A year ago, Bill Hansen watched companies flee from the kind of premium fun he creates. The veteran caterer saw his corporate business plunge more than 50 percent in the six months after Lehman Brothers collapsed on Sept. 15, 2008.

``That's a conservative estimate, too,'' Hansen said of the dollars Bill Hansen Catering lost from companies slashing their catering budgets. ``It's probably more than that.''

Now Hansen reports glimmers of white-collar celebration and blue-chip recovery in the monthly invoices at his Coconut Grove firm as corporate bookings pick up.

``Our phones are ringing again,'' he said. ``Instead of spending nothing, now they're spending something.''

Hansen depends on national accounts -- Lexus, Citrix Systems, Lincoln -- for the majority of his corporate revenue. That would make a Bill Hansen turnaround a particularly welcome ``green shoot'' for the hundreds of local businesses walloped by Corporate America's yearlong aversion to fun and sun.

Worried about seeming frivolous in a financial crisis, many companies scratched South Florida off their lists for conferences, meetings, junkets, product launches, celebrations and other getaways. Local companies also cut back or eliminated their entertainment budgets, either for a lack of cash or fear the expense would seem crass.

``Even if they were doing well, they didn't want to show they were doing well,'' said Leo Bohorquez, who works for sales at Joy Wallace catering in Miami.

But in recent months, hotels and caterers have reported a change in attitudes, if not sales.

While the AIG Effect remains (named after the bailed-out insurer that spent $440,000 at a California resort days after accepting government aid), more companies seem interested in spending on fun again.

`MORE INQUIRIES'

``We have a lot more calls coming in,'' Bohorquez said. ``We're not getting as many bookings as we'd like, but we're getting a lot more inquiries.''

Michelle Areces, a partner in Miami's Touch Catering, saw a wave of cancellations at last year's Art Basel fair as companies recoiled from the posh weekend celebrating pricey contemporary art. But this year, seven of those firms -- some representing national brands -- have returned.

``They're coming back -- some completely whole, others with a still reduced budget but enough to be in the game,'' Areces said. It's ``a good sign that business is picking up. . . New clients are taking a gamble to see what Art Basel will bring.''

Last month, Hansen snagged the contract for the roll-out of Bentley's new ultra-luxury model: the Mulsanne, a Rolls-Royce competitor expected to fetch a six-figure price tag.

Bentley invited about 150 prospective buyers to the party at Miami's Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, marking the biggest event Bentley has thrown in South Florida in two years, communications director David Reuter said.

Even Bentley admits to toning things down during the financial crisis, saying the downturn affected promotional events ``a bit.''

``We may not have spent as much to do them when the economy was strong,'' Reuter said.

But before we break out the Chardonnay -- now a popular champagne substitute at corporate functions, caterers say -- we should note that the entertaining remains very scaled-down and scattered.

And the optimism is spotty, too: in a fall survey by the National Association of Catering Executives, only 12 percent expected an increase in corporate parties in the coming months.

Hansen said firms now want passed appetizers instead of more bountiful buffets, barbecue pork instead of tenderloin, seared tuna instead of stone crabs.

``We're doing some bank events this fall,'' he said. ``Like car companies, they are very, very, very conservative.

SLOW TO RETURN

This winter, he expects to only make back about half of the corporate dollars he began losing this time last year. Even with more clients, he's making less per event. ``Like all caterers, we lowered our prices,'' he said.

Hansen, 64, got his start in Miami running the downtown Burdines restaurants, but built a catering business by doing side jobs for members as manager of the tony Miami Club. He reveled in the boom times of this decade, when corporations wrote big checks for soirees and bashes and other excuses to woo clients and flaunt their flushness.

``I remember doing one six-figure party at Thomas Kramer's house on Star Island,'' Hansen said (the Miami Beach developer had rented his mansion for the event).

``You had to pinch yourself, because you thought it was almost too good to be true,'' Hansen said. ``And guess what? It was.''

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