One of the cardinal rules of a party is "Always have more than enough food for everyone," a rule superseded only by "Never mix alcohol with access to a particle accelerator." Secure sustenance for all revelers with today’s Groupon: for $50, you get $100 worth of catering to go from BayView Event Center in Excelsior.

BayView Event Center takes on the gustatory burden of planning parties, bridal events, or holiday gatherings with an expansive catering menu of gourmet appetizers and intricately arranged party platters. Soirees start on a bite-size note with starters that include an assortment of toasted and seasoned baguette canapés ($58 for 25 pieces), such as roasted pork dolloped with a savory jalapeño-and-blackberry marmalade. Salads and veggie, fruit, meat, cheese, and bread platters serve 12–18 people or 300–400 famished pixies. Deadliest catch the chilled Atlantic salmon plate ($75), a piscatorial trencher that dresses the eponymous fish as cold smoked lox with a dill-mustard sauce and capers, plank-grilled with mango salsa, and sous vide with a basil garlic-butter infusion. International dishes, such as the mediterranean platter ($90), inspire guests to pen odes to Grecian urns while munching on morsels such as spanakopita (miniature spinach pies), stuffed roma greek salad with an ouzo aioli, and beef and chicken gyro roulades with tzatziki sauce.

BayView Event Center offers an array of chocolaty desserts by the dozen ($18) or double dozen ($45) for a Wonka-worthy finish. Call by 5 p.m. two days prior to pickup, and see the bottom of the menu for additional catering policies and subtle ways to take credit for having prepared the food.