Monday, May 23, 2005
EVENT REVIEW: PCI's LUXURY SERVICES CONVENTION
by Don Rose
PCI, Private Chefs Inc., presented their annual LUXURY SERVICES CONVENTION on Monday, May 23rd at the Santa Monica Civic Center. This international event, always awaited with much anticipation by the luxury services industry, did not disappoint. The food samplings, displays and conversation were excellent, and the buzz was electric during the three-hour event. The running joke is that, on the day of the Convention, there is no entertaining in any celebrity homes in L.A., since many house managers, personal assistants, butlers, personal chefs and flight attendants of the rich and famous are in attendance at this exclusive event. Also in attendance were members of the media, and various special guests.
The International Luxury Services Convention highlights exclusive goods and services for private estates, yachts and jets -- purveyors of top-of-the-line products and services who meet the highest standards. Highlights included wine and food tastings by the Beverly Hills Cheese Store, Dom Perignon, Evian, and Melissa's (makers of healthy foods and dressings -- try their Sugar Cane sticks, which you can fashion into food skewers -- and their Quinoa superfood product, which is quite tasty AND healthy).
Then there was my personal favorite, the MELROSE BAKING COMPANY, who served up a wonderfully wild assortment of delectable bread products (with pesto or butter as an optional topping). MBC's pretzel bread seemed to be a crowd pleaser (certainly this reporter was very pleased, it's delicious!), and they generously gave every attendee a takeaway bag of gourmet bread to enjoy after the event.
Then there was my personal favorite, the MELROSE BAKING COMPANY, who served up a wonderfully wild assortment of delectable bread products (with pesto or butter as an optional topping). MBC's pretzel bread seemed to be a crowd pleaser (certainly this reporter was very pleased, it's delicious!), and they generously gave every attendee a takeaway bag of gourmet bread to enjoy after the event.
Visit the Melrose Baking Company folks in Hollywood, at their Vienna Cafe; they offer catering and take-out, and free local delivery with a $15 min order; location is 7356 Melrose Avenue. Contact them at 323-651-3822 or visit http://www.viennacafe.com .
The festivities also included an annual awards ceremony in the following categories:
PRIVATE CHEF OF THE YEAR
BUTLER OF THE YEAR
CELEBRITY PERSONAL ASSISTANT OF THE YEAR
PRIVATE & CORPORATE JET FLIGHT ATTENDANT OF THE YEAR.
BUTLER OF THE YEAR
CELEBRITY PERSONAL ASSISTANT OF THE YEAR
PRIVATE & CORPORATE JET FLIGHT ATTENDANT OF THE YEAR.
From left to right: Chris Parkes Butler of the year, Janice Pallett Flight Attendant of the Year, Janice Smith Celebrity personal assistant of the year, Alexander Kinzler Private Chef of the year, Paul Hogan (Butler from Joe Millionaire TV Show), Christian Paier (owner of PCI & organizer of the event)
Members of many fine organizations attended this year's International Luxury Services Convention, including professional butlers, personal assistants, concierges, chefs, house managers, personal assistants, cooks, private chefs, members of the aviation and private jet industries, and local media. Kudos to PCI's Christian Paier for organizing a most excellent event.
