When planning an event, the finest in cuisine, the nicest in settings and the utmost in service are crucially important. The newly constructed Elite Palace of Woodside, Queens offers all of these qualities and guarantees a comfortable, enjoyable experience for you and your guests. Equipped with all of today’s latest amenities, the modern catering facility has a chef and a highly trained professional staff that are dedicated to leaving you and your guests with an everlasting impression of grandeur.
Centrally located in Queens, Elite Palace is situated near Brooklyn, Manhattan and Long Island. The neighborhood of Woodside has expanded and become increasingly popular in recent years, and the opening of Elite Palace has contributed to the area’s reputation as a trendy, up-and-coming locale. An ideal location for catered affairs, Elite Palace’s Woodside location is just minutes away from all major highways for your guests’ convenience. Hence, Elite Palace is easy to travel to, no matter where your guests hail from.
The facility hosts weddings, engagements, corporate events, bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs, bridal and baby showers, anniversaries, milestones, award ceremonies, birthdays and other special occasions. No matter what you are celebrating, Elite Palace will help you plan a memorable event. Regardless of the time of day you wish to hold your event, Elite Palace will accommodate. The catering hall offers breakfasts, brunches, lunches and dinners. Since each occasion is unique in size, Elite Palace has a variety of ballrooms to accommodate a range of party sizes, from small and intimate up to very large. In fact, the facility has a room capacity of up to 400 for cocktail receptions and a room capacity of up to 700 for dinner and dancing. Only one wedding is held at a time to ensure that your special day is the staff’s top priority. Elite Palace’s highly trained operations manager, Enzo DiGraci oversees the facility and each party.
“During construction, the focus was to create a venue like no other,” says manager Igor Tsan. When Elite Palace was completed in June 2008, Tsan described the end result as a touch of old world appeal in a brand new, spectacular, modern facility. When you and your guests enter Elite Palace, you will be transported from modern-day New York City into an atmosphere of old-fashioned elegance and charm. This blend of styles appeals to a wide variety of personal tastes.
The majestic main ballroom is accented with dramatic vaulted ceilings and ornate chandeliers cascading downward. The architecture is nothing short of chic with custom-designed millwork, moldings, stair railings, lighting, decorative paintings and rugs. Tsan adds that touches of marble and mahogany adorn the entire building. “No expense was spared on the details,” he says. The space blends touches of contemporary sophistication with the traditional elements, resulting in a unique look that is sure to satisfy.
The ballrooms at Elite Palace have been designed with the most highly advanced lighting and dynamic sound systems in the industry today, overseen by Moses Sandel. Sandel and his team work directly with Pinilla Productions, who specialize in video and photography services for all events. “Both Elite Palace and Pinilla Productions are committed to understanding the goals of the customer and providing the highest level of service and quality,” said Wilson Pinilla, President of Pinilla Productions. Pinilla has locations in Astoria and Forest Hills and has been serving Queens for over 18 years.
Elite Palace strives to ensure that the lighting and sound systems run smoothly at each event and are tailored to each client’s needs. In addition, a lighting engineer works in-house to manage and control the lighting system. State-of-the-art video projectors and ceiling-mounted retractable projector screens are available in each ballroom, allowing you to incorporate multimedia into your event. These features are particularly useful for business functions that require presentations, and it also gives clients the option of having slideshows or home videos playing in the background during a special occasion to give the event a personal and memorable extra touch. This spectacular multimillion-dollar audiovisual system is truly one of a kind in the catering business and remains unsurpassed in the industry.
Since the first impression is the most important, Elite Palace presents a breathtaking cocktail hour that provides the perfect start to any affair. As your guests first enter your cocktail hour, the decorative food displays and the hand carved ice sculptures will make your event stand out, leaving your guests with an impression of elegance that will be remembered for years to come.
The team at Elite Palace prides itself on the food and superior service. Elite Palace has three state-of-the-art kitchens, one of which is Kosher. An extra step has been taken in creating a traditional, yet very eclectic international menu, sure to entice any palette and conveniently accommodate any event. The Executive Chef and his kitchen staff are professionally trained in the art of International Cuisine. Whether it’s Italian, Latin, Greek, Chinese, Eastern European, Irish or Mediterranean, Elite Palace has combined Old World traditional dishes with a hint of modern day flavor and style. To take a look at the complete menu offerings, please contact a member of the banquet team or visit Elite Palace for a grand tour of the establishment.
The banquet team is assembled of highly trained culinary professionals from diverse backgrounds, each of whom have many years of experience in the industry. Since Elite palace offers such a modern international menu, the European-trained chefs are hand-chosen from all over the world to prepare food for any type of event.
Menus can be created to fit any style, ethnic background or dietary need. The banquet team is also trained to help you stay within your budget when planning your event, and can help you develop the most satisfying menu to fit your finances. Richard Cleveland, Elite Palace’s Executive Chef for over a year, says, “My goal is to make the customers happy. I do anything to please the customers.” In house photographer Wilson Pinilla, owner of Pinilla studios, one of the tri state’s premier photographers and will personally put together a package that will fit any style, taste or budget.
With Woodside being a cultural hub in the Queens community, Elite Palace makes a point of catering to its different needs and many different backgrounds and ethnicities. In the diverse backgrounds of the staff members, the international menu offerings, and an atmosphere that is welcoming overall, Elite Palace is a cultural melting pot and a gathering place for people from all walks of life. By reaching out to such a large number of community members in these ways, the business generated by Elite Palace contributes to the neighborhood’s overall economic development.
Upon arrival at Elite Palace, you and your guests will have the convenience of comfortably having your cars valet parked from directly outside of the doors. The professional valet staff will ensure that each vehicle is parked with care and guests will be able to arrive at the event with ease and without having to combat the stress of finding parking. Once at the entrance, guests will be treated like royalty when they are greeted by a white-gloved doorman in the grand lobby. “We pay great attention to detail, always making sure guest is happy and taken care of,” says Tsan. “It’s the small touches, like if someone gets up to use the rest room, their chair is pushed in and their napkin refolded.”
For further information and inquiries, the banquet department can be reached at 718-565-2001, or arrange to come in for a tour or a food tasting at Elite Palace, located at 69-02 Garfield Avenue in Woodside. Wedding expos are held at the facility every two months, with an upcoming one set to take place on October 29. To take a virtual tour or book an event online, visit www.elitepalaceny.com.
Tsan says, “We here at Elite Palace truly believe that a personal touch and the utmost attention to detail is what turns an ordinary event into an ‘Elite’ event.” Don’t delay in choosing Elite Palace as the venue for your next special occasion. The memories created will last you and your guests a lifetime.
