Revelry Redux : Companies Again in a Party Mood--but Hold the Caviar

The company Christmas party is back--though leaner and less ostentatious. After half a decade of economic doldrums, more Southern California firms appear to be in the mood to celebrate again.

For many, it’s no longer a Christmas party. It’s a “holiday” party, featuring international fare.

“We’ve scaled them back,” said Aubrey L. Austin, president and chief executive of Santa Monica Bank. Although the bank kept the tradition alive even through rough times, a pasta buffet has replaced roast beef. Instead of a live band, a disc jockey spins tunes, and spouses and guests are no longer invited. The lavish event of years past has evolved into something Austin describes as “very comfortable, very homey.”

Caterers still speak longingly of the 1980s.

“The ‘80s were jamming,” said Halle Gould, owner of Somerset Caterers in Los Angeles. “Everyone was spending a lot of money.”

When the recession hit in the early 1990s, “there were hardly any corporate Christmas parties,” Gould said. “Last year there were some; this year we have more.”

That may reflect the improving fortunes of businesses. “We are a luxury item,” Gould said. “It says something about the economy.”

The more creative spending has returned only in patches, however. Southern California Edison Co. law department is treating itself to a Christmas bash this Saturday at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda, catered by the Hyatt Regency hotel in Irvine. Julie Beer-Breur, a catering manager for the hotel, said the meal will feature three courses, all favorite dishes of past American presidents.

Many companies see smaller as better. According to Roger Pigozzi, executive chef at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, clients that in the past had a reception along with a dinner now have one or the other. The main dish is usually chicken or fish instead of beef. “They’re shopping for value,” he said.

“People are definitely cost-conscious,” Gould said, “but they’re not cutting parties. It’s nice for us, thank God.”

For Christine Briee, the rebirth of the company Christmas party is a welcome relief after the brutal recession years of the early 1990s.

“It was really bad a couple of years ago,” said Briee, owner of Le Biarritz, a Costa Mesa catering company. Corporate customers “were calling at the last minute, saying they were changing from full dinners to hors d’oeuvres or potluck.”

Holiday sales have risen 30% in the last two years at Le Biarritz, which will prepare and serve meals for about 250 companies this season. Le Biarritz has been hired to cater holiday parties for such clients as Fluor Corp., Koll Real Estate Group Inc. and several major law firms, Briee said.

All but a few clients still shun the more expensive beef dishes--de rigueur during the free-spending 1980s--and opt for less expensive chicken and fish entrees, she said.

But the revival has not helped all caterers. Some previous clients told caterer Abigail Chilton that this year they would be having a potluck dinner. Denis Crawford said holiday business for his Denis & Co. catering business is off by a third to a half this year.

“I get calls from people just shopping,” he said. “They’re all looking for the cheapest sources of everything.”

Another trend, some caterers say, is that celebrations increasingly reflect the region’s diversity. “Holiday” themes are replacing the Christmas focus, out of respect for non-Christians.

“Whereas party decorations a decade ago might have been heavy on angels,” these days “we’re doing a lot of urns with poinsettias, but no religious symbols,” Gould said.

The menu has diversified as well. Korean barbecue fare or tacos often sit next to the turkey and ham, said Richard Mooney, owner of Kensington Caterers in Los Angeles. “There’s a growing awareness of the multiethnicity of the city, and it’s seeping upward toward management,” he said.

At Santa Monica Bank’s recent holiday party, more than three-quarters of the 283 employees attended. The bank considers the event “vitally important,” Austin said. “I would feel terrible to take it away from them, because they earned it.”