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Winter 2010 Feature Story: Eat, Drink, and Be Merry

Winter 2010 Feature Story: Eat, Drink, and Be Merry
Audrey Schoenthaler ’06, co-owner of Belle Fête Events and Catering of Brunswick, gives her clients beautiful and delectable celebrations

Story and Photo by Marc Glass

Audrey Schoenthaler ’06 doesn’t mind that her clients idealize her job. They’ve probably seen the 2001 film The Wedding Planner, she explains, and Mary Fiore, the exacting, highly organized leading lady played by Jennifer Lopez, made a lasting impression.

“She’s always wearing Gucci shoes, a Chanel suit, and a headset for orchestrating every detail of the perfect wedding,” says Schoenthaler. “Let me tell you, there’s no glamour to my work. I have to wash dishes later this afternoon.”

Schoenthaler, co-owner of Belle Fête Events and Catering of Brunswick, had a lot on her plate in preparation for another season of nuptials. She had to muster a seasonal staff of 60, order magnums of champagne, conduct food tastings with brides-to-be, and finalize reception contracts at the Brunswick Inn on Park Row, the Cliffside Lodge in Poland, and Loon Lodge in Rangeley, where Belle Fête (French for beautiful celebration) is the preferred caterer.

Nearly every Saturday from May to October was booked—and some were triple-booked—after the Portland Press Herald and Brunswick’s Times Record interviewed her. You see, Bowdoin College’s Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum commissioned Belle Fête to make a cake for the 100-year celebration of Admiral William Peary’s North Pole trek. And Schoenthaler’s creation, featuring a fondant-formed diorama of Peary’s base camp—complete with an igloo, Inuit guides, and sled dogs—caused quite a stir.

“We needed a centerpiece, something special,” a member of the museum’s staff told the Times Record. “It’s too beautiful to eat.”

Or perhaps the season was booked because of Schoenthaler’s recent television appearance on WCSH-6’s popular magazine program 207. Host Rob Caldwell invited her to share the no-longer-secret recipe for Belle Fête’s Dark Chocolate Amaretto Brownies. One taste prompted him to say, “They are rich, they are fudgy, and they are terrific.”

Schoenthaler and Belle Fête business partner Lori Kinkade imagined they might be hired for six weddings in their first season. After their debut at the 2008 Portland Bridal Show, they booked 26. While rival caterers offered crackers and cheese from their booths, Schoenthaler and Kinkade rolled out a bruschetta bar and elegantly decorated triple-layer wedding cakes inside a chandelier-adorned tent filled with antiques.

“We knew we had to blow the competition out of the water,” says Schoenthaler. “People kept coming up to us and saying, ‘Could you do a display like this at my wedding?’ We never advertised. The phone just rang off the hook.”

Among those callers were the organizers of the 175th anniversary of Maine’s Blaine House, for whom Belle Fête provided a formal dinner to honor five living former governors in the Hall of Flags. There also was the couple planning a Vinalhaven wedding, which, Schoenthaler says, was “breathtaking” in scale. For the big day, Belle Fête ferried over a refrigerated truck, replete with food and drink, a fully stocked kitchen, plus tents, china, glassware, linens, and their own antiques.

“We cook fresh on site,” she explains. “For a normal wedding, we always have plans A, B, and C for backup. When you’re on an island, you have plans A through G. If you forget something, you have to do without. My job is to make sure nobody knows if anything goes wrong.”

Rarely does anything go wrong on Schoenthaler’s watch because, she says, “the only way to do something right is to do it yourself.” Thus, in addition to decorating wedding cakes (“just another form of sculpture,” says the art major), she drives a rented 16-foot box truck to events, helps her staff unload and pack up, and does nearly all the on-site cooking.

“I’m trying to work my way out of the kitchen—slowly,” she says. “I’m having a hard time letting go and trusting people with my recipes.”

Popular with Belle Fête’s clients (most of whom, she says, grew up or summered in Maine and now live in Boston and New York City) are her appetizers of lobster cakes with citrus aioli, seared beef tenderloins served on crostini with horseradish sauce and fried leeks, and tomato bisque-filled shot glasses garnished with mini pesto-grilled cheese sandwiches. Typical Belle Fête entrées range from butternut squash ravioli to beef bourguignon and seared pork loin with apple chutney. Options abound, says Schoenthaler, so menus easily scale up or down, depending upon the budget. And as Belle Fête is a member of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, all of her recipes feature locally sourced ingredients.

“Fortunately, I’ve never had anyone who didn’t like the food,” says Schoenthaler, who was the head cook at Elk Mountain Ranch in Colorado during college summers. “Tastings can still be terrifying, especially when I’m asked to prepare family recipes for a wedding, but it’s an honor to be asked to prepare a meal the way a client’s grandmother did.”

Schoenthaler says that the romantic magic of a wedding never gets old, even by season’s end when all she wants is a weekend off.

