The Dallas Morning News

In Good Taste
by John Kirpatrick, The Dallas Morning News,
April 4, 1999

A crime is being committed in one of Highland Park's nicest houses, where a party is getting under way.

The perpetratro is a man trying to force a bottle of champagne into a bucket of ice. This is absolutely not proper.

The label on the champagne could be scarred–how unsightly! Or the bottle could crack under such force–what a mess!

The perp gets busted by Wendy Krispin, a top-tier caterer whose job is to make sure such things don't happen at events she handles. She explains to the hired hand that champagne must be placed in an empty bucket, then surrounded by ice.
Being a demanding perfectionist–"obsessive" is her description–is one trait that has made Ms. Krispin one of the hottest caterers in Dallas. In her trade, "you're only as good as your last event ...I have to make sure people don't do things the careless, easy way."

And this Saturday night party had better be good. More than 100 social swells fill the guest areas at the home of beer baron Bill Barrett and his wife, Angie. Celebrity chef Stephen Pyles is in the kitchen, supplying the food. The main attractions are movie star Sharon Stone and artist Robert Rauschenberg, in town to help with a fund-raiser.

As the party revs up, an untimely rain wets the wine glasses on the patio bar. They must be rinsed and dried to be presentable. Anticipating problems and quickly smoothing them over without distracting the guests or the hosts–keeps Ms. Krispin busy.

At 37, she belongs to coterie of elite caterers that keeps Dallas humming with social, charitable and corporate events.