Review: Abigail Kirsch Catering

Coconut Noodle Pad Thai with Jicama Roll, photo by Chef de Cuisine Peter Mamadjanian of Abigail Kirsch Catering Relationships

About a month before my nephew's April 2013 wedding at the Tappan Hill Mansion in Tarrytown, NY, I wrote to the catering company, Abigail Kirsch Catering Relationships, asking if it would be possible for them to make me a raw vegan meal. They said they would, and asked to see some of my favorite recipes. I sent them a PDF version of my book, The Little e-Book of Raw Vegan Holiday Recipes, hinting that my favorite entree was Coconut Noodle Pad Thai.

I was pleasantly surprised at the wedding to find that they had gone all-out to delight me. During the cocktail hour, while everyone else was drinking alcoholic beverages and eating all kinds of cooked entrees containing meat, dairy or fish, the waiters found me and brought me a variety of hors d'oeuvres, plus what turned out to be a never-ending supply of colorful and refreshing mango-watermelon "mocktails," starting at the cocktail hour and continuing all throughout the dinner.

Hors d'oeuvres pictured: Raw Vegan Zucchini Rolls and Beet Ravioli. Photo by Judy Pokras

I especially loved the Beet Ravioli hors d'oeuvres. Following the cocktail hour, my dinner itself began with a bowl of Tomato Basil Soup with an arrangement of Carrot Crackers in the center like a Cubist rendering of an appropriately tipsy NYC skyline, and garnished with sunflower sprouts.

Tomato Basil Soup. Photo by Chef de Cuisine Peter Mamadjanian

The next course was an arugula salad with very cheese-like strips that turned out to be paper-thin slices of apple in a lemon vinaigrette. Very inventive and flavorful. My favorite course was the Coconut Noodle Pad Thai entree topped with jicama rolls. Dessert was a Blueberry Cardamom Ice Cream Cake that looked almost too beautiful to eat.

Blueberry Cardamom Ice Cream Cake. Photo by Judy Pokras

I felt like a VIP, not only because of the wonderful custom-tailored raw vegan meal, but because the waiters served me a minute or so ahead of everyone else. (Compare that to my other nephew's bar mitzvah in 2005 at the Copa Cabana, in New York City, whose chefs said they could not accommodate me, and suggested I bring my own food.)

I heartily recommend Abigail Kirsch Catering Relationships for your wedding or other affair. Although they are not a dedicated raw vegan outfit, they are very accommodating and eager to please. I had given them a long list of stipulations (such as which ingredients needed to be organic) that could easily have daunted some other catering company that wasn't in the business of being strictly raw vegan, and Kirsch exceeded my expectations.

Special thanks to Abigail Kirsch's Ed Steinberg, Director of Events; Executive Chef Alison Awerbuch, who designed my meal; and Chef de Cuisine Peter Mamadjanian, who prepared and presented it, and took gorgeous photos.

Here's the menu:

BEVERAGES

WATERMELON MANGO MOCKTAIL

HORS D'OEUVRE

MEDITERRANEAN SALAD RAW VEGAN

ZUCCHINI ROLLS

BEET RAVIOLI
 
APPETIZER

TOMATO BASIL SOUP WITH CARROT CRACKERS

SALAD PRE

ARUGULA SALAD

ENTREE

COCONUT PAD THAI WITH JICAMA ROLL

DESSERT SERVED

BLUEBERRY CARDAMOM ICE CREAM CAKE