We’re delighted to share the news of the youngest members of our Great Performances family! Ali Ciafre, Assistant Director of Catering at The Plaza and Aya Mohamed Chef de Cuisine at Great Performances recently had beautiful daughters. We’re so excited to see the GP family grow and flourish, even during these challenging times.
INTRODUCING PERRY ELIZABETH
Our colleague Ali Ciafre and her husband Nick welcomed their first child, a happy and healthy baby girl named Perry Elizabeth into the world on September 16th. Perry was born 9lbs 1oz and 21in and is so loved by all around her!
Ali is Assistant Director of Catering at The Plaza, and has been a member of the team for just about 7 years.
INTRODUCING SORAYA YASMIN
Soraya was born on September 18, 2020 at 6lbs 5oz and 19 inches. Soraya is Aya Mohamed’s first born child, joining Aya’s two wonderful daughters from my husband, Gabrielle and Gizelle. #girldad She’s a very happy baby who is very attentive to the sound of music and her sisters’ voices. She’s a great cuddle and absolute joy to be with.
It’s definitely a joyful experience minus the sleepless nights. Nothing short of a busy season at GP I’d say. She was named after one of my aunts, and it happened to have my name in it too.
Aya can’t wait to get Soraya in the kitchen so we can all be cooking and eating together. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to those who know Aya (a GP chef de cuisine) and her husband Aaron (a GP freelance event chef) who met at Great Performances—“definitely a GP love match”—making Soraya a true GP baby!
Get to Know The Great Performances Team
Necessity is the mother of invention — or in our case, of reinvention.
Physical events have always been our dinner rolls and cultured butter at Great Performances and we’re optimistic that we’ll be able to return to those days. But with the restraints imposed by Covid and the need to ensure our clients’, guests’ and staff’s health and safety, we’ve pivoted our business in many different ways.
RDP, our events arm at Great Performances, has more than 40 years of event production experience across 26 countries and 65 cities. With a diverse portfolio including physical and virtual events, we’re delighted to launch the newest iteration, RDP Virtual Events.
Under the aegis of seasoned caterer and event production manager Ronnie Davis, our in house team of experts are ready to provide strategic, consultative and production services for virtual events.
“Virtual events are nothing new to us,” explains Ronnie. “We’ve been doing this for years. The only difference is that now RDP Virtual Events is fully focused on this as a way to continue help our clients strengthen their relationships, engage their guests, and share their vision.”
CONTACT US
To discuss your event contact us
Call: 212.727.2424
Email: RDPEvents@greatperformances.com
Or complete the form.
Order your pies early — they sell out quickly!
You can order them online at https://hilltown-hot-pies-at-katchkie-farm.square.site/for pick-up Thursday through Sunday from 4 to 8 p.m. at the outdoor Pizza Pavilion on Katchkie Farm, 745 Fischer Road Extension, Kinderhook, NY 12106.
As you’re waiting for the deliciousness, check out some photos of the farm, the pizza, and Rafi in action!
Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad.
Pam Brown
This year, we’re especially thankful for the dads in our lives. They wears so many hats (or ties!): guide, mentor, coach, tutor, sage, shoulder. We’re learning new ways to celebrate dads this year, even if it is a little trickier than setting up the VCR.
And for those whose fathers are no longer with us, we honor them and celebrate their memories. It’s another way of keeping them close to us and passing on their legacy to future generations.
Below, we’ve gathered stories from some of our fathers and sons across Great Performances as they remember their fathers.
Check out more Father’s Day photos and a Father’s Day wish list.
Vincent Palumbo, General Manager, CPS Events at The Plaza
I am extremely fortunate to observe Father’s Day as both a father and son.
