Chef Eric Bauer has joined the H Events team as Corporate Executive Chef to lead their kitchen and revamp and refine their menu offerings for Festivities Catering just in time for the busy gala, wedding and holiday event season. Known for his seasonal approach to food and providing consistent quality, Chef Eric Bauer has taken the reigns at Festivities to provide food lovers and novices, who need catering services, a whole new repertoire of restaurant-style fare in the catering scene. Chef Bauer brings fifteen years of cooking experience with twelve years of management and cooking experience maintaining five star and five diamond standing at several properties including Rancho Valencia Resort and Spa in Rancho Santa Fe and several Four Seasons locations.
Founder and CEO of H Events, Lisa Richards says, “Eric is setting a new direction for Festivities and brings an elegance to social catering.”
In his new role, Chef Bauer will not only create and curate menus from concept to completion for patrons, but will oversee the entire operation from the prep to the execution of events from small private dinner parties to lavish weddings with hundreds of guests to extensive corporate catering events designed to enliven and enrich.
Chef Bauer plans to “bring the restaurant” to customers’ homes and events and is thrilled to share his food with a broader audience. Festivities is working on several new opportunities to showcase Chef Eric’s talents beyond their catering services including pop-up dinners at their sister property The Bristol, Bar-B-Q competitions, expanding their dietary sensitive menus and pastry programs, plus taking the Le Diner en Blanc San Diego event to new heights, solidifying Festivities as the premiere caterer in Southern California. The Le Diner en Blanc San Diego will be just one of the key events where Chef Bauer will get to showcase his passion for food in an unforgettable setting.
About H Events:
Hospitality Events, Inc. (H Events) originated the corporate picnic catering industry in San Diego County in 1984 when Lisa Richards founded Picnic People. 28 years later, she and her business partner, Frank Christian, have diversified the company based on client needs and now own and operate the second largest off-premise catering and special events operations in San Diego.
Picnic People was started out of Lisa Richards’ home while she was a student at The University of San Diego. It began as a corporate picnic business and now specializes in all types of outdoor event catering – picnics, tailgate parties, grand openings, company appreciation events and more.
In 1987, Festivities Catering and Special Events began as a response to Picnic People’s clients requests for additional, more upscale services. The new division quickly achieved great success not only in the corporate world, but also in the upscale social catering market and as a premier wedding caterer.
H Events partnered with Greystone Hotels in 2011, as the management company for the food and beverage option at The Bristol Hotel. The Bristol is a premier boutique hotel located in the heart of downtown San Diego, California, steps from the historic landmark Gaslamp Quarter. The hotel offers exceptional comfort and service for your leisure and business travel needs. Taking a fresh approach to modern style, The Bristol Hotel is both sophisticated and casual and offers newly updated hotel rooms, thoughtful amenities, and contemporary facilities.
In 2012, H Events partnered with the international organization, Dîner en Blanc, to create a flash mob, pop up style event. At the last minute, the location is given to thousands of ticket holders who have been patiently waiting to learn the “Dîner en Blanc’s” secret place. Guests dressed all in white, and conducting themselves with the greatest decorum, elegance, and etiquette, all meet for a mass “chic picnic” in a public space.
The commissary, built and owned by Lisa and Rick Richards, was constructed specifically to meet the needs of clients and events and encompasses 30,000 square feet. On the two and a half acre site, Hospitality Events operates within 20,000 square feet. Within this facility is a 6,000 square foot state-of-the-art kitchen, 6,650 square feet of warehouse area and 7,350 square feet of office space. The loading dock and outside space allows us to maintain a fleet of trucks including a mobile kitchen, a refrigeration truck and 23 box trucks, trailers and vans.
Having multiple divisions has allowed Hospitality Events to provide a full spectrum of event services to our diverse clientele. We pride ourselves on recognizing and building events which reflect the client while making the guest experience exceptional.
For more information please visit www.heventsinc.com
