60 catering ideas from The CRFA Show

Culinary Capers’ award-winning Jimmy Choo Shoe cake

TORONTO—The following catering ideas come from Tim Lundy, immediate past president of the International Catering Association, and Christine Emerson, the association’s executive director.  The two delivered a pot-luck of catering tips at The CRFA Show last month.

1.    Bride and groom at the buffet. Tell them that you would never expect them to go through the buffet line—that they will have service staff to escort them through.  It’s a good selling point for caterers to make.

2.    Site visits for outdoor events. If your client is scoping out a outdoor event when there is no marquee tent, plan the visit for the same time of day as the event, so they can see the shaded areas.

3.    Cocktail napkin holders. Buy 5” x 5” square glass vases or 5” x 5” boxes that you see at espresso bars to hold the napkins.  They won’t blow away, and remaining napkins (possibly expensive ones with your logo) won’t be crumpled up by the clean-up crew.

4.    Table and linen chart.  Use an excel spreadsheet to help plan how many tables and linens are needed, and which table-cloths should go on which tables. Give a copy to the event service staff to help ensure that the right linens go in the right places — and there are no shortages or mistakes.

5.    Diversify, diversify, diversity.  In these hard times, caterers are looking for ways to keep the bottom line the same—to make a budget that has the same profit margin built in.

6.    Set up a cake division to diversity—Lundy’s company has a cake division which grosses $100,000 in cakes during a seven-month selling period. If you have space, you’ll have to bring in a pastry chef, but this can add to the bottom line.  Cakes can be innovative—see the cake made by Culinary Capers of Vancouver for a wedding, featuring a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes.

7.    Look for non-traditional venue concessions—sporting events, museums, art galleries, and designer showcase events.

8.    Keep paper files with a checklist on the front cover showing key events such as the date the proposal was sent, date it is due back, and more.

9.    Feed the service staff at the beginning of the event.  There are always three or four hors d’oeuvres left on a plate and if staff are hungry, they eat them, costing you money!  If you feed them cheese strata or ham on a bun in advance of the event, they won’t be inclined to nibble—and they’ll be in a much better mood!

10.    E-mail signatures.  Make sure your e-mail signature has your name, title, company name, mailing address, phone, fax, e-mail and website—you’re losing business if clients can’t contact you.  You can always add in information regarding awards that your company wins, or other news as an additional marketing tool.

11.    The Madonna effect. The iconic entertainer is all about retooling herself and her look to make it through the decades.  She provides us with a great role model as to how we as caterers can reinvent, regroup, retool and refurbish ourselves.  If you’re not willing to change in this market, your business is headed for a long, slow decline.  For example, Lundy had a bride (with a healthy budget) who wanted to host her wedding at the Ringling Museum—a venue with very stringent regulations about what could and couldn’t be done.  Lundy got around this problem, and created a memorable event by having Cirque de Soleil performers introduce each of five courses at a black tie affair.

12.    Online document services.  Use online calendars and planners—they’re free and easy to upload.  Check them out!

13.    Dragon Naturally Speaking. For those who hate to type, this program recognizes your voice and lets you dictate into an e-mail program or word document.  It takes about an hour to set it up, but Emerson says it’s worth it.

14.    GPS—if you’re an offsite caterer and you don’t have a GPS, go buy one, says Emerson. “It helps you locate the venue, locate the client, find a gas station when you’re running low, and find that 24-hour convenience store that sells ice!”

15.    Sales and management incentive programs are essential in this economic climate.  Divide up your profits and reward managers based on sales made in each profit centre.  Or, for sales staff, a week somewhere or dinner for two can work wonders for motivation.

16.    Popcorn. Emerson got this idea at a 60th birthday party, where the first course was a salad with butter lettuce, lobster, mango and vinaigrette—topped off with chili-lime flavoured popcorn in lieu of croutons.  This must be real popcorn—not microwave—popped in chili lime oil.  It’s a real South American thing.

17.    Candied bacon cooked with brown sugar until caramelized can be twisted and used as a bar snack.  “Called ‘billionaires bacon’, it will make you weak at the knees,” Emerson said.

18.    Condiments like those at Toronto’s Rodney’s Oyster Bar work magic as well.  Rodney’s condiments include mignonette (vinegar and shallots), and curried chutney with banana peppers.

