Holiday Entertaining Ideas from Michael Gavala

The Fort Myers-based caterer brings his A game when it comes to decking the halls—and he’s letting us in on his secrets.

Michael Gavala, owner of G3 Catering and a self-professed Christmas junkie, shared with us some of his best tips for holiday entertaining

in Gulfshore Life’s Holiday Wish Book, including putting together an ingenious s’mores bar and spiking hot chocolate with Kahlua and crushed candy canes.

We mined Gavala for more advice on ringing in the holidays with panache …

  • “Every menu we write is different. The same thing is with the holiday season. Everything is different from years past. [Our clients] come to us to see what we can do different each year.”
  • “An event we did last year was a holiday party that had a 1920s theme. Everyone had to come dressed as a flapper. We built the food around that. People were showing up with antique cars; we had beautiful chafing dishes; all of our waiters were dressed up in 1920s attire.”
  • “Years ago we did a doo-wop Christmas party with a 1950s theme—we had our servers wearing poodle skirts. Guys were wearing jeans with their hair slicked back. You were getting trays of food with a milkshake, hot dog and fries.”
  • “If people want traditional, my servers get red and green bow ties or maybe a holiday vest—I do require them to wear tuxedos for events 90 percent of the time.”

In case you didn’t catch Gulfshore Life’s Holiday Wish Book, here is that interview, and others, for more inspiration.

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