t Baltimore’s Tremont Grand Hotel, Executive Chef Dennis Shakan vows to go “further than a lot of other hotels” when it comes to themed buffets. “When you have a themed event, everything the guest sees, touches, and tastes should scream the theme. We’ll add three more six-foot tables to a buffet, just to dress it up with ice sculptures, ice tables, and pretties,” says Shakan. “Pretties” is Shakan’s word for the plethora of props and decorations the hotel keeps in ready supply. Due to Baltimore’s seaport locale, seafood and nautical themes are always popular, and for the 2005 grand opening of the Tremont Grand, Shakan dressed his seafood buffets to impress.

Shakan used an old barrel and running fountain as a backdrop to the main buffet [1], decorating the table itself with props including statues of cranes, old diving helmets, a three-foot ship replica, and sundials. Tiered ice tables were positioned on both ends, atop which were perched smoked scallops with tomatillo salsa and seared ahi tuna with wasabi cream [2]. Other menu items resting in boat-shaped platters included oysters, clams, and shrimp with wasabi cream, cocktail sauce, and remoulade, and, on another ice tier, gazpacho shooters with vodka lime marinated shrimp.

“Another shrimp buffet [3] was displayed in a chili pepper-shaped platter to let people know it was spiced,” adds Shakan. Behind it loomed an ice sculpture fashioned into a sea scallop, with two crab replicas at the forefront. In another room, a huge salmon ice sculpture towered over a sushi station, which featured rolls like California, soft shelled crab, fried salmon skin, seared tuna, and unagi, as well as ebi and red snapper sushi.

The seafood theme extended to the bar [4], which was made of ice and featured an ice martini chute carved into a fish shape.

“Guests placed their martini glasses at the bottom of the chute, and the bartenders mixed up the martinis and poured them into the fish’s mouth, so that they chilled as they traveled down to the glass. It was so cool,” laughs Shakan. No pun intended.
-Ashley Brown Allen