19.    Marketing is fundamental—and new revenue streams are needed to replace corporate business, which has really gone south.  Look for ways to create more dollars.

20.    Universities and colleges still have money.

21.    Synagogues and churches—social markets tend to emerge when the economy fails, because the human spirit has an increased need to celebrate, says Lundy. Christenings, birthdays, bat and bar mitzvahs are events to look into.

22.    Invite wedding and event planners to your place and serve them the things you do best.  Or deliver them a platter of cookies, cupcakes or candied bacon on a platter.

23.    Flavoured salts, such as chili-lime salts, and porcini dust can be served in small containers on a buffet.

24.    Photos for marketing.  Create seasonal menus and event designs and photograph them to build an incredible portfolio.  Mail or e-mail these to your customers and potential clients.

25.    Printed menus aren’t always appropriate, especially in  business environments.  Have buffet signs — either one large framed sign or several small cards so the guests know what they are eating.

26.    Have printed menus available at the door as the guests are leaving, including your contact information and logo.

27.    Ice chests.  Emerson is amazed it took her so long to come up with this simple innovation.  “I got so tired of running out to get ice at 11 p.m. when the bartenders run out.  I started filling Styrofoam chests with a few bags of ice and stashing them until they are needed.”

28.    Stay connected to professional associations—they are a great source of trends and information, and help you be more “cutting edge” for your customers.  Some catering association information can be found at www.icacater.org, www.restaurant.org and www.catersource.com.

29.    Create thematic portfolio books using www.shutterfly.com. You can upload images and create professional-looking books at a cost of $39 US for a 20-page 8” x 10” book, or $50 US for a 12” x 12” book.  At this price, you can change them repeatedly and keep your portfolios fresh.

30.    Go to www.VerTerra.com and check out their green products.  The products are made from leaves that have fallen off trees in tropical countries.  The leaves are steam-pressed and made into bowls, which are disposable.

31.    Edible diamonds by Qzina Specialty Foods can be used on desserts or displays.  Qzina also has edible gold and silver dust, which comes in a box.

32.    Travel experiences are invaluable.  While you’re on vacation, scope out menu ideas, look at window displays and make note of any seasonal themes, or ideas unique to that country.

33.    Watch national and international magazines for trends.  For example, Art Culinaire comes out four times a year in hardback, with a full-size colour photograph of a food item on each page, along with the recipes.

34.    Parmesan crisps—from New York City’s Stone Farms (Bluehill Farms), an old Rockefeller property where they grow their own produce and raise their own livestock—are inspirational.  They have an anchovy on top, which can be topped with arugula pesto.

35.    Venison and blue cheese meatballs served over fresh linguini are also delicious—drizzle the jus over the pasta and add some fresh-grated blue cheese.

36.    Drive theatrical events with colour—use colour napkins, linens, floral designs and lighting to their greatest effect—a great way to drive the theme affordably.

37.    Cover the buffet with tulle netting. If you want your guests to see the dessert buffet, but not touch it until it’s time, you can cover the buffet with tulle.  The buffet will look beautiful—but the ‘don’t touch’ message will come through too.

38.    Use many different shades of yellow—sunflowers and yellow napkins for example.

39.    Company news flash—create a newsletter with a recipe of the month and send it out to your clients/potential clients.

40.    Neon coloured meringues.  Phipps Bakery Café on Eglinton Ave. West in Toronto creates these items in shocking pink, orange, yellow, purple and green. They’re inexpensive and easy-to-make in-house.  You can crumble them up and put them on the side of a cake.

41.    Baked brie station. Take a round of puff pastry, top with a whole brie, sundried tomato, garlic chopped with herbs and another puff pastry.  Be sure to scoop from the middle and put it on cracker.  One large brie can stave off the hunger pangs of 120 fairly hungry people.

42.    Google Analytics for your website.  Find out who’s visiting your site, how many times, which pages, and more.  It’s a free service.

43.    Sustainable foods are economical.  Check out local farms that grow their own heirloom tomatoes or raise their own chickens.  The produce will likely cost less and be much fresher.

44.    Candy “bars”.  These candy stations are very popular both for weddings and corporate events.  Choose candies in a company’s corporate colours, or do a wedding theme all in white.

