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Cantering Caterer Explores Profession!
January 25, 2005
Christian O'Dowd
Events
Education recently sat down with Catering Caterer's chief Caterer (Chris O'Dowd)
for an indepth discussion on the catering industry. The results of the interview
will surprise even the most advanced event professionals who've been using experienced
catering professionals for years! We touched on everything from: ·Advice for experienced event professionals
·Incorporating Design elements through catering
·Outlook about the catering industry
·Controlled catering management practices
·Transportation issues
·Plus other topics of interest to event and catering producers!
EE: What elements of Design, when incorporating catering into an event, would you say are the most underestimated jobs a caterer performs on behalf of an event?
Caterers, especially off-premise, need to be prepared for anything. Lights go out, ovens don't work, and the temperature drops 20 degrees. The rentals don't show up on time and clients forget to mention pertinent details. We are the front line and the defense!
The Cantering Caterer is in a unique position. As a full service catering and event design company we see both sides of the event planner and event vendor equation. The bottom line is that everyone involved needs to work together for seamless flow. The client expects a cohesive event – and does not want to see the sweat. There are bumps in every road but if we are all prepared and on the same team they will be much easier to deal with.
We are in the midst of planning a fund raising dinner for 450 for a large metropolitan arts group. There will be live music, several speakers, a live auction, and a cocktail hour followed by a spectacular plated four course meal. Four Event Managers, 12 Chefs, 60 service staff, 16 bartenders, a dozen porters and another dozen utility personnel. We are working with a well known designer, 2 rental companies, an audio-visual company, and a live symphony! Food purveyors, beverage purveyors, truck rental firms… the list goes on.
The event is this group's most important fundraiser of the year and it provides most of their operating budget. The guests are major donors and important people in the community. It has to be perfect! There will be dozens of meetings, hours of planning, and on the day of the event we will be ready for anything.
EE: What are some common mistakes you see in transporting food from the point of origination to the event?
According to “ServSafe,” an educational program developed by the National Restaurant Association, the two leading factors causing food-borne illness are time-temperature abuse and cross-contamination. Microorganisms flourish between 40F and 140F. Foods should not exceed four hours in this unsafe temperature zone under any circumstances. This includes time spent thawing, preparing, and cooling. There are many great products from Cambro, Rubbermaid, Carlisle, and others that allow you to transport food safely and efficiently.
Cross contamination occurs when raw foods come into contact with produce and ready to eat foods. Your hands are a great vessel for bacteria. Use gloves and wash hands often. An easy way to prevent cross contamination is to develop a color plan for your kitchen. Color coded cutting boards keep track of things. A green cutting board for produce, red for beef, white for fish, and so on… Always sterilize your knives and other tools.
EE: What quality elements should an events professional understand when working with a food/catering that may not be so obvious even to the most experienced events professional?
Behind every good catered event there is a very experienced and talented group of people. We are a full service catering and special events design company. We plan parties, corporate, and social events. We are the front line and the back line when the event is on. If someone drops the cake, we will fix it. If the DJ's power goes out, often we are the ones to find the problem, when you get an unexpected 45 extra guests, we figure out how to feed them. Off-premise caterers, for the most part, are a serious group of professionals that are very good at crisis management. They effectively manage a series of disasters on a daily basis.
EE: What ramifications have you seen when a skilled event professional makes the mistake of not hiring a professional caterer, and chooses to do go with a less experienced caterer?
Safety first! Anyone can make good food (great is a bit more difficult), but the real professionals have a licensed, insured, and inspected commercial kitchen. Ingredients will be purchased from a legal wholesale company; menus will be prepared safely, kept in the correct temperature zone, and foods will be served properly.
We catered a wedding on September 18. Hurricane Ivan! It was on the beach in Connecticut and at 10:00am the tent was leaning nearly horizontal. The facility had a kitchen but it flooded with raw sewage! 8 hours later, the tent was perfect, there was another tent with a full professional kitchen that would make many restaurants jealous and the bride and groom were married on the beach under the bamboo trellis they had made for the ceremony.
We used a sump pump to drain huge puddles (small pools actually) from the parking lot and walk way to the tent. Some were 8” deep. We brought in 6 extra people last minute to help the tent company who did not have the necessary staff available (the bride hired this company to save money!). The bride also changed our table order the night before! And, the company did not call us! We now had 72” tables in stead of 60's in an area that was going to be tight anyway. The event was perfect!
A professional catering company will be prepared to deal with most any situation.
EE: What are some of your organizations best practices in managing time and budgets?
1- At The Cantering Caterer, we spend a lot of time talking with a client
to determine their budget, make sure it is realistic, and sticking to it.
2- We plan our menus and order early. Often, suppliers offer discounts for
bulk purchases of certain items. Having enough cooler, freezer, and shelf space
allows us to purchase larger quantities when items go on special
3- We have a comprehensive maintenance program for our equipment and vehicles
4- Planning, planning, and planning! There is no substitute for planning. Plan
some more – things always cost more last minute.
EE: What would you say are some of the changing elements in today's catering management practices?
To be successful and remain ahead of the competition, we pay more attention to client's individual needs. People are educated about food. In our market they know what they want and are not going to be satisfied with cookie cutter menus and temporary staff. They want quality and value with a certain amount of panache. They ask for the bartender from their last event. Several of our clients call to talk with Cristine Johnson, our chef. Some with cooking questions, others because they know we are always trying out new ideas and guinea pigs in our lab are well fed!
A corporate event is different from a tented beach wedding but when you wow a client, even if it is with your professionalism, they will invite you back. For our corporate “Cantering Caterer Express” division we have an on-time guarantee. Very simply, if we are late there is no charge. Period. That goes a long way in making a potential client comfortable. And,… when you make them look good you look good.
EE: How can a caterer and other event professionals work in a more conducive manner, with the intention of creating a better event for the end client?
Communicate. We do lots of weddings. Often the bride and groom are on a budget and do not pay for the same meal for the other vendors. Any vendor working in our market knows that when they work with us they will be fed as well as the guests, sometimes better. These little things go a long way – it gets us lots of recommendations too.
Also, as a service, we coordinate other vendors for our clients. The client thinks we are giving something away but the fact is we are ensuring a smooth event with everyone operating from the same page. The client is getting a great team that is informed, has mutual respect, and genuinely likes working together to produce fantastic events.
The Cantering Caterer, LLC
971 Post Road East
Westport, CT 06880
www.canteringcaterer.com
203-227-2208
Christian O'Dowd
