Entertaining to Impress

A Personal Chef Dishes on Some of the Most Extraordinary Events He’s Catered

In a long and diverse career, Chef Alvin Howard has catered exclusive events for professional athletes – including Michael Jordan – and worked in high-end French restaurants. 

The Central Piedmont Community College-trained chef is the owner/executive chef at Grassroots Chef Services and a member of the Piedmont Culinary Guild. He also teaches adults with barriers to employment at the Community Culinary School of Charlotte. (He started at the nonprofit as a volunteer in 2012 and joined the faculty in 2015.) 

We asked him about some of the most memorable dinner parties he’s ever catered – and what made them unforgettable. Responses have been lightly edited for brevity and clarity. 

You’ve worked for some VIPs. What are some of the most outlandish or over-the-top requests you've gotten?

During COVID, there was a lawyer in town who was turning 40. He and his wife wanted a big party to mark the occasion, but the pandemic prevented that. Instead, they flew in a few close friends, rented a mansion on Lake Norman for a long weekend, and hired me to prepare three meals for Friday and two meals a day on Saturday and Sunday.

What were some of the foods you prepared for them? 

Beef Wellington with foie gras, dauphinoise potatoes, grilled seabass, deviled eggs with caviar, and Brussels sprouts. 

For breakfast, we did a big buffet with chicken and waffles, hashbrowns, bacon and pancakes. 

They chartered a boat one afternoon, and I made snacks for the trip to go along with the champagne they wanted. They went out for dinner one night, but I catered all the other meals.  

That sounds amazing. Any other big and/or memorable events?

I’ve done a few Masters tournaments where someone rented a house in Augusta and wanted catered meals every day of the tournament. 

I’ve catered events at the U.S. Open, and I’ve done events in people’s homes near Quail Hollow Country Club when the big golf tournament (Wells Fargo Championship) is in Charlotte. Neighbors who live on the golf course would host a progressive dinner party, and guests would go to one house for one course and then a few doors down for the next course. There’d be open bars, caviar bars, you name it.  

It seems that entertaining to impress doesn’t always have to involve caviar and a home on a lake or golf course. Something less fancy – but unexpected – might be equally memorable – like a make-your-own-sundae bar. Have you planned menus like that?

Oh, yes. I catered a wedding about three years ago where the bride and groom wanted breakfast for dinner. We did eggs Benedict, a buffet-style omelet bar, hash browns, and waffles to order. It was really cool – just what the newlyweds wanted, and their guests loved it, too. 

And absolutely – you don’t have to live in a mansion to host an impressive dinner party. I’ve catered a two-person dinner in a small apartment, and it was amazing. The place is a lot less important than the food – and the company. 

I think everybody deserves to have a professional chef come into their home and cook for them at some point. Everybody should have that experience at least once in their lifetime. 

I love helping people make special memories.

What do you consider the key ingredient, or ingredients, to a successful dinner party?

You have to care. 

I teach in a workforce training program – and many of my students are either coming out of addiction, homelessness, or incarceration. We’re not training them to be gourmet chefs, but we are trying to turn out really solid hospitality workers. I tell them all: They have to care about what they’re producing. 

If you love what you do, it’s going to show on your plate. 

Has a client ever asked you to do something that just wasn’t feasible?  

Not that I recall. I’ve had potential clients want to throw a party for, say, 2,000 people but not have anywhere close to the budget for that. For the most part, whatever someone dreams up, I can execute – as long as they have the budget. 

When I sell my catering services, it’s about more than the food. I’m selling an experience.  

I have friends in hospitality, and we help each other out. If someone wanted a party for 2,000, I’d say no today. I did that in my younger days. I know my sweet spot, and that’s 200 guests or less. For me, it’s a quality issue. I can control the quality for 200 people. I start to worry if we get into several hundred. But I know people who love to cater big events, and I’ll refer people to them.

If you were hosting an intimate dinner party for people you really wanted to impress, what would you serve?

If I had an unlimited budget, I’d first look for the very freshest, in-season ingredients. 

Lobster thermidor would definitely be on the menu. (It’s a fancy French dish of lobster meat cooked in a wine sauce and then stuffed back into the lobster shell, topped with cheese, and browned under a broiler.) 

I’d source very high-end caviar, but I’d also want to try to source it – and as much as possible – locally. I’d find truffles and figure out how to use them in the menu – maybe on top of mashed potatoes. I’d serve Kobe steak with foie gras and a Port wine sauce. 

I love fresh fish, and to really impress, I’d serve Chilean seabass and sashimi-grade tuna. 

Well, I'm hungry. That sounds incredible. Last question: What’s your best advice to somebody throwing a dinner party in their home for people they want to impress – like the boss or a new client they hope to land? 

That’s easy: Hire professionals. If you really want to make a splash, leave it to an expert. That way, you’ll actually be able to enjoy your own party. 

And I would add to that: Don’t skimp. If you’re going to entertain at that level, do it right.