ACE Awards 2024: Best On Premise Catering

For the 10 year anniversary edition of the Atlanta Airport District Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Annual Meeting, Proof of the Pudding took guests on a culinary trip through time as a way to not only honor the CVB’s achievements while also taking a glimpse into the exciting future of the community.

Appetizer: Peach & Tomato Bruschetta

The event involved a reception followed by a sit-down lunch with an ambitious stage program. As guests networked, Proof of the Pudding passed hors d’oeuvres featuring two Southern classics–chicken and peaches–jazzed up with on trend ingredients and molecular gastronomy techniques. The “Southside Hot Chicken” was drizzled with cornichon aioli and sprinkled it with micro celery, and the “Timeless Bruschetta” was a visually beautiful combination of roast cherry tomatoes and Georgia peaches served in a tiny glass with garlic butter crostini, housemade basil caviar and garlic butter snow.

The star of the reception was the signature beverage. In homage to Atlanta’s home-grown soft beverage Coca-Cola, the team created a Coke Float station with bourbon caramel ice cream, Coca-Cola pearls and as a fun garnish, carbonated sugar. To add to the visual effect, the coke floats were served emerging from a cloud of dry ice, and were a huge hit among guests.

The Coke Float station.

The coke floats featured bourbon caramel ice cream,  and Coca-Cola pearls for a fun garnish.

While conference centers around the country are slowly realizing that institutionalized banquet food will no longer satisfy customers, restaurant-quality cuisine and tailor-made menus have long been the standard for Proof of the Pudding. The overall menu concept was to feature dishes which had “stood the test of time,” by rejuvenating some former favorites from this conference center and adding a sexy, modern twist.

Tables were pre-set with the salads.

The Back to the Summertime Citrus Salad featured citrus segments and candied Georgia pecans over local arugula and frisée with a basil vinaigrette.

Rosemary Smoked Short Rib served over Anson Mills Grits with Grilled Asparagus, Shallot Crisps and a Garlic Herb Chimichurri

Grilled Shrimp served over Anson Mills Grits with Grilled Asparagus, Shallot Crisps and a Garlic Herb Chimichurri

Roasted Hen of the Woods Mushroom and Romanesco

The Bold Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake had a Buttery Graham Crumble as its foundation and was scattered with Lemon Honey Coated Blueberries, topped with Whipped Cream.

During the event, Proof of the Pudding was dealt a few curve balls: First, just days before the event, their chef was called away for family reasons, leaving two sous chefs in charge. Thanks to good planning and documentation, they were able to rise to the challenge and perform both chef and kitchen management duties without incident.

Place setting and menu

Then, on the morning of the event, Hurricane Idalia made landfall, bringing with it strong gusts of wind and worrying uncertainty. While the weather was not yet bad in the event's specific location, many of the guests were hoteliers and meeting planners and had to cancel their lunch plans at the last minute to attend to their business. The Proof of the Pudding team had to hurriedly adjust the tables and place settings. Then, to add insult to injury, the event's emcee (who works as a presenter of a local television station) was summoned back to the station to report on the developing weather situation. Fortunately, Proof of the Pudding's president was more than happy to step in and gave a remarkable impromptu presentation, keeping the tight program on track while commenting with humor and authenticity. 

All photos courtesy Amanda Mazonkey

Submissions Now Open

It's once again time to celebrate the best of the best! Submissions are now being accepted for the Catersource 2025 Achievement in Catered Events awards (ACE)!  We invite you to submit your best work from the past year. Join in the excitement and the spirit of our industry as we celebrate the hard work and exceptional accomplishments of our peers.

The categories for 2025 are:

To submit an entry to this year's ACE awards, please visit our awards portal at https://ace-gala.awardsplatform.com/

Important Dates

If you are interested in entering in the Gala awards instead, you can enter the Special Event 2025 Gala awards in the same online portal as the ACE awards. Catersource + The Special Event will run February 24-27 in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Both the ACE and Gala awards will be presented during the conference at a to-be-determined location in Fort Lauderdale.