[shroomgirl]

I just subbed in for a friend that had a lunch offsite....
50 people in their office with $40pp food....
so 9apps...meatballs, pate in 3-4oz slices???!!!, med shrimp with cocktail sauce, eggplant in pastry shells, chicken herb roulade on crouton, salmon on toast, crab in pastry, ratatouille in puff.... Way too much for lunch.
Then a self serve salad with tomatoes, red onions, croutons and artichokes...viniagrette in a bowl where the spoon sunk every ten minutes
pasta station with RAW veg....marinara or alfredo over penne. Unreal....They loved it but I abhorred the raw veg, bleck penne...
Carving station with prime rib and dollar rolls...prime rib was incredible the rolls were pretty awful.
The chef sent the bartender with a copy of the bill and though they need revenue did not tell the contact person payment was to be made on reciept of services....CRAZY. There are major differences to cooking offsite than in a restaurant kitchen. Wanna name a few you've come across?

[marmalady]

Hmmmm - major differences in cooking offsite; let's see

- your pans won't fit in their oven/your salad bowls, etc. won't fit in their fridge

-they have an electric stovetop and the temp won't get high enough to do your final searing

-You've asked them beforehand to clear the countertops and empty the fridge, only to arrive and find the fridge filled with beer/wine, and the countertops full of presents (housewarming, christening, shower, etc.)

-Their dog(s) won't stay out of the kitchen - they're always tiny little yappy dogs and you're scared to death you'll step on them!

-Some inebriated guests want to help you in the kitchen

-Some inebriated guests trip over your gear and break your good pottery display platters

-Some inebriated guests hit on your married with children server, to the point where she wants to leave mid-service

-You set off the smoke alarm while searing off

-And the worst - Of course, you've arrived early enough that you can park up close to the house to offload, only to find you're blocked in when you're ready to leave

-The patio party for 50 has to come inside because all the lights have attracted every bug in a 5 mile radius just as you're ready to serve the dinner buffet; of course there's no table big enough for all the food, so the buffet line snakes around the table, through the kitchen counters, and onto a cutting board placed strategically over the sink!

-You've done 150 baby lamp chops for passed hodo's for a wedding party of about 60, and one guy (guess who's 'inebriated'!), is grabbing handfuls off the tray

I guess my most favorite word for off-site jobs is - improvise!

[shroomgirl]

Memories.....
you brought back a few gems.....
the hostess that is footing the catering bill with her brother for their mother's 80th and she has a passel of children with no concept of people working in their kitchen not time for a PBJ

Same with the brother who's groosing about paying and then drops the hodos on the floor as he's scavaging throught the fridge....not drunk just obnoxious....there was food on platters throughout the kitchen he could have filtched from..... or the rain or the lack of lighting around the buffet....or the "regular staff" that was peeved when they got a glance at my bill and saw it was many times more than they charge
The A/c that goes out in the midst of a formal dinner.

*The kosher buffet that is paid for by an out of towner that owns a BBQ chain and she has sent a late deposit. The in-laws to be are not orthodox and don't understand kosher <nor try to> and are totally RUDE about respecting a kosher home. The host wants good plastic plates, some of the guests make REALLY base comments about using plastic for a dinner.

The dogs I work around are not yippers just BIG...

The cats on the counters....

I was thinking more about walking into an office situation without a kitchen when I wrote it, but you got me started on home shtuff.

What became obvious was that the restaurant guys had no time frame....they did not realize that if a party starts at noon, you gotta set up an area prior to service.
I took a cart down the street to a party and the wind blew tapenade everywhere.... I'm so glad they were heavy in hodos anyway.

[marmalady]

Never had any major disasters with office gigs - made only stuff that could be shlepped hot, or put on hot plates,or cold stuff.

The usual office whining - that's too fatty - from the wimmens; we want meat! - from the mens.

Prob'ly the biggest hairy deal was setting up a hot dinner for Bristol-Meyer-Squib, for a video conference they were having with their Japanese counterparts. The Japanese guys were having breakfast, while our crew was eating dinner. Trying to salvage outlets in a small conference room that was full of video and audio equipment, cameras, and recorders, was a challenge!

Absolutely the restaurant folks had no concept re timing! I was given a half hour once to set up and warm passed hodos, and buffet for 100 ppl - including setting up tables, china, glasses, etc. - with one bartender and one!!!! server. It was for the US Equestrian Team dinner to welcome the new recruits for the Olympic training team; fortunately they were all heavy drinkers, and looooooved standing around talking horse talk, so they didn't really notice we weren't on schedule! Oh - and the event was on the 2nd floor of the stable!!!

The PBJ reminded me of the mothers who come into the kitchen while you're setting up and ask for something for the kids - when there's already fruit platters and cheese trays sitting out!

[shroomgirl]

Yeah or the "i just need to microwave a hot dog" with of course all the complimentary junk that goes on the plate in cabinents in YOUR WORK SPACE>>>>ARGGHHHH>>>>

Doing other's menu....7P's are difficult when the goofus doing the phone work doesn't THINK about saying NO to a request and offering something that is WORKABLE instead. Overextending a kitchen staff instead of making it much easier.....there appears to be no thought behind alot of the menus. Am I anal or what?!!!
That is why I work much better in my own little company....