As a Son
I’m not sure if it was my dad bringing the old world with him or the insecurity of a new country that seemed so big to him, but whatever the reason, my father made it a point to keep us close to him and close to each other. This was especially true with dinner. Every night at 6 pm, no matter where we were or what we were doing, we knew to come home and have dinner together as a family. All four of us kids were there. My mother would send one of us to buy the bread (usually a source of contention between the siblings on who would go). The weeknight dinner always consisted of a pasta (usually with lentils, chickpeas, green beans) and then a protein served family style in the middle of the table. As I got a little older, my dad would pour me half a glass of the Carlo Rossi jug wine and mix it the other half with sprite (I believe Italian Americans invented the modern wine cooler, but that’s a different story). We would finish up with my dad usually slicing up some fruit and sharing with us. This would be the longest course, usually due to the stories he would tell us about growing up in Italy. This is where he truly shined, with each story leaving us in stitches before he even got to the ending. Throughout the years, we heard some of these stories’ multiple times, but they never got old and always ending with us laughing as if we heard it for the first time.
At that moment, it just looked like we were having a delicious meal, but it’s dual purpose, intentional or not, was that it set the tone and strengthened the roots that we have as a family. Today, as we lead our own lives with our own families, we are as close as ever. Even now during the occasional Sunday together, we don’t dare show up late to my parent’s house and yes all four adult children still cannot agree on one simple question…..”who is getting the bread?”
As a Father
The Covid-19 pandemic has no doubt effected many families. Times like these have dramatically affected all aspects of our lives. My 15 year old son Domenico is a resident at the Center for Discovery, which is a residence for children with special needs. Due to this pandemic, we have not been able to visit him
Photo credit: Vincent Palumbo
or have him home on weekends since March. While this has been extremely difficult for my wife & I, the steps that the Center and it’s staff have taken to ensure the safety and well-being of our son and it’s other residents has been a source of comfort for all us and for that I am extremely grateful to them. This week they are starting to allow families to visit, which would make a truly special Father’s Day gift for me.
At this stage of my life, with two kids of my own, through the example that my father & my father in law have set…..I’ve learned you never stop being a father even when the children become adults (maybe especially). For that I can only say thank you to both and propose a toast to all of the dads on a healthy and safe holiday. (Carlo Rossi wine optional.)
Justin Schwartz, Executive Chef – Production, Great Performances
Years ago my father took a job in the city. This was after the great recession and it seemed everything was headed towards recovery, including our family. For Father’s Day that year I got him a wallet, perfect for the city. Small, sleek and really well made with a front pocket for a metro card. He of course loved it, and I would swell with pride every time I saw him use it, and he did use it, every day from that day on until he passed away some years later. He was diagnosed with cancer while I was in college and passed away just after I graduated from culinary school. I can still remember the look on his face when I graduated, pure joy seeing his baby pursuing his passion. What could be better for a father?
Photo credit: Justin Schwartz
Photo credit: Justin Schwartz
After everything was over, on an afternoon when my brother and I missed him terribly, we agreed to go through his things. Looking back this was probably the first time we began to mourn him together, as a family. We came across the wallet, still full of the various pieces of his life, and I immediately claimed it as my own. I still use it today and I think of him every time I hold it in my hand. I even left a card of his inside. Seeing something with his name printed on it, even an old credit card, brings back the look of his face, the smell of his hair. Sometimes I just take it out and hold it in my hand when I miss him.
When I miss him, a trip to the local diner brings me back. I remember on Father’s Day, we would go on outings and he would order—without fail—a chicken salad sandwich on toasted rye with lettuce, onion, a full sour pickle on the side, and a Diet Coke with a slice of lemon. Before coming home, we’d get chocolate and vanilla swirl frozen yogurt with mixed nuts. Now that I have kids, we’ll go to the local diner and I find myself ordering his meal. As my children watch me eat it, I wonder what they are thinking and if this food will do the same for them as it does for me.
Ronnie Davis, Managing Director, Great Performances
Photo credit: Ronnie Davis
I inherited my love of cooking from my father, who was a prominent caterer in my native Philadelphia. Like him—even though I feed people for a living—the most relaxing thing I do in my off-time is cook, especially for others. We loved to cook at home if we had a rare Father’s Day off from doing an event. I loved making Mussels, Clams & Calamari Marinara for him using an old family recipe from our Italian neighbors in South Philly. The secret was in the sauce, which could be made a few days in advance and frozen. Using a heavy pot, like a Dutch oven, the results were always perfect.
