Tues, 30th Oct 2007

Chef prepared a total of 5 cold canapes for the evening.

So here I am assembling them onto 15 gorgeous shiny Asprey silver trays - they weigh a ton each. Each plate will have a row of each type of canape. If you look closely, there are 2 rows 'missing' - we were waiting for 2 hot items from the hot kitchen - sausage in broche and deep fried prawns in a potato batter.

The covered trays were then stacked onto a layered rack with wheels and the entire rack was wrapped with layers of clingwrap to keep the food clean during transportation - a short lift ride away. From left to right, we have marinated camerbert, duck confit, potato with herb cream cheese, salmon tartare, and roast beef with gherkin fan.

We laid out 10 trays on the buffet table and after we took out the remaining 5 trays, I still had to replenish another 6 trays - just proves how good they were.

We work with plastic gloves all the time so if you're a diner, don't worry, bare hands rarely touch your food at the Empire Hotel.