Catering Like a Mofo

As opposed to popular belief, there's a lot more to catering than just serving delicious food. Catering is an experience, with food being a pivotal part of it. A lot of planning, organizing and creativity must go in it to ensure that the customers are given an enjoyable experience as is relevant and appropriate for the occasion. Many factors like utensils, glassware, table setting, and of course menu come into play to make a catering experience enjoyable.

Caterer-Client Meeting

The first step in creating the best catering experience is to have a caterer-client meeting either over the phone or through obtaining a face to face appointment. The point of this meeting is to set up the basis for the event. The client must inform the caterer about the formality or informality of the event, the number of guests attending, the venue, the budget, the date of the event and any suggestions they might have for what kind of food to serve. If the client is unsure about the menu the other factors can help the caterer narrow down options and assist the client to get something that they'll be satisfied with. Therefore before contacting a caterer it's important to have thought about the above mentioned points to ensure no time is wasted and the caterer is enabled to help to the best of their abilities and expertise. 

Catering Proposal

After having given the caterer the relevant information about the type of event, the caterer can come up with a catering proposal to adhere to the specific requirements. A proposal would inform the client about the beverages and food items involved along with giving an idea about the staff, set up and perhaps any taxes involved. After the proposal has been made it will be given to the client and another appointment can be set up to work out any further details or to confirm what works and what doesn't.

The Tasting

After the proposal has been sent to the client and discussed it's time for a tasting appointment. It is highly likely that there are several dishes that the client has never tried before or the client wants to know how well a certain dish is cooked by the catering company. Either way it is necessary to have a tasting test to ensure that the dishes are at par with the client's taste and whether a certain dish should be served at the final catering event or not.

Planning and Executing the Event

And lastly we have the finalized plan and its execution. Many catering companies use software like Room Viewer to help them plan the set up and it is particularly helpful at the time of the actual event when print outs can be taken out of the planned set up and distributed to vendors and all those in charge of the set up. It ensures a sense of direction for all those involved and a smooth running of the event.

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