Tag Archives: AMG Catering & Events

Roundup: Wynton Marsalis, Nile Rodgers, Alison Milwe Grace …

Posted on April 29, 2026 | 6 comments

The Levitt Pavilion has hosted some Big Names.

Willie Nelson, Smokey Robinson and Frankie Valli are just a few of the greats to grace the riverfront stage.

Next up: Wynton Marsalis.

Before the world-renowned managing and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center heads into his final season, he’ll be in Westport on Sunday, June 28.

The evening opens with a set by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Youth Orchestra at 6 p.m. A 2-set performance by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, with Marsalis, follows at 7.

Pre-sale to Levitt Pavilion members is underway now (click here; for membership information, click here). Tickets for the general public begin at 10 a.m. Friday (May 1; click here).


Wynton Marsalis

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Speaking of entertainment: The New York Times has just posted their list of “The 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters.”

And #1 — making him the greatest of all the greatest — is Westport’s own Nile Rodgers.

Okay: The list is unranked. But still, our neighbor is the first one you see.

More than 250 music insiders and 6 Times critics “weighed in on who defines the new American songbook.”

Rodgers’ writeup says:

The titles tell the story. “Good Times.” “I Want Your Love.” “Lost in Music.” “Everybody Dance.” “My Feet Keep Dancing.” “Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah).”

The songs of Nile Rodgers distill the spirit of disco’s heyday: long nights, bright lights, romance, sex and, above all, the communal rapture of bodies moving in unison, following inexorable grooves to a distant plane where the laws of physics seem no longer to apply — at least until the cops show up.

Together with his songwriting partner, the bassist Bernard Edwards (who died in 1996), Rodgers co-founded Chic, the de facto house band of New York’s late-70s disco boom.

A legendary hard partyer, Rodgers was both a habitué of Manhattan’s club scene and its shrewdest chronicler. In the songs he and Edwards composed for Chic and other artists, the gritty glamour of the local demimonde — Black and white and Latino, gay and straight and in between — became a global ideal, immortalized in anthems of freedom and transgression that rippled across the planet.

Click here for the full list. It’s a great one.

Of course, reasonable people can quibble.

I’ll start: Where is our fellow Westporter, Staples High School’s own Justin Paul?!

(Hat tip: Mark Mathias, and half of Westport too.)

Nile Rodgers

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Speaking of music: Listen up, jazz fans!

Tomorrow, the Jazz Society of Fairfield County (aka JazzFC) hosts a free Professional Development Day for professional and pre-professional jazz performers and composers.

The April 30 event runs from noon to 5 p.m., at VFW Post 399.

The afternoon includes sessions on promotion and public relations, booking and self-management, and financial planning — all tailored specifically for jazz musicians.

Saxophonist and educator Vincent Herring will deliver the keynote, on developing and sustaining a life in jazz.

This free program is open to working jazz artists and pre-professionals, ages 18 and up. Registration is required; click here.

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Alison Milwe Grace is Connecticut’s Best Female Caterer!

The award — based on voting by CTbites readers — was presented Monday night at New Haven’s Marcel Hotel.

Alison — a Staples High School graduate (and culinary teacher, cookbook author and Food Network competitor) — owns and operates AMG Catering & Events.

For 30 years they’ve served Fairfield and Westchester Counties with 5-course, intimate dinner parties, festive bridal and baby showers, memorable weddings, creative bar and bat mitzvahs, and original fundraisers.

Monday’s event — CTbites’ “It’s a Woman’s World: An Evening to Inspire, Connect and Celebrate CT’s Women in Culinary” — honored “many inspiring and trailblazing females in Connecticut’s culinary industry.” Best Female Caterer was one of 11 categories.

Congratulations, Alison! We’re sure it was a great night.

And we hope the catering was almost as good as yours. (Hat tip: Pat Micinilio)

Alison Milwe Grace, at the CTbites ceremony Monday night.

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The Westport Garden Club‘s annual plant springs to life on Saturday, May 9.

The hyper-local event (9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Jesup Green) features a bumper crop of over 1,000 perennial plants.

While many sales stock nursery-bought inventory, this one’s 100% homegrown.

