Being More Professional......

[capers12@hotmai]

Hello all....my name is Renee and I have a small homebased catering business. I've been reading this forum for a few months now and have been so impressed! So much so that I think I need to upgrade my professionalism. I live in a small town that is growing quickly and catering to people with lots of money. I have only been able to make money catering the last 4 yrs. But with the influx of monied people , it's been great. My quandry is that
,being the only caterer without a restaurant behind me, I tend to overextend myself and don't always attain the results I have envisioned. Like, table decor, food presentation, etc. I don't have set menus but prefer to design one for each client. This is not always well thought out though. Help is very hard to get and specialty food is almost nonexistent here. I use Sysco and another company but have to travel 2 hrs to get something like duck! But my biggest woe is presentation of food and tables. Any ideas? Books? I see it in my head, but putting it into reality is another thing. Thank you all for the great menu ideas and other information I've seen here.Today I have a Japanese baby shower, sushi, seaweed salad, crispy duck and noodle salad, and steamed spring rolls...

[Steve A]

Why would you have to travel 2 hours to get duck? Sysco carries the product. Or at least they did when I last used them. You might want to have a real good sit down with your rep. Have him/her bring a product guide. You can go over it with the rep and ask questions at that time.

As for your presentation, spend a little time organizing a plate. Use that plate as a template for the rest. Once you get the hang of it, it's actually pretty easy. Being too much in a hurry might be your biggest concern. That's where it'll bite you in the rear.

Ciao,

[shroomgirl]

Contact florists, decorators.....I had a decorator come through and design tables for an event I had a few years ago. The template she produced has been used repeatedly since then. She took props from her store and used things I had at home to make gorgeous low end designs.

Asian station had a brass hot pot with chopsticks coming out of it, bamboo mats, banana leave trays, white paper Japanese lights, willow branches with Chinese paper which I've been told by someone on this site that it's a no-no.

I have great platters, French cheese boards, etc....collected through the years. It's an on going process. Last week I picked up a large dark yellow platter with a 4-6" stand for $10....reduced from $100. Got up to the register and they said oh you're buying the broken birdbath!!! Gotta love it.

Herbs are typical in my decor....loads of rosemary, basil, parsley, chive blossoms I get um by the # and then recycle into sauces when done.
I also buy apples or pomagranites to put dish names on....bunches of grapes or lemons by the case then again use them later.

Think different heights, build up a tabletop. Put lights and muslin up.

Once you have a design or the elements of a table then you can recreate them over and over. Think of jelly jars for vases when doing picnics.

[capers12@hotmai]

Thank you , shroomgirl!! I was hoping you'd post a reply to this. I like your thinking. I get so involved with the food at times that my presentation suffers...as far as Sysco goes...I just needed a few #'s...so when I need something in a small quanity it poses a problem...not much freezer space right now. We just started getting pickled ginger in the grocery store here!! I appreciate your thoughts and ideas...

[shroomgirl]

Become friendly with the grocery butcher.....they may have access to more that's in the store. Get listings from the Dept of Ag on farmers in your area.

Driving forever to get an ingredient is probably more exspensive than having it drop shipped. Gas is outrageous these days.

Put a freezer on your get list......even if it's used. Especially if you are in the boondocks.

[tigerwoman]

shroom has some great suggestions as always

here's a few more
look in some entertaining books - early Martha Stewart is a great start. Look at catering magazines - catersource, catering mag. etc.

Go to one of a few specialized catering conventions
catersource runs two a year - January in Vegas and August (this year in Denver) - not cheap but you will get an incredible education on both sales, style, trends, menus, etc
(add .com to all these names to get to their websites

Bill Hansen of leading caterers of America (leadingcaterers.com) runs a boot camp all over the country at different locations - he is also hooked up with NACE (national association of catering executives) and they are running some sort of educational symposium in the next few monthes.

Look at other caterers websites (follow links from leadingcaterers.com, bizbash.com, etc)

join ICA or NACE or ISES.

use your imagination - we find props everywhere. Our menus are totally customized to client and season as are the platters and presentation.

Use fresh botanicals and flowers - wheatgrass, flowering chives, fresh herbs, orchids (the small ones - I think Sysco sells them last a long time refrigeratored and can be used on or off the stem. if you pull off the blossom, refrigerate in a takeout container - they will last at least a week longer). Add height to your displays

browse thrift stores, garage sales, garbage piles in wealthy neighborhoods, throw outs from store displays, mark down area of high end stores, etc

Some fake flower and leaves -but good quality - Pier ONe sells nice ones - and you can get a designer card from them which gives you a 10% discount. THey have great baskets, trays, vases and runners which make good decor.

Marshells and T-J Maxx have great home decor stuff too - stay away from too much ceramic - heavy and easy to chip.

Asian markets usually have a housewares and decor department. You find them in every big city or area with large asian population.

Dollar and 99 cent stores, gift bags or funky handbags with flowers coming out of them.

Heads of lettuce from the farmers market - like lolla rossa in the summer make pretty centerpieces- and the farmers markets and garden centers are a good source for living folliage, plants and flowers.

Unusual vegetables and fruits - like starfruit, passionfruit, green striped or white eggplant, romanesque broccoli/cauliflower, enoki mushrooms, wild mushrooms that are still attached to each other, dried beans and lentils (toss in a touch of oil to give a nice sheen but don't put food on top that will stick or put a glass plate on top of the beans first), black sesame seeds are incredible and make things pop.

Look for alternate uses for things. Best example of that is one I saw a fellow caterer I met at Catersource use - they took 3 toothbrush holders - upscale wicker bamboo ones that had 4 holes each turned them on the diagonal, on top of a narrow black oblong tray and put sesame seeds into the holes. then filled with mini cones made from wonton skins, filled with tuna tatar, sushi ginger and sprinkled with more sesame. Gorgeous, fresh, innovative.

We use an oversized wooden handcrafted pickup truck to hold crudite, or bread rolls or as a riser for platters on buffets. We were in the Market in Costa RIca, looking in a kids toy stall, saw it and screamed to each other "crudite" - it never fails delight "the kid in all of us" - the guests and clients always comment on how unusual and interesting the displays are.


Look around when you travel - what seems silly in a foriegn country could be great here. Even supermarkets can be a treasure trove. We did a display exhibitiion at Catersource Las Vegas last year and when some of our shipment didn't show up, we ran to supermarket. Picked up some cool asian things (it was chinese new years), small asian statues, some flower boxes in gold, green apples to use as decoration under a glass shelf, white rice (scattered on colorful gold and orange material we brought with us), green lentils to use as a floater for some flowers, black beans - etc. see there are treasures to be had everywhere. PM me and I'll send you a link to my photo album on line.