Best Buffet Design

David Tutera New York Eight ballrooms on two floors were transformed into the party space for the 1998 Grammy Awards Party. Each room featured buffets individually catered by top New York restaurants. Foodstations featured chrome truss units turned horizontally to create tables. Each was illuminated by bright light and elegant white flower accents.

John Daly International Santa Barbara, California To creatively focus on Provence-themed buffets, John Daly placed them in a French Provencal setting. A painted backdrop featured a field of sunflowers, while a three-dimensional facade of a village completed the setting. Four buffets featured two different treatments. One used terra-cotta tiles for tabletops and incorporated weathered local materials to provide texture and create levels for foodservice. The other featured tables dressed with traditional fabrics and harvest displays sculpted from fresh regional fruits and vegetables.

Masterpiece Productions Newport Beach, California A buffet table crafted completely of ice displayed a lavish assortment of fresh seafood at this formal event in Beverly Hills, California. The ice table was showcased at the front of a tented structure. In keeping with the room's classical decor, the table consisted of three Ionic columns supporting a 4-inch-thick ice top. The serving bowls as well as the vase for the floral arrangement were created entirely of ice.

Masterpiece Productions Newport Beach, California A traditional array of chocolates was presented untraditionally-on a chocolate table-at this World Music Awards party in Monaco. In keeping with an Indonesian theme, a teak table was encased in dark chocolate with gilded accents. The baskets and risers holding the chocolates were also made of chocolate. The display was surrounded by white orchids. As guests arrived, they were greeted with the smell of chocolate mixed with the scents of cinnamon and cardamon, used to create the illusion of an evening in Indonesia.