Catering Information – Cateror

GLOSSARY OF CATERING TERMS & OPTIONS

matin — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 16:33:23 +0000

One of the most important aspects of working successfully with caterers and catering services is understanding the lingo. The following are some of the most common terms used when talking about event planning.

Buffet: When talking about buffet style events, catering companies are generally referring to fully staffed serving stations, where the service includes dishes, plates and utensils. Buffets can include any number of items: appetizers, entrees, salads, desserts and even drinks.

Drop Off / No-Service Catering: With this option the catering service cooks the food and packages it in bulk and delivers it to the event site. Plating, serving, dishes and utensils need to be taken care of by you.

Mobile Catering / Food Trucks: Increasingly, many caterers are mobile – they work out of a food truck and will bring the “facility” to you! Another option is to simply arrange in advance to have a non-catering food truck arrive on site and cook from a pre-arranged menu.

On-Premise Catering: On-premise caterers prepare and cook the food at the location at which it’s going to be served. While this generally refers to event facilities, many catering services are also open to working in a home, provided there is suitable space and equipment.

Off-Premise Catering: Off-premise services will bring pre-cooked and pre-prepared food to the event location.

Partial-Service Catering: In many cases caterers use this term to apply to “self-serve” style buffets, where the stations are not staffed. However, catering services are increasingly open to a variety of partial service catering options, which can include simply cooking and dropping off the entree, offering served appetizers only, no clean up, no serving dishes and much more.

Personal Chef Services: Personal chefs come in as many different styles as caterers. This type of service can range from simply preparing and cooking at the location at which it’s going to be served — generally a home or other private location — to offering private cooking class style meals where the preparation is the event. In general personal chefs will handle everything involved in the meal, from shopping to plating to cleanup. While some personal chefs also offer additional “catering-type” services such as decorating advice, this is not a requirement.

Self Catering: In British English, “self-catering” usually refers to vacations where guest accommodations include kitchens and equipment for cooking their own meals. In entertaining terms, “self-catered” generally means that some of all party food for an event is prepared by the hosts, guests or both.

Sit-Down Plated Meal or Full-Service Catering: This is generally the most expensive option, but everything is handled by the caterer. Even here there are options, as full service may or may not include passed appetizers, desserts and beverage stations. In addition, full service catering generally includes accessories such as linens, plates, utensils, serving dishes and full clean-up.

Take Out / Pick Up / No-Service Catering: With this option the catering service cooks the food and packages it in bulk for pick-up. Plating, serving, dishes and utensils need to be taken care of by you.

CATERING IDEAS

matin — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 14:58:47 +0000

Fun and Creative Party Food Ideas for Events or Gatherings

Want to ensure that your party or event is a fun, entertaining one? Making sure the food tastes (and looks) wonderful is a great place to start! There’s much more to throwing a great party than just coming up with great ideas, though. Successful events of any size take creativity, planning and work to bring those ideas to life!

Part of what professional caterers do is creating fabulous meals that look and taste great, beautifully presented and decorated and served in a setting that complements them. But unless you’re a professional event planner or caterer, pulling an entire party together can be daunting.

When you’re planning an event, the best way to approach it is to start with the big picture, then narrow it down step by step, breaking tasks down until they’re do-able, reasonable and contribute to the final effect. Sometimes this might mean handing everything but the visualization over to someone else (a caterer), sometimes it might mean doing every little piece yourself, and sometimes it might fall somewhere in the middle.

Party Food Ideas:

What about a professionally roasted pig at a backyard barbecue? There are many catering companies that specialize in pig roasts. Home cook the sides or have a potluck for the rest of the meal.
Have servers pass appetizers at a casual gathering to get it started with a special flair.
Hire a taco truck to provide the food for an outdoor party.
Plan a themed potluck around a good cause: have a “donate a sweater” party instead of an Ugly Sweater one, have everyone bring an extra ingredient to send to a food pantry, etc.
After a casual dinner, have a caterer set up a full ice-cream sundae bar station with a chocolate fountain.
Order a great ethnic entree from a restaurant and plan the rest of the meal around it. Whole roasted fish from a Polynesian restaurant, paella, rack of lamb…
Instead of having a potluck, have all the guests chip in and hire a personal chef to give a cooking lesson while making a gourmet dinner…
…or have a potluck and hire a pastry chef to make a stellar dessert for everyone.
Have a potluck cookout at a state park or beach, and arrange for a cupcake truck to stop by with dessert.
Throwing a wedding anniversary party? Decorate to match the original wedding reception and have a bakery decorate a cake to duplicate the invitation.

Creative party food ideas shouldn’t be limited by your cooking ability! Combining the talents of a professional catering service with economical potlucks and home cooking can lead to a spectacular event that won’t break the budget.

CATERING, EVENTS and CHILDREN

matin — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 09:55:00 +0000

How to Make Sure Kids Have Fun at Events

Even if your event isn’t specifically geared to children, it’s important to keep the kids in mind when planning a party. This goes for catered, partially catered and non-catered events.

It’s easy to assume that children will be happy if whatever party food you serve can be slathered in ketchup and there’s cake at the end. But don’t forget that children can be notoriously picky eaters. Or that not every parent wants to spend their own mealtime cutting filet mignon into bite-size pieces.

Most catering companies are used to dealing with special kids’ menus, so don’t be afraid to ask about it. Catered children’s menus are usually different food from the adult menu, with smaller portions and smaller prices.

Depending on the number of children attending, some caterers will set up separate buffet stations, separate “kids’ tables” and special dessert options. When selecting a caterer, ask them about the options for children. Often they’ll be able to come up with great suggestions and ideas that you may not have considered.

Non-Catered Events & Kids:

The trick to successfully incorporating children into any event is planning and preparation. No matter what the party, remember that the idea is for everyone to have a good time. Keep it in mind when you’re planning, take it into account in the execution, and things should be fine.

It may be well worth the extra effort to have a separate menu for the children. Or separate table(s). There’s something to be said for having a place set aside at a party for the kids to be, well, kids. Give them good food that they will like, something to keep them amused, and let them enjoy their part of the event.