from Hemingway’s Restaurant.

“We are fanatics about striving for perfection in every detail,” said Stephens, who named as one detail a $500 iced replica of the house that is to be celebrated at a housewarming party. He also named among his clients developer Donald Bren, actress Jane Fonda and former President Richard Nixon.

Jay’s Catering, Garden Grove

Contacts: John or Debbie Mastroianni, (714) 636-6045

Minimum: $500; none for takeout orders

Prices: $5 to $30 per person, food and labor

Capable of serving very large affairs; no upper limit on people

The $5 cold buffet: ham, turkey and roast beef sandwiches on cheese rolls; 3 different salads; relishes and cheeses.

Jay’s averaged 100 parties a day in December, owner John Mastroianni said. “If we’re not the largest (caterer) in California in volume, which I believe we are, then I’m certain that we are in services.” With 20,000 square feet of space, a prop-building facility, its own bakeries, 120 full-time employees and new banquet quarters in Newport Beach, Jay’s offers low prices for the most basic bash and vast capabilities for elaborate soirees.

As examples of past achievements, Debbie Mastroianni cited a Mississippi Riverboat party, complete with custom-constructed boat, and a 12-hour party with elephants, balloon rides, “MASH” look-alikes and a price tag of $50,000.

Parties by Marvin, North Hollywood

Contact: Marvin Surrock, (818) 982-2828

Minimum: $650; none for takeout orders

Prices: $12.50 to $75 per person, food only

Capable of serving 1,000

The $12.50 hors d’oeuvres service: selections from 45 specialties, such as Oriental chicken kabobs, quiches, fillet of beef items and vegetables.

Few details are said to escape Marvin Surrock’s scrutiny. Known for his personal attention to clients, he claims never to overbook. “You only have ‘X’ number of key people, and if you overextend yourself, all your parties are going to start hurting,” he said.

Although his firm is based in Los Angeles, Surrock considers several Orange County residents, including the Anthony Moisos, among his best customers.

Pennington’s, Santa Ana

Contact: Robert Pennington, (714) 973-2173

Minimum: $700

Prices: $15 to $60 per person, food only

Capable to 14,000 people

The $15 suggestion: hors d’oeuvres, such as chicken or beef on a skewer; buffet of carved ham sandwiches; stuffed eggs; vegetable basket, fruit and cake slices.

Robert Pennington’s firm is popular, well-established and dependable, according to Orange County hostesses. “We go across the spectrum, from a large barbecue to a sophisticated dinner for 10 or 20,” Pennington said, mentioning, as an aside, a seated dinner for 1,500 he orchestrates each year for $100,000, exclusive of entertainment.

Pennington also counts national figures on his list of clients. “That includes (Ronald) Reagan before he was president,” he said.

Rococo, Woodland Hills

Contact: Ray Henderson, (818) 348-1574

Minimum: $2,000

Prices: $18.50 to $35 per person, food only

Capable of serving 10,000

The $18.50 suggestion: four different hors d’oeuvres; buffet with medallions of chicken, sirloin cooked on mesquite wood and poached Alaskan salmon; cheese tortellini; cold asparagus tips; snow pea salad; fruit platter; breads; Dutch chocolate flan.

One of the best-known Los Angeles caterers, Rococo handles many of the largest and most prestigious parties in Southern California. “We do parties for 50 and 75 people all the time, but we also get our share of what you’d call the dynamic business,” said director Ray Henderson, citing as an example a Superbowl party he catered for 3,000.

Given Orange County’s changing social climate, Henderson said he hopes to “pick up the pace” further in this area. As Henderson put it: “You’re no longer our kid sisters.”

Showley-Wrightson, Newport Beach

Contact: Sharon Wrightson, (714) 760-9701

Minimum: $500; none for takeout orders

Prices: $15 to $75 per person, food and gratuities

Capable of serving 600

The $15 country French picnic: rillettes of pork; various cheeses; specialty salads; sliced, stuffed veal.

Sharon Wrightson cooks everything from scratch, from her Italian flatbread to her dessert mousse of Belgian chocolate. Her quality homemade specialties are no doubt responsible for Showley-Wrightson’s success, but for the same reason, the company’s food prices may seem high.

“It is expensive to produce everything we produce,” Wrightson said. “Some caterers buy hors d’oeuvres from various suppliers or take Sara Lee frozen cheesecake and maybe put their own topping on it--that, of course, keeps their costs down.” Wrightson added, however, that she will work with hosts to cut party costs in other ways.

Somerset, West Los Angeles

Contact: Hallee Gould, (213) 204-4000.

Minimum: $1,500

Prices: $18 to $40 per person, food only

Capable of serving up to 4,000

The $18 exhibition service: unusual pancakes with zucchini, butternut squash, pumpkin or potato; foccacio Italian herb bread, stuffed with pesto, sauteed mushrooms, chopped tomato, and cheeses.

Somerset stands out for its unique displays, exhibition cooking and ethnic foods. “We do frying, sauteing, grilling, barbecuing and even poaching in front of guests. We’re noted for that kind of party,” said owner Hallee Gould. Props include artifacts from Bangkok, India, Africa, South America and Mexico; flowers from the company’s own greenhouse; and chafing dishes, woks, griddles and soup pots for making food materialize on site.

As the caterer to the Los Angeles County Museum, Gould recently added two weeks of daily soirees to her credit, including seven dinners for 1,500-plus, to celebrate the new Robert O. Anderson building.

The Turnip Rose, Orange

Contact: Cathy Acquazzino, (714) 978-7021

Minimum: $2,000, including food, labor, decorations and silver service

Prices: $19 to $60 per person, food, decorations and silver service

Capable of serving 3,000

The $19 cocktail service: “Petit entrees” such as filet mignon on skewers, Grecian artichoke hearts, monti cristo sandwiches and mandarin chicken.

Very much in vogue now, the caterer is noted for “quality, personality, quantity and a one-price, never-run-out-of-food policy,” said administrator Kelly Sherbanee, who includes in his prices the silver service, table decorations and such “incredible edibles” as turnip roses, apple birds and hard-boiled-egg penguins on pickle skis.

Sherbanee believes that his friendly, cheerful serving people who never say “no” contribute to the company’s success. In addition, the firm’s banquet facilities are also popular.

Orange Coast College, Culinary Arts Department, Costa Mesa

Contact: Robin Hood, (714) 432-5876

Minimum: $300; none for takeout orders

Prices: $5 to $20 per person, food only

Capable of serving 500, but number of parties limited

The $5 cocktail service: hors d’oeuvres, such as miniature barbecued spareribs, scampi and mushroom caps escargot; wheel of cheese with a logo carving, or fresh fruit in a watermelon basket.

For experimental party-givers and those with limited budgets, the college has been included on this list. Robin Hood, chef instructor in the Culinary Arts Program, reports trendy, up-to-the-minute menu possibilities from the school’s curriculum and prices that may be 25% to 50% lower than those of other caterers.

Students work at the Ritz-Carlton, Big Canyon Country Club and the Disneyland Hotel; graduates include the sous chef at Newport’s Four Seasons Hotel.

Carol Campbell & Company, Newport Beach

Contact: Carol Campbell (714) 650-0700

Minimum: $750

No limit on number it will serve

For those who prefer to leave the hiring of caterers and every other aspect of party-planning to others, Carol Campbell plans parties to the last detail. One project was the Opening Night gala of the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

“We work with 25 to 30 different caterers,” said Campbell, who added that her excellent relationships with so many caterers have helped her to perform miracles on a moment’s notice.

Said Campbell: “I’ve put together parties in a day.”