Every club member either donates at least 20 nurtured perennials from their personal garden, or joins a “digging team.”

Those teams spend weeks visiting local gardens, to divide and pot plants carefully.

So every plant is “Westport-proven” — already acclimated to our soil and climate. They’re hardy, and ready to thrive in your yard.

So far, the Diggers have potted, weeded and labeled over 100 plants. They’re watered daily, ensuring peak condition for the sale.

Beyond the perennials, there are Connecticut native plants, farm-fresh tomatoes and herbs, hand-crafted Mother’s Day planters and arrangements, and a bake sale.

Westport Garden Club’s plant sale: a sneak peek.

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The next Veterans Benefits Luncheon is tomorrow (Thursday, April 30, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.), VFW Post 399).

It’s open to all veterans as part of an ongoing effort to check in on all veterans’ welfare, and connect them with the benefits and support they earned.

Representatives will answer questions, and provide information on services and assistance available to veterans.

RSVPs are encouraged (but not required). Email vfw399ct@gmail.com, and include the number of attendees, or call (203) 227-6796.

PS: If you’re not a veteran, but know one: Please pass the word!

VFW benefits luncheon.

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The Harlem Stories Project — a non-profit founded by 2004 Staples High graduate Sarah Bennett, which empowers middle schoolers to tell stories of their West Harlem neighborhood, after interviewing residents — performed their 3rd original show earlier this month. It was co-written by Bennett and fellow Players alum Ginny Levy.

PIX 11 News was there. They reported on the event, and posted a video (click here or below).

You can follow the Harlem Stories Project on Instagram, or click here to support them with a donation.

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Staples High School Class of 1983 graduate, and longtime Westport resident Kristin Thornton died peacefully April 22, after a long illness.

She attended Marymount College. Kristin studied abroad for a year at the University of Stirling in Scotland, an experience she cherished deeply.

She spent 35 years in operations at Morgan Stanley. She was devoted to her work and colleagues.

Kristin was deeply loved by her 3 nieces and nephews. “They eagerly awaited her frequent visits, her brilliantly simple words of wisdom, and the legendary sleepovers that featured far more cartoon marathons than actual sleep,” her obituary says.

She is survived by her mother, Kathleen Thornton; sister Stephanie Moore Girling (Steve); brother William Thornton (Jessica Branson); nieces and nephews, Elizabeth, Savannah and Spencer Girling; aunt and uncle, Gail and Alan Shea; aunt Deenie Thornton, and many cousins.

Kristin was predeceased by her father, Richard Thornton, and uncles Robert Doyle, John Thornton Jr. and William Thornton.

A funeral service is set for St. Luke’s Church on Friday, May 1 (11 a.m.), followed by a reception and burial at Willowbrook Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Healthcare Workers Fund at the Maefair Center for Health and Rehabilitation in Trumbull.

Kristin Thornton

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No, today’s “Westport … Naturally” featured photo is not from “The Wizard of Oz.”

It could be — but Candice Cardenas’ Old Road image is even more glorious.

(Photo/Candice Cardenas)

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And finally … as the music world mourns the death of Nedra Talley Ross — the last surviving member of the Ronettes, the beloved 1960s girl group, who died on Sunday, age 80, in Virginia — there is a local connection.

When the Beatles toured the US in 1966, both the Ronettes and the Remains were opening acts.

And the Remains — the legendary garage band, featuring Westporters Barry Tashian on guitar and vocals, and Bill Briggs on keyboards — served as the backup band for Nedra and her cousins, Veronica (Ronnie) and Estelle Bennett.

Click here for a full obituary. (Hat tip: Fred Cantor)

Barry Tashian (center) and the Remains, backing up the Ronettes on the Beatles’ 1966 tour. (Screenshot from “America’s Lost Band.”)

(“06880” is where the Ronettes meet the Remains — and Westport meets the world. If you enjoy those meetings — or anything on our hyper-local blog — please click here to support our work. Thanks!)

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Alison Milwe Grace Savors Her New Book

Posted on October 16, 2024 | 6 comments

For years, clients and friends urged Alison Milwe Grace to write a book.

One day last year, she woke up and said, “I’ll do it!”

