Those who have a taste for creative events and fresh, delicious food probably know Marcia Selden Catering—a Fairfield County favorite and a winner of Best of the Gold Coast. Now the local firm has been recognized on a national and international level. Robin Selden recently won the Chef of the Year in the CATIEs, the industry’s equivalent of the Oscars, and was also made president of the International Caterers Association. “It was this double-whammy moment in my career and I’m really, really proud of it,” says Robin, who owns the business with her brother, Jeffrey, and mother, Marcia, and gives credit to her whole team.
To be considered for the CATIEs, Robin had to submit a portfolio of recent work, and she’s had plenty on her plate. Among the many events she’s catered recently: The Knot’s Wedding Gala in New York City, a gathering of 1,000 top wedding pros from around the country who’ve seen just about everything. To wow this potentially jaded group, Robin created a “Mystery Wall of Love,” a giant black-draped wall with white-gloved hands poking out offering up fun appetizers and little shakers of martinis, all named with a bridal theme such as Appley Ever After and Some Like It Hot.
The media tapped Robin’s expertise recently, as she and her team created a spring menu for a Martha Stewart Weddings feature focused on the color chartreuse, and she was also a key source in a Forbes story on food trends.
Of her career and recent accolades Robin says, “I don’t want to say it defines me, but it definitely comes close. I wake up and I can’t wait to get here.” marciaselden.com
HOT & HIP IN NYC
Marcia Selden is based in Stamford, but the company also opened a space in New York with Ron Ben-Israel, a judge on the Food Network’s Cake Wars who is famous for his couture cakes. They share a loft-like space called Above Twelve in the fashion district. Both food pros have offices in the space, which has been the setting for all of the New York tastings as well as small weddings, cocktail parties and a surprise birthday dinner for Robin herself.
WHAT’S COOKING?
“Dinner by the bite is still really huge,” says Robin, as are dramatic chef “action” stations, such as having a chef pulling mozzarella in front of guests or stretching noodles for a ramen bar with different broths, veggies and meats. “People get excited. It’s part of the entertainment,” Robin says. One food of the moment is poke,
a Hawaiian cousin to sushi and ceviche—raw fish laced with tropical flavors.
Family photo: Studio z photo; Food photography courtesy of Marcia Selden Catering & Event Planning