Yesterday I worked my first day of a job outside of my regular side projects as a photo assistant for Hilary Walsh. My friend Nick was in town from LA working for her and said they needed an extra hand so he brought me on. Besides being thrilled to wake up at 8AM and go to a new physical location to work I was also excited to see what the catering situation was going to be.  I was used to working on shoots for rappers and the food was usually catered by Negril so this being my first “fashion” shoot I wasn’t expecting Jamaican food. The shoot was for Nordstrom’s and I am guessing the budget must have been massive based on the amount of work I didn’t do. I guess they felt more comfortable having me stand around and get paid then not have me at all. I wasn’t mad.

I showed up ten minutes early and was alone with the hairdresser when in walks one of the dudes from Cafe Petisco. It’s always nice to see a familiar face and since Cafe Petisco is down the street from my apartment and after eating there numerous times I was definitely excited to see what they brought to the table. I was a bit too tired to remember to take a picture of breakfast but it was a nice spread. I had a fried egg with basil on a brioche bun, a vegetable frittata and turkey bacon. They also had donuts from Doughnut Plant, tons of fruit, yogurt, nutella, proscuitto, a cheese plate, mixed nuts, and bread basket. For drinks it was orange juice, coffee, and pomegranate juice. It was really great.

I was still stuffed from breakfast when lunch rolled around but I was in no place to turn them down. I don’t know if you can make out the menu but on my plate starting at 12 o’clock is the red sweet potato Thai curry with bok choy and caramelized shallots. It was not spicy enough but very tasty. The crew wiped this dish out. In the center of my plate was a vegetable spring roll. These were served cold with soy sauce for dipping. People started eating these before lunch was officially served. They were good as is most fried finger food but the soy sauce for dipping was kind of boring. They could have at least added some vinegar. At three o’clock was grilled asparagus with a peanut sauce. This dish was very nice and I could eat any sauce with peanuts by the spoonful. At the six o’clock you can see the seared salmon bites with asian dressing. I didn’t partake in the diced cucumbers and watercress that the salmon was sitting on but the salmon was great. The asian dressing didn’t have much flavor but it didn’t take away from the dish at all. I would have taken more but there wasn’t enough of this dish for everyone. At nine o’clock is the grilled chicken with coconut, lime sauce, scallions, and red pepper.  As is the case with most catered meals the food sits out for a long time after being prepared so the chicken was kind of cold and dry. It had a good flavor and best believe I finished it but it was not the star of the meal. At eleven o’clock you  see the seared tofu with tamari sauce, scallions, and red pepper. The tofu was good and when ate with the curry was one of the stars of the day. They had a salad with mango, some brownie/cupcake things for desert, and pellegrino limonata to drink.

All in all the catering exceeded my expectations for the day. I don’t know if or when I will ever get to assist on a photo shoot again but if getting paid to do some work and eat good food is part of the deal I’m in.