Interview: Julie Rose of SWEET HOSPITALITY GROUP

Julie Rose is the President and Founder of Sweet Hospitality Group, a premiere catering company and a leader in theatrical food and beverage services. Julie has been in the hospitality business for over 30 years, and now is expanding Sweet Hospitality Group to curate luxury events, galas and private dinners.

Julie developed her passion for the arts in her hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio and soon headed to the big city to attend the prestigious BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater workshop in Manhattan. Her natural musical ability, love for the theater and Midwestern hospitality values provided a foundation for Julie to reinvent the world of theater F&B services to offer show-inspired cocktails and bites to compliment the Broadway show experience.

Julie also spearheaded the creation of the theater souvenir cup, which made its debut at The Lion King at the New Amsterdam Theater in 2000 and has become a popular and coveted collectible for all theatergoers. Julie serves on the Education Council for Manhattan Theatre Club and is a board member for the Harlem School of the Arts.

In the last thirty years, Sweet Hospitality Group's presence has expanded to 26 theaters including the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, New Amsterdam Theater with VIP clients including Disney Theatrical Group and New York City Center. Sweet Hospitality Group works with all three of New York City's not for profit theaters as well as many commercial venues. Comfortable executing events for 100 people up to 2000, Sweet Hospitality Group is a formidable force within the New York City catering world, on and off the stage.

Brodwayworld.com had the pleasure to interview Julie Rose about her career and Sweet Hospitality Group. She even shared one of her distinctive drink recipes with us for our readers.

When did you first realize your love of the theatre/performing arts?

My parents were very cultured and music and the arts surrounded me from a young age. My father was a professional musician, saxophonist and bandleader, and my mother was a great writer and played piano as well. One of my earliest memories is begging my mom for piano lessons. I was so overjoyed when she finally gave in and music and performing ended up being the most important anchor in my life and still is to this day.

Throughout school, I continued to pursue the arts. There was a local show called Tacapades and I performed in the chorus every year. In high school, I surrounded myself with writers, actors, artists or musicians. I decided to pursue acting, so I enrolled at Webster College to the Conservatory and minored in music. In college, I worked the fog machine at the St. Louis Repertory production of Little Night Music and this was a pivotal turning point that influenced my eventual career trajectory. I realized I loved working behind-the-scenes even more than being on-stage. I learned what it takes to be a part of a team to create art.

Perhaps in some ways I was destined to have a job in the entertainment industry - it just wasn't until after college that I realized exactly in what capacity.

Tell us about a few of your most exciting events.

Sweet Hospitality Group has catered so many exciting events, so it's hard to narrow it down to just one! A few that come to mind are:

The opening night of Spider-Man Turn off the Dark on Broadway. This was a long awaited celebrity backed show, so the tension was extremely high. We created custom hors d'oeuvres, trays to reflect the neon colors used in the show and an original menu around the characters. Our food received rave reviews - even if the show didn't!

We catered the Upfront for the SciFi Network at the Lyric Theater for over nine hundred people. At the time this was our largest party to date and a big milestone for our company. Our design team and Chef worked tirelessly to create an original menu that reflected the networks new shows as well as custom trays with SciFi Branding. The reception was not only fantastic, but really showed me that Sweet Hospitality Group had reached a new level and that we could go head-to-head with some of the city's major caterers and win.

For personal reasons my most favorite event of all was my daughter's Bat Mitzvah! I am the most discerning customer and the toughest critic, so I was honored and proud that the team worked on it.

For the future?

To continue to grow and do what we do best! Create fabulous food, bring fantastic customer service and bring remarkable experiences to our theaters, venues and beyond. And keep innovating along the way!

And here's a special cocktail recipe from Sweet Hospitality Group. The "Bud of Love" is inspired by the Broadway revival of She Loves Me starring Jane Krakowski. Zachary Levi and Laura Benanti.

Bud of Love Ingredients:

· 3 raspberries

· 3/4 oz. fresh lemon

· 1 oz. rose-hibiscus syrup*

· 2 oz. Hendrick's Gin

· Seltzer

· Hibiscus flower or rose petal for garnish (optional)

*Rose-Hibiscus Mix (2 qt. batch)

· 2 cups boiling water

· 4 rose-hibiscus tea bags

· 4 cups sugar

Directions for Rose-Hibiscus Mix:

1. Steep tea bags in boiling water for 10-15 minutes.

2. Remove teabags and add sugar. Stir until completely dissolved.

Directions for Bud of Love Cocktail:

1. In a mixing glass, muddle raspberries with lemon juice and rose-hibiscus syrup.

2. Add gin, ice and a splash of seltzer.

3. Shake until well chilled and strain into a cocktail glass and garnish.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Sweet Hospitality Group