GP'S PIVOT SHARED BY CAPITALONE AND FORBES
Our friends at CapitalOne shared the story of how Great Performances pivoted during Covid. In less than two weeks after NYC shut down and we turned off our burners, we once again fired up our kitchens and engaged our teams, this time to feed the 80,000 seniors in need.
Click here to read the full article on CapitalOne’s website.
Click here to watch the video on Forbes.
My preferred choice of translation includes “mushy and sentimental”. The Jewish Food Society adopted the word Schmaltzy to characterize their storytelling program (and now podcast) about life, food and everything in between. Think The Moth, but Jewish style. These stories are connected to a recipe; “stories of who we are as cooks, as families, and as a people”. The stories pull at your heartstrings, make you laugh and cry, often at the same time.
In 2019 I was invited to share a story at the Schmaltzy gathering held at the New York City Wine & Food Festival in NYC. Next week, this story about an unexpected night of latke making merriness will be played on the Schmaltzy Podcast along with an interview between podcast host Amanda Dell and me. Check out the Schmatlzy podcast on your favorite app. You can download the latest episodes and subscribe to Schmaltzy to get the latest podcasts direct to your device.
Here is my recipe for latkes from my cookbook, Sylvia’s Table. Chanukah begins on December 10th so you have time to practice!
HER BIG IDEA FEATURES LIZ NEUMARK
By Great Performances
It’s no small feat to turn an idea into a thriving business, let alone one started by a woman in the food industry, that has lasted almost 40 years and that has no sign of slowing down. And did we mention it’s one of the largest in New York City?
Her Big Idea, a series produced by NYC Media, shares the stories of women entrepreneurs in New York City who have defied the odds to build successful businesses in one of the most competitive cities. Her Big Idea has featured notable women including Alexa Hirschfeld of Paperless Post; Seema Bansal of Venus et Fleur; Payal Kadakia of ClassPass; and Tish and Snooky Bellomo of Manic Panic; and most recently, Her Big Idea features Liz Neumark, founder of Great Performances, Katchkie Farm and Sylvia’s Table. Liz shares her journey on establishing Great Performances as the leading independent female-owned catering company in NYC.
CHECK OUT THE VIDEO NOW:
By Carina Hayek
Events are our lifeblood at Great Performances. We want them to be incredible experiences for our clients and their guests from the moment they enter a venue to long after, when they reminisce about their favorite moments.
Part of what makes an event so unforgettable is the food and beverage served, but few people think about how the food turns from concept to canapé, from dream to dessert. It’s nothing short of magic as chefs work to execute a feast, often in make-shift kitchens, under demanding time constraints, for hundreds if not thousands of guests, and in spite of any glitches or catastrophes.
Brothers Matt Lee and Ted Lee dove into the catering world, getting a view of the chaos behind the scenes of a catered event, documenting it in their book, Hotbox. It’s a fast-paced, enlightening read covering the history of event catering from an insider’s perspective.
We’re delighted that the contributions of Liz Neumark, Great Performances’ CEO and Founder, are included in the book, with Liz being acknowledged as “one of the most influential and innovative figures in the industry today.”
To learn more about the book, check out Ted and Matt Lee’s website and be sure to check out their tour schedule, including their New York City visit on May 14.
Event Info:
Tuesday, May 14th at 7:30 pm at a Private Residence in Manhattan
Matt and Ted will read passages and discuss HOTBOX at this super intimate salon-style book-club series, held at private homes in New York City. This is a ticketed event. For reservations and ticketing information click here.
BizBash Honors Liz Neumark As One of The Top 500 People in Events
By Shelley Clark
“IT’S ESPECIALLY GRATIFYING TO BE RECOGNIZED IN THIS MANNER BY BIZBASH, WHICH IS SUCH A RESPECTED AND IMPORTANT RESOURCE FOR OUR INDUSTRY.”
Liz Neumark, whose Great Performances was cited as one of the 25 Largest Women Owned Businesses in the New York Area by Crain’s New York Business earlier this year.
The Fall issue of BizBash, the quarterly publication of the country’s top resource for meeting and event planning professionals, named Liz Neumark, founder and CEO of New York City-based Great Performances as one of The Top 500 People in Events in the Catering category – one of just 19. The publication prefaces its first compilation of such a list by stating “Representing corporate events, associations, trade shows, social events and more, these people represent the best of the meeting and event industry across North America.” The fact that the list is divided into 26 categories ranging from Agencies, Audio Visual-Lighting and Corporate Producers & Strategists to Sports & Arenas, Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility and Weddings, is testimony to its comprehensive nature.
Liz grew the company into a regional catering, events and retail hospitality powerhouse with 300 full-time employees, 700 part-time and annual revenues in excess of $50 million. In the process, Neumark pioneered now common practices, such as exclusive venue partnerships, incorporating local restaurants into major multi-day events such as The Miami Open and The Miami International Boat Show and a focus on seasonal, locally sourced ingredients.
In fact, she made Great Performances an early adopter of the farm-to-table movement by introducing menus with ingredients sourced completely from within a 100-mile radius of New York City. Subsequently, she purchased 60-acres in Columbia Co., NY, where Neumark established an organic farm that is now a year-round operation supplying produce for the more than 3,000 events that Great Performances caters annually, as well as for the nine restaurants, cafés and food trucks the company operates. Great Performances was the first catering company in the country to own and operate a farm and remains the only one.
“We are using this list to showcase the talent in our industry. Liz represents one of the longtime leaders who keeps doing incredible things year after year to stay fresh and relevant” states David Adler, CEO and founder of BizBash.
We are thrilled to announce our full-page spread in the New York Magazine Weddings Summer 2013 Issue. We are representing Winter as one of the city’s top caterers. Click here to see the spread!