This past weekend our Wedding Photo Booth, Green Screen Photo Favors and our Foosball Table sent us to Rouge Tomate in New York, NY for Sashie’s Bat Mitzvah. This venue is the cream of the crop for New York venues.
Located on the upper east side, the area is not as busy as other sections of New York City so the we were able to find street parking right near the venue. There is a service entrance to the left of the main entrance which allowed for easy access to the downstairs area of the venue, which is where our setup took place.
We did two meetings ahead of time with our clients who were planning their first Bat Mitzvah party for their family and took extra time and care to make sure every area of the event ran smooth. That the venue knew the vendors and vice versa. Although all parents take this approach at heart, they don’t always take this approach in action.
A strike goes against the venue for the service elevator not being in service causing our staff to load through stairwells……this can be disastrous if unexpected and not planned for but these are reasons why we try to be 2+ hours early.
Chris Crocco, who was the Event Manager on behalf of Rouge Tomate
was very accomodating at the start of the event to make sure we were good to go. He also was ok with the staff taking part in the photo opportunities providing it didn’t take them away from their duties. This is important and plays into the personality of the event manager. An uptight Event Manager over these seemingly small things can symbol an uptight manager in other areas, which could mean an uncomfortable catering staff on the event.
The atmosphere of Rouge Tomate itself is very upscale chic with a lush red feel from the lighting to the walls to the drapery. The color theme for Sashie’s Bat Mitzvah was Purple and Lavender which the decorator added plush pillows for the furniture and flowers among other additions that blended well with the red tones around the room.
The food was some of the best basic food I’ve ever personally had….and that was just from the kids buffet. It was standard burgers and fries like other venue kids buffets for mitzvahs but being that these were made in-house, it was to die for. A+ in the food category.
The DJ was Jarrell Entertainment whose style took some getting used to as it was New York nightlife style and not typical Bar/Bat Mitzvah style dj’ing. They definitely took risks and some of the songs selected wouldn’t necessarily be the first choice for most mitzvah families but they did do a great job and kept the kids dancing as if they were in a nightclub.
Sashie chose not to do a formal introduction or candle-lighting and with that said, DJ Ray might have just been the right infusion this party needed to keep the kids entertained the entire 4+ hours of the party……us Photo Favor guys can only do so much 🙂 In retrospect they were a perfect fit.
All in all :
- THE VIEW: Rouge Tomate is located in the upper east side which boasts central park horse and carriage, and f.a.o. schwarz is a block away which adds to the feeling of the venue but you cant really see much beyond the next building from inside the venue, but the atmosphere is lush romantic and upscale. There are three huge flower towers that add to the rooms look and stand out. B
- THE STAFF: The staff at Rouge Tomate were clean cut and professional and enjoyed our service A
- THE LOAD-IN: The load would’ve been a breeze had it not been for the service elevator being out of service. The on-street parking available does bump Rouge up to a B. With elevator service and the parking available to boot, they would’ve been an A B
- THE FOOD: For some odd reason, every Wedding we do…there is a vendor table setup for us whether its a buffet or plate dinner. Every Mitzvah we do (or any vendor does) its a grab if you can situation. Luckily we were able to grab some and it was well worth it. B
Thank you for stopping by and reading our Vendor Reviews from the Vendors View of Rouge Tomate in New York, NY.
Scott Roth, Scott Roth Events