The longtime owner of AMG Catering & Events wanted to share her culinary passion, inspire others to cook, and connect people through food.

There was only one problem: She had no theme. Alison had a huge repertoire of recipes. How could she narrow them down to an idea that made sense?

Her “aha!” moment came when she realized that “there’s always a reason to celebrate with food.”

From Mardi Gras and St. Patrick’s Day to Sunday brunch and football games, meals are at the center of what we do.

“Savor: Recipes to Celebrate” — Alison’s first book — has just been published. That’s one more reason to celebrate.

Alison — who is also a beloved culinary teacher at Staples High School (her alma mater, Class of 1988) — purposely stayed away from Christmas recipes.

“I didn’t want ‘holiday’ in the title,” she says. “This is more about all the other types of celebrations.”

Alison is used to the long time frame of setting up a catering event: planning menu, ordering food, cooking, serving, and cleaning up.

But writing “Savor” took far longer. She researched and interviewed many writers and editors, before selecting Tracy Holleran.

Alison then enlisted Eileen Clark Sawyer, a noted food photographer, to shoot the  servings.

Alison Milwe Grace’s Passover Seder meal includes Grandma Bea’s brisket, lemon potatoes and shaved Brussels sprouts salad. All are gluten-free.

The wait was worth it. The pages are filled with recipes that are delicious, fun and adventurous, but not overwhelming.

“Sunday Football Snacks” features, for example, zucchini chips with sriracha aioli, Thai mini-meatball and spicy apricot glazed wings (the latter two are gluten-free).

For Oktoberfest Alison offers soft pretzels with German beer cheese dip, chicken schnitzel with lemon herb salad, and easy apple strudel with puff pastry.

Ready for a Day of the Dead feast? She’ll help you whip up pumpkin margaritas, cabbage enchiladas, zucchini burrito cups, and turkey-taco lettuce wraps.

Celebrate the 4th of July: hanger steak with chimichurri, potato salad with mustard and watercress, and a grilled romaine wedge salad.

Though Alison knows her way around any kitchen, writing a book was hard.

“It was way outside my comfort zone,” she says. “But that was one more reason to do it. You get better by stretching yourself.”

Among the challenges: finding the right recipes, then toning them down from the large groups she’s used to working with, to just 6 or 8 people.

Plus, Alison says, “I had to make sure I included every ingredient. I know what I use in my head. But I couldn’t forget anything.”

Valentine’s dinner for 2: sexy spicy lobster pasta, winter greens with maple vinaigrette, and Bailey’s parfaits. (All photos/Eileen Clark Sawyer)

In the middle of the book is a chapter called “Savoring the Journey.” It’s Alison’s own story.

It’s a good one. And like Alison herself, it’s fun.

She began by baking cakes in elementary school. She worked as a cheese monger in high school, waitressed her way through college, managed fine dining establishments post-graduation, then became executive chef at an award-winning restaurant

Alison has appeared on the Food Network’s “Kitchen Casino” and “Supermarket Stakeout,” and won a James Beard Scholarship.

“I love to share my passion for food and cooking,” the first-time author says.

“This is an extension of that. It just happens to be on paper.”

Now her many satisfied, well-fed clients can savor one more of Alison Milwe Grace’s treats.

(For more information, and to order “Savor: Recipes to Celebrate,” click here.)

(“06880” covers Westport’s broad and deep dining scene, in all its forms. But we’ll starve without reader support. To make a tax-deductible contribution, please click here. Thank you!)

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Catering To The Post-Pandemic Crowd

Posted on January 9, 2023 | 9 comments

Catered events — holiday parties, weddings, bar mitzvahs — are back.

As COVID infections (and fears) fade, Westporters again celebrate with family, friends and food.

As you reach for that crudité cup or drink, you think that nothing has changed.

If you’re a caterer though, you know your world will never be the same.

The supply chain. Staffing. Service. All that — and a thousand things — is vastly different today.

Add inflation — affecting the price of everything from steak and paper towels to gas — and it’s a wonder there are any events left.

But caterers are a flexible bunch. They solve problems. They do it resourcefully, creatively — and out of sight of guests.

