Or good appetites, anyway. Seems the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority set a Guiness World Record for the largest sit-down dinner ever when 16,206 of the ladies sat down to dine at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center last July during its Centennial Convention.
For those who, like me, want to know the menu, here's what I got from a press release:
For the dinner, WCCA’s catering partner, Centerplate/NBSE prepared baby iceberg wedge salad, three tons of beef filet, served as Beef Wellington, along with 2.25 tons of mashed potatoes, 1,800 gallons of pink lemonade and thousands of individual “Pink Velvet” chocolate cakes with green icing. Alpha Kappa Alpha’s official colors are salmon pink and apple green. Centerplate/NBSE used approximately 300,000 dining utensils, and tableware was set against 3.5 miles of linen table cloths and seven miles of pink and green napkins for the event. To help accommodate the unprecedented number of attendees, Centerplate solicited assistance from wait staff throughout the East Coast. Centerplate’s network of chefs and convention center professionals borrowed personnel and equipment from New York, Denver and Dallas to assist.
In addition to the regular catering staff, Centerplate/NBSE brought in an additional 300 chefs, 46 managers, 65 captains, 32 distribution assistants and 1,200 waiters.
Boggles the mind, doesn't it?