Elegant Affairs Presents a New Event Space in Southampton

Providing delicious cuisine, top notch service, and beautiful presentation are the key essential ingredients that go into any event catered by Elegant Affairs.

And now, after 30 years of operating as a full service off-premises catering company, Elegant Affairs is adding its own venue — 230 Elm Street in Southampton — to its offerings.

“We received an opportunity to take over the space: the 100-year-old home to the Polish Hall,” says Andrea Correale, founder and president of Elegant Affairs.

After signing a long-term lease for the Southampton venue a couple years ago, Elegant Affairs completely overhauled the space, transforming it into a beautiful, new catering venue perfect for any type of event or celebration. It is now called 230 ELM.

“There are so many social and corporate events in the Hamptons and there are limited places to host them,” Correale says. “Let’s say you have 150 people coming out for a wedding: Where will you hold the welcome party or the post wedding brunch?”

230 ELM is also perfect for weddings and any nonprofit event.

“It basically has a capacity for 250 people, but it could be divided to accommodate anywhere from 50 to 250 people,” Correale says.

FROM TEEN BEGINNINGS TO BOOMING BIZ

Thirty years ago, at the precocious age of 16, Correale started her company, working out of her parent’s home to cater high end parties on the North Shore and in the Hamptons.

“I had a vision when I was  16: I wanted to have fabulous food, beautiful visual presentation and impeccable staff,” Correale says. “And I wanted to bring those three things to every event that Elegant Affairs catered.”

Correale’s love for beautiful presentations of delicious food comes from her family, who did lots of entertaining and hosted frequent  family gatherings.

“My mom was always very creative,” Correale recalls. “Even though she had limited means, she would always make everything so special, making sure that every detail was addressed and emphasized, from the table settings to the platters that the food went on, to the candlelight and the music. She would always make everything festive, fun and fabulous.”

Evidently, Correale caught the entertainment bug from her mom.

“When you do that for someone, it’s kind of an expression of love,” she says. “You get excited about doing these things because you want everybody to enjoy it. You want to tantalize all the senses. It’s not just about eating: It’s about having an experience.”

When she started out, Correale would cater mostly weddings and private parties in people’s homes.

Before long, Elegant Affairs was doing corporate events, such as product launches, employee appreciation lunches and dinners, and company outings. They began to garner a lot of attention catering celebrity parties in the Hamptons, which led to the business’s expansion.

Elegant Affairs is currently staffed by 35 full time employees and 200 part time employees, and has offices in the Hamptons, New York City and Glen Cove.

“We have a culinary team, a team of salespeople and an operations team,” Correale says. “And then we have a staffing manager and staffing team. All those parts of the company come together and we produce events every week.”

Prior to opening the Southampton venue, Elegant Affairs was exclusively a high-end, off premise catering company.

“What that means is that we do parties in people’s homes, on the beach, on a rooftop: places that don’t typically have a caterer in them,” Correale says. “We also do a lot of work in the Hamptons at the Parrish Art Museum and some of the other venues in the Hamptons.”

TRULY ELEGANT AFFAIRS

People have a vision of what catered food is, but Elegant Affairs defies those preconceived notions.

“Our chefs are phenomenal,” Correale says. “When we do an event, our food is 5-star restaurant quality. Very often we’re cooking or finishing right on site to ensure that all the freshness is there. We use local ingredients. We’re always keeping up with the trends and we’re trendsetters. We always come up with new, creative ideas.”

Every season, they develop new exciting menus and offer a variety of dining options, including passed hors d’oeuvres, seated dinners, food stations, chef’s tasting plates and brunches.

“Any kind of culinary scenario, we do,” Correale says, adding, “Our culinary team will work with every client to make sure that the menu is exactly to their taste and expectation.”

When it comes to off-premise catering, the sales team are logistical experts.

“When you do catering in an off-premise setting, there are lots of things to consider: It’s not just the food,” says Correale. “You have to figure out where you’re cooking from: Are you cooking from a garage or a cook tent? How much electricity do you need? These are just a few of the details we consider.

ALL DETAILS: BIG AND SMALL

Elegant Affairs offers a memorable and worry-free experience.

“We take care of all the party rentals,” Correale says. “All the tables, and the chairs and the china and the flatware and the glassware. We manage the entire event from beginning to end.”

For each party, Elegant Affairs’ sales team does a step-by-step walk through looking at every single detail, including where staff will park, where guests will enter, where they’ll place the bars, contingencies for rain, whether they’ll need a tent, if they’re bringing tables and chairs or using the client’s furniture, what kinds of linens the client wants, if they need to put up a cook tent, and whether they need extra electricity.

“We really walk through the entire event and make it seamless for the customer so they really don’t have to do a thing,” Correale says.

At Elegant Affairs’ new Southampton venue, Correale plans to become an integral part of the community and hopes to work closely with local nonprofits, including the Southampton police and fire departments.

“We want to get involved with the community while being a staple in the community, a place where people can go and have these gatherings,” Correale says. “There really aren’t many venues in the Hamptons where you have an indoor space that can hold up to 250 people. We injected new life into the venue, and we’re hoping that we can share that with the community and that they’ll use it for their events.”

To learn more about 230 ELM, Elegant Affairs’ new Hamptons venue, call 631-324-9825 or stop by 230 Elm Street, Southampton.

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