You’ll snag your skewer or cheese, and continue your continue your party conversation just like before.

Time now for a conversation with Alison Milwe Grace.

Alison Milwe Grace

The award-winning, professionally trained chef’s AMG Catering — a 1988 Staples High School  graduate, now a Weston resident — serves clients and guests throughout Connecticut and Westchester County.

Her business in 2023 is nothing like when she began in 1996. Or even at the start of 2020.

Alison could begin anywhere. She starts with vessels.

That’s cater-speak for the little cups that contain chicken satay, shrimp cocktails, grapes — whatever you once picked up yourself from a tray. Now — sensitive that clients and guests are wary of the number of hands that touch their food — Alison serves nearly every passed appetizer in a cup.

Each one costs money. So does each single-use, wrapped utensil pack she offers. (She’s not wild about the environmental impact, either.)

More cups mean fewer hands reaching for food. But creating each one is labor intensive.

Inflation — some of it tied directly to the pandemic, some of it not — has also eaten into clients’ budgets, and caterers’ profits.

Alison pays more for nearly every item of food. Plus plates, cleaning products, propone for her kitchen, helium for balloons. You name it, the price has risen — often dramatically.

Guests pay more for other things too. Alison notes that tents are generally bigger than before the pandemic, to avoid the feeling of “everyone on top of each other.”

Staffing issues are a constant headache. Labor shortages and illnesses make finding good employees tougher than ever.

Alison Milwe Grace is smiling here. Behind the scenes, running a catering business is not all sunshine.

When bookings began again as the pandemic eased, Alison gave raises to her staff. They’d been through a lot. And, in a tight labor market, she wanted to keep her valued employees.

Still, the coronavirus (and more recently the flu) combined to make staffing difficult. Alison has a strict rule — “If you feel remotely bad, you’re not working” — which means she constantly readjusts schedules.

But cooks and servers are not the only ones in short supply. So are her vendors’ delivery drivers.

Many cut back on the number of days they provide her with meat, fish, produce and more. They’ve also added fuel surcharges, which she must either eat or pass along to clients.

Expenses like table and linen rental have risen. Providing them is not always easy.

Speaking of gas: When prices spiked last year, Alison paid travel expenses for her staff. It was the right thing to do — and a good way to ensure she’d have the help she needs.

Despite her busy schedule, all events are not back to pre-pandemic normal. In an abundance of caution, clients want smaller guest lists. But caterers have fixed costs. Alison has learned to be selective about which events she can book.

Yet as the prices she charges rise, so do clients’ expectations. They’re paying more, so they expect even higher quality than Alison’s usual high standards.

“I’ve always been a perfectionist,” she says. “Now I’m more of one. I want to be sure everyone gets what they pay for.”

That’s not always in her control. These days, a delivery may be missing 5 items she ordered — and counted on.

Vendors don’t tell her ahead of time. So she unpacks, finds what’s not there, then heads to the grocery store herself. Or she readjusts her menu.

Her presentations look great. But from one day to the next, Alison Milwe Grace is never sure she’ll get everything she ordered.

Also missing: rental companies’ 24/7 service. They no longer have the staff to fix a last-minute broken table, or send over extra linen.

“You get what you get, and you can’t get upset” is her new mantra. She hopes clients understand.

She hopes too that they understand the importance of numbers. Guests continue to test COVID-positive or get the flu, sending regrets a few days (or even the day of) a party.

That wreaks havoc on her planning — and budget. With vendors demanding she place orders further in advance than ever, Alison now insists on a guaranteed head count 2 weeks before an event. (The number can increase, but not decrease.)

There are exceptions. “If the bat mitzvah girl gets COVID, of course we’ll reschedule,” Alison says.

As for weddings: The caterer has already booked “a ton” for this year. She’s already working on 2024.

Happy guests never see what goes on behind the scenes.

Meanwhile, despite higher costs, uncertain deliveries and the like, the parties she catered during the recent holiday season helped her — and guests — put COVID behind them.

“People were celebrating who hadn’t seen each other in years,” Alison reports. “Everyone was so excited. Parties seemed really, really meaningful.”