45.    Comfort foods with WOW. Guests crave comfort foods in this economy, but give them a boost.  Try roasted goat cheese with beets, or wine soaked pears, or a foie gras BLT.  This consists of a buttered brioche containing foie gras, bacon, lettuce and tomato.

46.    eFax—for $10 you can get our own 1-888 fax number.  You don’t need a fax machine because the faxes go straight into your e-mail as PDFs.

47.    Ikea’s ‘as is’ section.  Emerson has found treasures like orange shelves that were selling for $2 apiece.  They were 12” x 5’ long and worked well as risers on a bar for an event.

48.    Your unique offering.  Decide what your company supplies that is unique to you; then market or sell that feature.  It might be that you promise to personally attend a guest’s wedding—not every caterer will do that!

49.    Action stations.  Try meatloaf miniatures baked off with different types of potatoes.  Have baskets filled with different types of lettuce.

50.    Poutine is hot!  Whether the station has beef, ragout, fois gras or Yukon potatoes, add the obligatory cheese curds and voila!

51.    Made to order station.  Have six action chefs working in teams of two arranged at work stations forming a “u”.  Guests can be handed a menu card with about five items, and could order two or three items, which will be produced right in front of them.

52.    Best Event Products—this company supplies glass-look-alike plates from 3” x 6” up to platter size that don’t break.  Go to www.besteventproducts.com.

53.    Try pairings.  Wine goes with anything, but Scotch can be paired with venison, bourbon with chocolates, vodka with caviar, smoked salmon or Russian cuisine, and beer with Indian cuisine.

54.    Rick Botts’ Conference Rules. When your staff go to a conference, their assignment should be to come back with an idea that will save the company $10,000 dollars or add the same amount to the bottom line.  If you’re a staff person who wants to go to a conference, tell your boss that you will come back with an idea that will save $10,000 or add it to the bottom line.

55.    Coffee-to-go stations. At the end of an event or wedding, encourage guests to take a coffee with them.  You can provide to-go cups with ‘a big fat company logo’.  What a great sales tool!

56.    Acrylics.  Cover pool tables with acrylics for a really terrific look.
 
57.    You can also drill holes in acrylic and use them for passing desserts.

58.    Innovative Mixology.  Have your own signature cocktails, or wines of the month.  Examples include a Thai Basil Mojito or a Margarita with kiwi sorbet containing a jalapeno pepper and pepper in the drink.

59.    At a wedding, name a signature cocktail after the bride.

60.    Library Buffet.  Get Ikea blocky bookshelves that are about 12” deep, and put items for the buffet station on the different levels of the bookshelf.

Culinary Capers wins at catersource

LAS VEGAS—–The Vancouver company that catered the BC Canada pavilion at the Beijing Olympics last year, picked up several international catering awards at 2009 catersource Conference held recently in Las Vegas.

Company president Debra Lykkemark was on hand to receive the International Achievement in Catering Excellence (ACE) Award at the opening general session of catering industry professionals on Feb. 23 at the Las Vegas Hilton.

The catersource ACE Award recognizes companies that have shown leadership and noteworthy achievement in the catering industry through culinary, business, community and professional development.

“We are extremely proud to be honoured with the prestigious ACE Award,” said Lykkemark. “When I opened the company 23 years ago, we set out to be one of the top caterers. To be recognized by my peers in the international catering community for our hard work is extremely gratifying and a tribute to our entire team.”

Culinary Capers also took home three awards at the 2008 CATIE Awards (Catered Arts through Innovative Excellence). The CATIE Awards are presented by the International Caterers Association, another highlight of the 2009 catersource Conference and Tradeshow, an international event attended by over 4,000 catering industry professionals. The awards are designed to recognize the achievements of caterers from around the world.

The winning entries were in the following three categories: Best Plated Menu for a spectacular six-course plated lunch focused on seasonal ingredients in Whistler, BC for 330 guests; Best Hors d’oeuvre for a foie gras parfait with spiced apple brioche and cardamom croquant, created for an exclusive event for Louis Vuitton; and Best Celebration Cake for a birthday cake, inspired by Jimmy Choo designer shoes (see photo at top of page), for an ultra-stylish birthday soiree.