Imagine you're in charge of catering Zoellner Art Center's biggest fundraiser of the year. At any minute more than 400 well-dressed patrons of the arts will stream through the doors and your hors d'oeuvres have gone AWOL.
This was Chad Licsko's worst nightmare come true. As executive chef for Lehigh Catering, he'd spent months getting ready for this moment. He was there behind the scenes at Zoellner making salads when the bad news arrived: two of the six hot items for the reception were missing. They'd been prepped in the University Center kitchen, the cooks said, but never made it onto the delivery truck to Zoellner.
“I was not happy,” Licsko remembers.
As it turns out, the food had been left in a hallway on its way to the loading dock. A dishwasher, not knowing what it was, threw it all away. “Luckily, it didn't cause a big brouhaha,” Licsko says, “but it made me just as mad as I could possibly get.”
Typically, the catering business at Lehigh University runs like a well-oiled machine. Licsko oversees a team of 10 cooks and utility staff, part of a larger 75-person team that provides high-quality food and beverage services for campus events. It's a big business, generating $2.1 million in annual sales primarily to clients within the Lehigh community. “We do everything,” Licsko explains, “from departmental coffee breaks, to a ton of sandwiches for office lunches, to very high-end, plated dinners at the president's house.”
A 47-page catering guide offers a staggering number of options for any gathering, from French toast to wedding cakes. Yes, Licsko and his team are doing an increasing amount of business for outside clients, events like baby showers, bar mitzvahs and weddings, at Iacocca Hall on the Mountaintop Campus.
“We did a Mother's Day brunch there for 400 people, most of whom came in and said they never knew the place existed,” says Licsko. “It's a great venue and the views are spectacular.”
He's at his creative best when asked to design a menu for special occasions. One of the most memorable was for Malcolm X's daughter, Ilyasah Shabazz, keynote speaker at a Martin Luther King, Jr. convocation. The meal consisted of three courses plus dessert—all vegan. “I remember thinking ‘How are we going to come up with a nice all-vegan dinner?'” says Licsko. His solution: a local mushroom tarte tatin with Granny Smith apples and apple cider reduction, frisée salad, and truffle potato cannelloni with globe artichokes. It was a complete success.
These challenges are increasingly commonplace. At almost every event Licsko is called on to offer items that are vegetarian, vegan, organic, gluten-free and/or dairy-free. In fact, he says, “We just did a rehearsal dinner that was completely gluten-free.”
Dinners at the president's house almost always require a vegan entrée. At his first meeting with (then) president Alice Gast, he was told implicitly to come up with something “more than grilled Portobello mushrooms over lentils.”
Licsko caters to the president, a lot. He's at the house 60 to 70 times a year, half of the time for sit-down dinners where he does much of the cooking. His busy schedule mirrors the school calendar, with September to December, and March through May as peak event months. The craziest time is one weekend in May when Alumni Weekend and graduation coincide and Licsko may have 10 or 11 dinners going on all at once. Such events can (and do) occur everywhere across the sprawl of Lehigh's three campuses, complicating logistics. Fortunately, he's up to the task, with years of solid training and experience to call upon.
Licsko, 40, grew up in the Poconos. At age 14 his parents nudged him to get a job, and so he did, receiving his first taste of restaurant work at Bailey's and the Hampton Court Inn in Mt. Pocono. He left to attend the prestigious Culinary Institute of America, returning after graduation to Stroudsburg's Willowtree Inn. In 1995, he jumped cross-country to Lake Tahoe to work at the Italian restaurant Scusa, and then on to Silks at San Francisco's Mandarin Oriental Hotel. It was his first taste of fine dining cuisine. He left there for New York City and a chance to cook with celebrity chef Tom Colicchio at New York City's Gramercy Tavern. “These last two places gave me a foundation,” says Licsko. “I learned what good food was and how to do great things with it.”
He also recognized that the crazy hours of restaurant life demanded too much of his time and moved to the Lehigh Valley to work for the Wood Company, at Grand View Hospital in Sellersville. “I hated it,” Licsko says, “but the lifestyle was better.” Licsko moved up quickly, first to Lehigh Valley Hospital, then Sacred Heart Hospital and next into Sodexo's campus division at Moravian College as executive chef for eight years. There, he picked up menu compilation and ordering, and large-group catering skills before moving to Lehigh.
On the occasion of being with Lehigh three years in September, he offers Style readers a trio of sizzling and savory recipes sure to please guests at your next special occasion.
610.758.4512 | lehighdining.com/catering
Sambal Grilled Shrimp with Sweet & Sour Shallot Confit
Serves 6
2 pounds (16-20 count) raw Wild Caught Black Tiger Shrimp2 Tablespoons Sambal Oelek (ground fresh chili paste)1/4 cup Tamari soy sauce1/4 cup balsamic vinaigretteKosher salt, to tasteSweet & Sour Shallot ConfitPreparation in advance is recommended6 shallots, sliced 1/3-inch thick5 black peppercorns1, 22-ounce bottle Margarita mixJuice of 6 lemons3 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
Prepare Sweet & Sour Shallot Confit: place all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce until syrupy and shallots are of a clear, caramel color and melt in your mouth. Set confit aside to cool.
Preheat grill to high. Combine Sambal Oelek, Tamari soy sauce and balsamic vinaigrette in small bowl, whisk. Place shrimp in re-sealable bag and marinate for 10-20 minutes. Option: add salt to shrimp to taste. Lay shrimp on grill and let cook for one minute, turn and grill until cooked through. Place shrimp on plate, drizzle with small dots of Sambal Oelek then top with a dollop of sweet and sour shallot confit.
Note: Chef Liscko recommends a ginger dressing as an optional topping. Recipes are available at lehighdining.com/catering.
Grilled Hanger Steak with Fresh Avocado & Tomato Salad
Serves 4-6
3 garlic cloves, chopped1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepperKosher salt, to taste2, one-pound hanger steaks, fully trimmed, cut in half lengthwiseOlive oil, as needed
Rub the trimmed hanger steaks with garlic and pepper. Refrigerate 2-3 hours or overnight to develop flavor. Preheat grill to high, clean then rub grill with olive oil. Salt steaks to taste, then place on grill. Grill on each side for 3-4 minutes for medium-rare meat, or test for an internal temperature between 125°F–135°F. Cooking the steak below or above medium-rare will lead to a less desirable steak. Remove from grill; let rest for 10 minutes before slicing against the grain. Plate slices of hanger steak and top with avocado and tomato salad.
Note: Chef Liscko recommends cilantro chutney or fresh avocado with melted tomatoes as optional toppings. Recipes are available at lehighdining.com/catering.
Fresh Avocado & Tomato Salad
2 pints fresh cherry tomatoes cut in half3 avocados, cleaned and cut into slices1 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped2 garlic cloves, choppedSalt and fresh ground pepper, to taste3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil2 Tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
In a medium-size bowl whisk together the olive oil, vinegar and garlic then add tomatoes, avocados and chopped cilantro and gently toss. Season with salt and fresh pepper to taste.
Tempura Vegetables
Serves 4-6
Fresh broccoli floretsFresh green beansPortobello mushrooms, slicedCarrot, cut into finger-size piecesZucchini, cut into finger-size piecesVegetable oil, enough to deep frySalt, to tasteTempura Batter2 cups all-purpose flour1 cup rice flour1 cup cornstarch1/4 cup sugar1/4 cup baking powder5 cups seltzer water, well-chilled1 cup ice
Prepare tempura batter by combining all dry ingredients and whisk together until well incorporated. Combine seltzer and ice, slowly add liquid to the dry ingredients to make a thick pancake-like batter. In a medium-size saucepot, heat oil to 350°F, dip vegetables into tempura batter until completely covered. Gently drop into hot oil and fry until batter turns golden brown and is cooked through. Remove from oil with slotted spoon onto paper towels to allow excess oil to drain, season with salt.
Dipping Sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce2 tsp rice wine vinegar2 tsp brown sugar
Prepare dipping sauce by whisking all ingredients in bowl.
Note: Chef Liscko recommends Yuzi Neri as an optional dipping sauce. Recipes are available at lehighdining.com/catering.