Corporate events — non-existent for nearly 3 years — returned in 2022. Still, the caterer senses “an undercurrent of fear” among businesses about a recession in 2023. Even the perception of belt-tightening could cut bookings substantially.

When COVID crashed into our lives nearly 3 years ago, Alison pivoted quickly. She offered curbside pick-up meals for families, and fed frontline workers.

Her flexibility paid off. AMG Catering survived.

When you grab some bruschetta, a spring roll or drink at your next event, you may simply be happy to be back celebrating.

That’s fine. You don’t need to know the back story — all the moving parts that caterers like Alison Milwe Grace navigate so you can feel good, and well fed.

But now you do.

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Catering With Grace In A Crisis

Posted on March 31, 2020 | 2 comments

The plight of restaurateurs is sadly visible.

Closed dining rooms and curbside delivery offer stark reminders of the coranvirus’ devastating impact on an important slice of Westport life.

Less visible is what’s happened to caterers.

They’re the backbone of Westport’s culinary scene. They’re at every social event in town, serving superb food and making us feel, well, really catered to.

We seldom think of the work behind the scenes: shopping, prepping, cooking, transporting.

And we never think of the constant grind of finding clients, presenting tasting menus, signing contracts, and managing the back end of a business.

Just over 2 weeks ago, that business imploded.

In the hours after schools closed, and town officials held an emergency press conference, the owner of AMG Catering & Events lost just about every booking.

Several fundraisers, 2 art shows, a barn party, a wedding, 1 bar and 1 bat mitzvah, christenings, Passover seders, Easter dinners — all set for March and April — vanished.

Some were postponed to the fall — or spring of 2021. Others were canceled outright.

Graduation parties in June are on hold. Meanwhile — as uncertainty fills the air — no one is booking anything new.

Also gone: her spring adult cooking classes.

Alison Milwe Grace

Meanwhile, Grace — a 1988 Staples High School graduate — has fixed costs, like rent for her commercial kitchen. And she worries about all the part-time employees, like cooks and servers, who depend on her.

But you don’t spend 3 decades in the catering business without building up plenty of good will.

Grace has been heartened by the reactions of her longtime clients.

“The minute this happened, I had an incredible support system,” she says. “People asked for massive quantities for their freezers.”

At first it was mainly soups. As she asked what they wanted, she began cooking stews, chili, full meals.

With time on their hands, many clients are cooking for themselves. But, Grace notes, “that can be exhausting. Some people want me to help, with 2 or 3 dinners a week, or soups for lunch.”

They’re also grateful to not have to shop themselves, or order online. “You have no idea what your supermarket will be out of,” Grace says. “And you don’t know what’s in your Instacart or Peapod delivery.” Assuming, of course, that you can get one.

A professional caterer is helpful for people looking to eat healthy. Cooking that way is not as easy as it sounds.

Food for the soul …

To make ordering easy, Grace creates “Food for the Soul” curbside menus — a different one each weekday.

Want a taste? This coming Monday, it’s arroz con pollo, and tomato dill soup with brown rice.

Grace is adapting in other ways. Instead of a 20-person minimum for a Seder, she’s now doing them for 4.

Caterers are used to working closely with health departments. A pandemic makes that paramount.

Grace follows strict guidelines. She does not shop at grocery stores. All provisions are delivered by vendors.

… and soups too!

Practicing social isolation, Grace cooks by herself. “It’s just me. There’s no one else in the kitchen. I’m following every CDC and local health rule,” she says.

But — like many food professionals in Westport — Grace is spending some of her time helping others. She has cooked for the Gillespie Center, and hopes to do the same for hospital staffs.

“Cooking de-stresses me,” she says. “It’s helping save my mental life.

“Before the virus, all I wanted to do was feed people. Now, I want to do that even more. All I have is food.”

And a bit more time. Every night she, her husband Bob, and their 3 teenagers spend an hour together at dinner.

“We could never do that before. Now it’s a highlight of my day. And I know it is for other families too.”

(Search for AMGCatering on Instagram; email amilwe@optonline.net, or call 203-858-4635. Of course, AMG is just one of many local catering companies hit hard by the virus. Grace urges you to reach to out any of them, and find out their offers.)

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