Award-winning events caterer, Seasoned, catered for 1,800 guests at a dinner event held by handmade cosmetics retailer Lush earlier this month – where they were tasked with creating a fully-vegan menu inspired by Lush’s “Kitchen” philosophy of producing 100% vegetarian products.
The special event – which was held at Old Billingsgate in London – was to mark the close of their two day annual conference and included staff from Lush stores across the world. Each year the event has a different theme, with this year’s theme being fantasy; complete with candy floss machines, magic-themed performers and guests dressed as centaurs, unicorns and fairies.
Lush produce creams, soaps, shampoos, shower gels, lotions, moisturisers, scrubs, masks and other cosmetics for the face, hair and body using only vegetarian or vegan recipes. Their products often contain whole fresh fruits and vegetables such as papaya, coconut, strawberries, oranges, kiwi and potatoes; along with butters and juices such as grapefruit juice, avocado butter, rosemary and olive oils.
Seasoned’s catering for the event included a bespoke range of vegan, gluten-free and nut-free delights – served to guests as canapés and buffet stations. The buffet station menu included courgette and aubergine bake with pumpkin, cranberry and quinoa crumble, and sweet potato and black bean veggie burgers with an onion relish. The canapés included; summer squash, dill & chili cake with lemon aioli, smoked garlic potato crisp with balsamic vegetables, tortilla toast with minted pea and truffle, and bruschetta of smoked onion and chilli with sundried tomato and black olive dust. All accompanied by side dishes of Asian slaw with roasted pumpkin seeds, roasted new potatoes with rosemary and garlic, and a selection of wholegrain vegan breads. To finish, dessert included peach and rosemary quinoa crumble, and chocolate brownie.
Colin Sayers, Managing Partner for Seasoned, said: “We were delighted to cater for an event like this for Lush – it was a really interesting experience working with them to produce a delicious, bespoke, fully vegan menu that ensured their company ethos continued into their food. We relish producing different styles of catering and working with our clients to design an innovative menu and service style that is perfect for their event.
Sayers continued: “We have definitely seen an increase in diverse dietary requirements over the last few years, so catering for events like this is a great learning experience and ensures we are fully up-to-date and confident with the types of food we are able to offer”.
Rachel Howard, Event Coordinator for Lush, added: “Vegan catering for such high numbers is always a challenge for us, but one that Seasoned adapted to very quickly. Everything went down very well with our guests and the food and service provided on the night was critical to the success of the evening”.