Some of the fathers on our team have shared their wishes for Father’s Day and photos with them and their kids.
Rob Valencia
Culinary Director, Great Performances
As the father of a 19 month old toddler, for Father’s Day, I’d like for him to at least sleep late or go to bed on time.
Joel Rivera
Director Of Facilities, Great Performances
Running shoes! I need to get off my cheeks!
Mike Warren
Director Of Catering, CPS Events At The Plaza
Me and my boys at my wedding. Love wins. They love me for who I am and I love them unconditionally.
Mark Rivera
Purchasing Manager, Great Performances
GP TALKS: THE IMPACT OF CORONAVIRUS ON CATERING STAFF
You’ve got pressing questions about the impact of Coronavirus on catering staff, so we’ve rounded up experts to give you answers!
The world has changed. Events and galas, which provided thousands of jobs for catering staff, often comprising artists, actors, singers and other creatives, have disappeared. Even as we slowly recover, there’s concern about what the future of catering and events will look like and what that means to the creative community who once perceived New York as a cultural center.
We’ve assembled a panel of incredible individuals across a variety of creative fields, all who have been a part of the Great Performances catering team and two notable catering historians. Along with Ronnie Davis, Managing Director of Great Performances, they discuss the joys and challenges of their roles, the impact of Coronavirus, and what they see for the future.
THE PANEL
MATT & TED LEE
HOTBOX
Food Writers & Cookbook Authors
Charleston, SC raised brothers Matt Lee and Ted Lee have had a twenty-year career in food-writing, featuring three award-winning southern cookbooks. Their latest book, Hotbox, is a work of non-fiction covering the catering industry and its roots in New York’s theatre community. The New York Times Book Review called Hotbox “The Kitchen Confidential of big-ticket catering.” Matt, his wife Gia, and their three sons live in Charleston, SC. Ted lives with his wife, the artist E.V. Day, in Brooklyn, NY.
WES MASON
GREAT PERFORMANCES
Events Coordinator
Wes is a Brooklyn based actor, singer, and guitarist who was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia. He possesses an instinct for dialects and impersonations as well as vocal abilities that have earned him a reputation as a genre-defying artist from opera to rock. In opera, he is celebrated for his performances in American works such as Breaking the Waves, As One, and Three Decembers. On film, he recently appeared in the thriller Last Moment of Clarity. This past February, he made his Off-Broadway debut as Wotan/Gunther/Hagen in On Site Opera’s production of Das Barbecü.” This fall marks Wes’s sixth year at GP.
APRIL HENRY
GREAT PERFORMANCES
April Josephine (Henry) has been with GP since the fall of 2017. Originally from Southern California, April moved to the Big Apple to pursue her theatrical career and continue to learn and grow as an artist. Select recent theater credits include West Side Story (Anita) Houston Texas; Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer National tour (Dance Captain) McCoy Rigby Entertainment; Up Here, La Jolla Playhouse. April also instructs dance, and choreographs youth theater productions, and hopes to combine her passions for both youth and the arts in an impactful way, while living in her favorite city.
AUBREY ELSON
GREAT PERFORMANCES
Captain
Aubrey is also originally from Southern California, and is an actress, singer, and dancer who has worked all over the country and internationally as well. She has performed and traveled with two national tours, at Madison Square Garden, as well as several regional musicals, plays, and readings. She just finished earning her MFA in Theatre Performance from Florida Atlantic University several months early because of Covid-`19, which she left NYC and GP to pursue. She is also a prolific audiobook producer and teaches Acting and Speech at the collegiate level. She has been with GP since 2009.
NATHAN MATTICKS
GREAT PERFORMANCES
American baritone Nathan Matticks is rapidly establishing himself as one of opera’s brightest hopefuls. A 2018 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Regional Finalist and District Winner, last season was punctuated by a Carnegie Hall main stage debut in Vaughn Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem and Rutter’s Mass of the Children. Matticks joined Florida Grand Opera for their 2019/2020 season as Conte Robinson in Cimarosa’s rarely performed Matrimonio di Segreto, covering the title roles in Rigoletto and Don Giovanni. He was with GP for the past three years.