The BMW Championship at Bellerive Country Club may be four months away, but Butler’s Pantry is already organizing a gourmet experience. The innovative St. Louis food-service company will be serving breakfast, lunch, hors d’oeuvres and cocktails in an estimated 40 corporate tents for the entire weeklong event.   “We will begin actual set up four weeks before the championship,” said Kim Rhein, Butler’s Pantry Director of Business Development. “But the pre-planning for an event of this magnitude started a year ago. It is a huge endeavor, and we are honored to work with The Western Golf Association and BMW Championship to bring the best players and cuisine to the corporate clients of St. Louis.” 

Butler’s Pantry will be providing hospitality services for an estimated 35,000 guests September 2-7, and they are already making sure no one goes hungry. Their food order includes: 

• 8,000 Cab Holton Think N Juicy Burgers
• 10,000 Kosher Beef Franks
• 6,000 Johnsonville Bratwurst
• 10,000 Homemade Cookies
• 8,000 Tyson Chicken Breasts
• 500 Flats of Driscoll Strawberries
• Over 140,000 Beverages 

Butler’s Pantry not only plans to have an abundance of delicious food on hand, but will bring a staff of over 200 managers, culinary experts, bartenders and waiters. They will also require six separate self-sufficient kitchens on the course. 

This is not Butler’s Pantry’s first time on the green. They catered the 2004 U.S. Senior Open also held at Bellerive Country Club.

Butlers Pantry Executive Chef Greg Ziegenfuss and The Art of Entertaining Owner Ann Marie Lemcke have teamed up against three other pairs of catering professionals from around the country to compete on the popular series Food Network Challenge. Lemcke and Ziegenfuss, who competed in the “Big Bash Caterers Challenge,” taped the show in Denver on April 3, 2008. The show, which currently airs Sundays at 8pm ET/PT on Food Network, is scheduled to debut the episode in Summer 2008. 

Four teams of two caterers each created and served an original menu for a cocktail party of 75 guests. The event was a production wrap party celebrating the conclusion of the Colorado Ballet’s 47^th season. Competitors were required to include a minimum of one hot appetizer, one cold appetizer, one cocktail/beverage and one sweet treat. Competitors were permitted to include more items at their own discretion.  

“It is an honor to be selected by Food Network to participate in Food Network Challenge,” says Lemcke. “Greg and I went head-to-head with some really terrific catering teams.” Ziegenfuss adds, “We are really excited to have had the opportunity to exhibit our creativity and skill against some of the country’s best caterers.” 

Every Sunday at 8pm ET/PT, Food Network Challenge brings viewers the biggest and most exciting food battles from around the world. From cake and pastry interpretations to world-class bartenders, Challenge pits masters against each other for bragging rights and a $10,000 cash prize. The best culinary specialists compete in challenges ranging from campus cook-offs to pizza battles to chocolate showdowns, and only one contender walks away a winner.

Butler’s Pantry was proud to be part of the 2008 St. Louis Children’s Hospital tabletop Event held on April 24th at the Ritz-Carlton which raised $107,000-an event record!  This one-of-a-kind luncheon featured imaginative tabletop designs by some of St. Louis’ finest florists, decorators and vendors.  For the second year in a row, Butler’s Pantry teamed up with Brian Blasingame of Fleurish to design this year’s table. 

 With inspiration from the oldest greenhouse west of the Mississippi River, The Piper Palm House in Tower Grove Park, our garden conservatory design took shape.  Magnificent orchids, white roses and miniature palms were displayed in cloches and bell jars among beeswax candlesticks.  The entire display was set atop a runner of white painted bricks with moss and Kermit Mums tucked in between.  Tables from Premier Rentals, wicker chairs from Cafe Madeleine, speciality linens from BBJ Linen and flatware & crystal from The Aries Company were all brought in to complete the elegant and sophisticated look of the table.  For a finishing touch, antique china from our staff’s mothers, grandmothers and aunts were mixed together to create a fanciful, well dressed place setting.