“Once you start unloading the truck, it’s go time,” says Schoenthaler, who works upwards of 120 hours per week during summers. “The bride and groom are trusting you with their big day, whether it’s a plated meal for 175 on an island or a small backyard wedding.”

Regardless of a wedding’s size, Schoenthaler says the most important ingredient is a beaming bride.

“The truth is, every girl in a wedding dress is drop-dead gorgeous because they’re so happy,” she says. “And if she’s happy and having a good day, then everyone will have a good day.”

Learn more about Schoenthaler’s work at www.bellefetegroup.com/

 

Winter Wedding - Maine Maritime Museum

 Winter Wedding

 
Belle Fete had the privilege to be a part of an amazing winter wedding on the first Saturday of the New Year.  While there was a snowstorm outside, from the warmth of Longreach Hall at the Maine Maritime Museum, it looked like a winter wonderland

Winter View From Maine Maritime Museum

 
The bride’s family wanted the reception to be as gracious, relaxed and fun as if they were having the guests to their home.  They wanted delicious comfort food served family style with something to please every palette. 
 
The ceremony took place at the family’s church in Phippsburg and guests then made their way to the museum for an afternoon reception.  As guests entered Longreach Hall, there was a beautiful memory board that the bride’s sister put together showing old family photos of the bride and groom.
 
Memory Board
 
We created a beautiful crudite display with an assortment of cheese and crackers for guests to nibble on while the bridal party was having their pictures taken.
  

Crudite Display

 
The wedding colors were navy blue and white and the brides sister made all of the centerpieces as well as creating the overall look and feel of the event.
Wedding Decor
 
 
As guests took their seats they were presented with bowls of homemade tomato soup with a sour cream monogrammed S to represent the couple’s married name.
 
The family style mealconsisted of haddock risotto cakes with a dill creme sauce, chicken with white wine and fresh herbs en croute and roasted root vegetables.
 
The bride and groom and their families were so incredibly gracious and kind.  It was a truly magical event!
 

An Elegant Maine Family Holiday Party

Desserts 

Belle Fete created a lavish holiday “all appetizer” party for a Maine family in December. 
 
Our decor included gold ornaments, cream roses, and gilt ribbon.
 
Holiday Decor
 
 
The appetizers were served on antique silver platters garnished with cream roses tied with gold ribbon.
 
The “all appetizer” menu consisted of:
Lobster Bisque soup shots
Twice baked fingerling potatoes with creme fraiche and caviar
Duck a’lorange bundles tied with fresh chives
Mini Beef Wellingtons
Butter poached lobster served on brioche
Cazili with homemade marinara
Butternut squash ravioli with sage brown butter
Seared scallops with sherry creme
Goat cheese stuffed braised fig with port reduction
 
Elegant Holiday Party
 
Dessert: a beautiful assortment of handmade truffles, pumpkin cake, chocolate satin mint cake, and German spice cookies.
 

Belle Fete Kitchen - Organic Holiday Cookies

 belle fete kitchen logo

 Organic Holiday Cookies

Pickup some delicious handmade cookies for your loved ones this holiday season!

Organic Holiday cookies

Each box includes an assortment of: 

  • Hand Dipped Truffles
  • German Spice Cookies
  • Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons
  • Sugar Rolled Swedish Butter Cookies
  • Ginger Crunch Squares

All organic ingredients, packaged in a festive eco-friendly box

   

$10 and $20 boxes available for local pickup/delivery

 We offer USPS shipment to all US addresses

Boxes are also available for sale at Morning Glory Natural Foods in Brunswick

 

Belle Fête will donate 10% of sales to the Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program

 

Place your order by filling out the Cookie Order Form and faxing it to 800-791-4530

OR

Call 800-791-4530 x600

Cliffside Lodge October Wedding

We were part of a very special wedding at the Cliffside Lodge  in Poland Spring, ME. The bride and groom chose the Lodge because it reminded them of their family camp in northern Maine.

 Cliffside Wedding

The bride’s father handcrafted the birch candlestick centerpieces from logs found on their family camp.

Cliffside Centerpieces

Maple syrup guest gifts in monogrammed containers also came from trees at the family camp.

Maple Syrup

Another very personal touch was the picture montage.

Picture Montage

We created a menu to highlight seasonal and traditional foods along with some of the couple’s personal favorites.

Passed Appetizers

Chicken Satay served with Thai Peanut Dipping Sauce

Basil and sundried tomato mushrooms

Turkey with homemade cranberry relish wrapped in puffed pastry

Stationary Appetizer

Garden and Shrimp Display – Fresh vegetable crudite with roasted red pepper hummus, domestic and imported cheeses, served with an assortment of crackers. Shrimp served with three sauces: Classic cocktail, Maine blueberry, and Honey Mustard.

Stationary Appetizer Display

Plated Dinner

Apple and Acorn Stuffed Pork Loin – Served with herb roasted red potatoes and haricot verte in a balsamic reduction sauce

Beef Bourguignon – Served with herb roasted red potatoes and haricot verte in a balsamic reduction sauce