Golden Globes: What the Stars Will Be Chowing Down on and Drinking Up
Jennifer Lawrence on the red carpet of the 2015 Golden Globe awards. (Photo: AP)
Anticipation is mounting for this Sunday’s 73rd Annual Golden Globes ceremony, with 1,300 of Hollywood’s elite set to converge on the Beverly Hilton’s legendary International Ballroom for the most famous of industry dinner parties.
Unlike many of the other awards shows, guests at the Globes get to enjoy a full meal and free-flowing Mo?t & Chandon champagne throughout the duration of the ceremony.
Starting on Tuesday, 40 chefs and 110 culinary staff, led by the Beverly Hilton’s executive chef Troy Thompson and executive pastry chef Thomas Henzi, will set about preparing an exquisite three-course dinner that will be served to the likes of Jennifer Lawrence, Tina Fey, and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Aided by 50 bartenders and 250 servers, the staff will work into the night serving drinks, hors d’oeuvres, dinner, and desserts to an additional 3,000 guests who will be on the property for the slew of afterparties.
Chef Thompson and his team gave Yahoo Food a sneak peak at what this year’s menu consists of and shared details of the kind of preparation that goes into putting together such a huge — and star-studded — event.
Unsurprisingly, preparations for the menu take all year!
“We start planning for next year the day after the Globes is over,” Chef Thompson told Yahoo Food. “We sit there and talk about what we learned. Then a few months out we decide what we want to do our tastings with.”
MORE: Recipes for All the Golden Globes Dishes and Cocktails
California market salad (Photo: Sophie Forbes)
This year’s offerings begin with a California market salad featuring baby bok choy, daikon radish, eggplant, cherry tomatoes, and lotus root.
Surf and turf (Photo: Sophie Forbes)
This hearty and flavorful salad is going to be followed by a modern surf and turf — filet of beef and steelhead trout — served with spaghetti squash, fried capers, and sweet potatoes.
The beef will be served with a buttery marinara crust, while the trout is to be slow roasted in a black garlic glaze.
Vegetarian, gluten-free entree (Photo: Sophie Forbes)
As always, a vegetarian option will be available. This year, nonmeat-eaters will be treated to salt-baked heirloom sweet potatoes with creamed corn glaze and a fricassee of winter vegetables.
“We get lots of requests for gluten-free options, so this year we chose to make a vegetarian entree which is gluten-free,” Chef Thompson shared. "We like to keep everyone happy.”
Dessert plate (Photo: Sophie Forbes)
The meal will be rounded out with a mouthwatering dessert trio featuring a flourless Grand Marnier Carmella, a lemon mousseline croquantine with a pistachio center, and a California almond cake — all set on a plate drizzled with strawberry, blueberry, kiwi, and mango coulis.
Executive pastry chef Thomas Henzi began the creation process for these sweet treats back in August, experimenting with flavors and presentation ideas for several weeks before settling on the final three options. But making three separate desserts for 1,300 people is not an easy task.
“The challenge for us making this many desserts on the day is space,” explained Henzi. “We have very limited refrigeration space, and this is why I try to keep the portions fairly small.”
If all the food sounds too good to be true, Mo?t & Chandon, which is celebrating 25 years as the official champagne of the Golden Globes, will also be on hand, serving 1,500 Mo?t Imperial minis on the red carpet along with 125 cases of Mo?t & Chandon 2004 Grand Vintage Brut and Mo?t Impérial Rosé magnums throughout dinner.
The champagne maker also helped create this year’s signature cocktail, the Mo?t Ruby Red, designed by mixologist Karen Grill, who had to win a competition for the honor.
Her winning aperitif is a modern take on a French 75 cocktail and pays homage to the theatrical masterpiece The Wizard of Oz, one of Grill’s personal favorites.
Karen Grill pours out Mo?t Ruby Red drinks. (Photo: AP)
The sparkling ruby-colored champagne-and-vodka-based concoction features a tangy raspberry, citrus, and tarragon infusion that makes it decadent but not too sweet. A garnish of a long lemon twist signifies the yellow brick road, while a tarragon sprig represents the Emerald City.
“My hope is to see Amy Schumer and Jennifer Lawrence drinking the cocktail together on Sunday,” Gill shared with Yahoo Food. “That would be my dream.”
Watch the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards live on January 10, 2016, on NBC at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET.