Show your employees that their hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed with an office delivery of our impressive charcuterie and cheese platters. Really want to win them over? How about a sweet ending of chocolate covered strawberries? Your employees will be smiling for days and maybe you’ll get more than a coffee mug for Christmas this year.

Yesterday Benchmarc Restaurants and Benchmarc Events hosted its annual Employee Appreciation party at Ditch Plains UWS. It’s become a great tradition for staff to get together and feel the love for all the great work everyone puts in year round. Check out the pictures from our Hawaiian luau theme party below!

Contact us today to plan your own employee apprection party, whether in-house at one of our restaurants or through drop-off catering at your own venue. 

Maybe it’s this awfully long winter we’ve been having, but recently we’ve been receiving several requests for Hawaiian themed parties. While we can’t fly you to the sunny beaches of Maui, we can bring the luau to NYC with our large format pig roast dinner at Ditch Plains UWS, Ditch Plains West Village or even your own home. 

Served family style, our pig roast dinner is great for large groups of 10-20 people and comes with your own whole roasted suckling pig and a bevy of sides from corn bread & andouille sausage stuffing to cucumber salad. So while we’re all anxiously awaiting for the warm weather to arrive, contact us today to plan your own Hawaiian themed pig roast!

Just in time for Easter, we bring you one of our favorite recipes: deviled eggs. Deviled eggs have been a staple on the Ditch Plains menu for years and are a much-requested appetizer at our events. You can spice them up with some fried jalapeños (pictured below) or add a seafood twist with fried shrimp or oysters (like at Ditch restaurants).

We hope you enjoy trying out our beloved recipe, whatever your celebrations may be this weekend! Of course, don’t forget to try the real thing at Ditch Plains or at your next event with us! 

Deviled eggs

By Chef Marc Murphy

serves 4 to 6

12 eggs

1 1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup pickled jalapeños (chopped)

1/4 cup celery (chopped finely)

1 tablespoon roasted garlic (mashed)

2 tablespoons mustard

salt

black pepper

Put the eggs in a pot and cover with cold water.  Bring to a boil, remove from the heat and let sit covered for 10 minutes.  Strain the eggs out of the water.  Cover with cold water and ice.  Let cool for 15 minutes.

Peel the eggs, cut in half horizontally and remove the yolks to a bowl.  Mash the yolks with the mayonnaise, garlic & mustard.  Fold in the celery and jalapeños and season to taste.  Spoon a teaspoon of the mix into each egg white half. 

Ditch Plains UWS! Join us on Oscar night at Ditch Plains Upper West Side for a night full of A-list dishes and winning cocktails. For $55 you’ll enjoy a whole slew of themed dishes, from Honest Abe’s Oyster Stew to Silver Linings Playbook “Crabby Snacks”. We couldn’t leave out a champagne cocktail as a nod to Amore and White Cake from Django for dessert! Check out the full menu below and contact us today to plan your all-star Oscar night party!

The weekly fried chicken night at Ditch Plains UWS has been quite the success. From chicken & waffles to 15-spiced chicken with skillet cornbread, we look forward to each Wednesday just to see what our chef Steve Eakins will come up with next!

But if you can’t make it out to Ditch Plains for a Hump Day celebratory meal, Benchmarc Events is now adding fried chicken dinners to our list of large format meals. Our large format dinners serve 10-20 people and for only $50 per person, you’ll get family style iceberg wedge salad, biscuits, collard greens, mac + cheese, banana bread pudding for dessert, and of course a heaping bucket of our beloved buttermilk fried chicken. Parties of 15 people or less can even take advantage of our private dining room at Ditch UWS - great for casual birthday parties or just any excuse to get a group of friends together and enjoy some finger lickin’ fried chicken!

Be a winner and contact us today to plan your next chicken dinner!

“Hot Fried Chicken” served with Mac & Cheese, Cheddar Cracklins, Pickle Salad, White Toast + Red Hot-Maple Syrup

Fried Herb Chicken with Grilled Tomato + Radicchio Salad served with a six cheese baked pasta

15 Spiced Chicken served in a Skillet with Honey-Cornbread + House-made Chicken Sausage Gravy

We’re all for expanding our horizons and learning new things, especially when it comes to cooking! Benchmarc Events just did a private event at De Gustibus Cooking School in Manhattan for EDI Institute, Recommind and Glenmont Group, and it was a great success!

Founded in 1980 by Arlene Feltman Sailhac, De Gustibus is now owned and run by Salvatore Rizzo, former Director of House Operations and Events at the James Beard Foundation. Located on the 8th floor of Macy’s in Herald Square, it is a recreational cooking school where anyone is welcome to enjoy the demonstrations of superior international chefs and wine experts.  

We loved working with the team at De Gustibus for last week’s private event. We had the opportunity to interact with the attendees, which is always a fun change of pace. Marc prepared a fantastic menu of Ginger Chicken Cakes with Lemon Aioli, Pan-Seared Duck Breast, and Chocolate Molten Cake - just to name a few. Check out the pictures below to see all of Marc’s delicious creations from the night. He’s even on their wall of fame amongst the likes of other great chefs like Julia Child! 

De Gustibus offers classes in the fall and spring, which make great gifts for the chef or foodie in your life. Marc will be teaching another class on June 4th, so get your tickets now!

Marc on the wall of fame!

Delicious menu for the night

Marc and our amazing catering chef, Jennifer!

Marc in action!

Ginger Chicken Cakes with Lemon Aioli

Celery Ribbons, Mushroom + Parmesan Salad

Salmon Tartare

Roasted Cod

Pan-Seared Duck Breast

Chocolate Bourbon Cake

We can’t believe it’s already here, but it’s time for the 6th Annual Village Voice Choice Eats tasting event! This is Benchmarc Events’ third year catering the big event, and we couldn’t be more excited. With over 50 local restaurants participating and plenty of booze, it’s a foodie heaven. Tickets go on sale tomorrow and they go fast, so be sure to snag yours ASAP!

Look for our team in the Benchmarc Events tshirts at the 69th Armory on March 19th. Ditch Plains will also be participating in the event, so be sure to stop by our booth for a Ditch Dog (or three). And if you miss out on tickets, don’t worry, we’re also the catering partner for Village Voice’s other major events: 4Knots Music Festival and Brooklyn Pour.

Hope to see you there! 

image credit: Village Voice Choice Eats

The holidays are the time of celebrating traditions - old and new. We were recently introduced to a fun New Years tradition, Nochevieja, by a private event that we’ll be hosting at Ditch Plains UWS on New Year’s Eve.  An old Spanish tradition, 12 grapes are eaten at the strike of the new year to symbolize happiness, hope and good wishes. Dating back to the 20th century, Nochevieja has been a beloved celebration in Spain - and now a new one to Benchmarc Events, too! 

Wishing you a happy and healthy New Year, whatever your traditions may be!

Sticking around NYC for this Thanksgiving, but don’t feel like cooking? Fear not, Ditch Plains UWS is serving up our family-style Thanksgiving menu and we still have some open reservations available! The Turkey Day menu includes beloved classics like brined whole turkey, caramelized shallot mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and also some traditional sides with a Ditch Plains twist such as corn fritters with maple butter. 

If you’re around but already have Thanksgiving Day plans, why not stop by Landmarc in the Time Warner Center or Ditch Plains UWS the night before to catch a glimpse of the balloons being prepared for the parade?! 

As if you needed another reason to come out, we’ll be donating $5 from every check on Thanksgiving day to City Harvest to help their post-Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts.

Contact us today to make your T-Day reservation!

One of the greatest features about our restaurants Landmarc and Ditch Plains is our extensive kids menus. Of course, we offer kids’ favorites like mac and cheese and hamburgers, but we also offer several healthy and more sophisticated options for the advanced eater, such as Lemon & Herb Roasted Chicken Legs or Sliced Skirt Steak. 

Not only we do we offer a great kids menu at our restaurants, but also through Benchmarc Events. We’re happy to come up with delicious and inventive dishes that your kids will love (and parents too)! Some favorite kid-friendly ideas that we’ve been serving up at events are individual hummus cups & veggies, “waffle” grilled cheese, and mini pizza bites served on whole wheat bagels. 

Contact us today to plan the perfect kid-friendly menu for your next party!