What catering means to a caterer.

Sometimes its hard for me to come up with good things to talk about on this blog.  I know for sure that I don't want to waste your time with something inane, dry and pointless.  I want to tell you about interesting things that cross my mind, and as much as my friends and family might disagree, I don't always like to talk just to hear myself make noise.  I like to make a point... sometimes, many points... and in no particular order.

It took me a while to come up with a topic that you'd be interested in, but I think I have one.  And it's so obvious it's scary.

I want to talk about catering.

I know you all just blinked and said "Duh, ya think?!?"  but I'm serious.  I think a lot of people have a misconception these days about what catering actually is and I probably should have started with this in the beginning!

When the recession hit, a lot of places, especially restaurants, saw their profits crushed.  From huge corporate franchises to small mom and pop cafes, people were scrambling to find a way to regain their footing and recapture their space in the market.  Why?  Because a lot of people just stopped eating at restaurants.

The restaurant's solution?  If people won't eat here because of the time and cost, maybe they'll still buy our food and take it with them.  And so, the surge of curb-side pick up and restaurant  "catering" took off.  Now, whenever you go to a nicer sit-down restaurant, the back of the menu, the table-tent or some poster on the wall talks all about their "new catering options!"  You can get sandwich trays and soups and "all your favorites" wherever and whenever you want!  Most people think, "Well hey, there's an idea! I love their food in the restaurant so it must be good if I take it home or to work."  What they don't think of is that restaurants aren't set up for catering.  They are not designed for the quantity food production setting that catering companies are built around.  

Think about the last time you went to a restaurant.  How long did it take to be seated?  How fast was the service?  How hot was the food?  How prepared was the kitchen when that 30-top birthday party walked in?  How well would they have done if another 30-top came in?  How about another one?  And another one?  Think back to Prom weekend when every restaurant in the city was packed with high school kids.  Now ask yourself those questions again.  Take your server, in that situation, and ask them to leave the restaurant and bring your meal to your office.  How confident are you in their service now?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing restaurants.  I go to them (probably more than I should!) and I very much enjoy going to them.  I think they serve an excellent purpose in our society and are a shining symbol of the absolute success of the American way of life.  I think its an amazing industry full of excitement, challenges and a huge diversity of people, tastes and ideas.  I don't however, think its the same as the catering industry.  

I've worked in both industries and can tell you from first hand experience, restaurants are what they are and they are good at doing what they do.  Catering however, is a totally different ballgame.

Catering is not just bringing people food.  Catering is bringing people service.  Anyone can go to Costco or Sam's Club or whatever grocery store they want and get food to take to an event.  What a caterer does is bring the service of food preparation and experience to you.  

Would you call the pizza delivery guy a caterer?  Why not?  They brought you food didn't they?  The same thing applies to restaurants, delis and cafes.  Their staff shows up, they grab your order, run it out to wherever you want, toss it on the table or just hand it to you and take off.  There's no care or concern about the display, there's no interest in even checking if you got everything you wanted.  They want in, they want out and they want paid.  That's not catering, that's food delivery.  When a caterer brings you your meal, they don't just plop it haphazardly wherever there's a spot.  They move things around and arrange the table so that the food flows in a logical pattern.  They aren't going to put the condiments first and then place the sandwiches all the way at the other end of the table.  There is a flow to each event and that needs to be maintained properly.  That's how a successful event is created and finished. 

When you order from a caterer, they should ask what kind of event it is.  If they're a knowledgeable company, they'll have good suggestions and offerings for almost every kind of event.  They should know that a secretaries brunch is a far cry from an afternoon construction worker safety meeting.  A wedding will have special needs but different ones than a surprise party.  Everything is individual and all the details matter to a caterer.    

Caterers should follow your schedule, not theirs. They arrive when you ask them to and they make sure you're serving your guests at the time you requested.  Restaurants don't do that.  Your order gets finished when they get to it and the food is delivered when they have someone to get it to you.  That's not catering.  That's bringing you food.  We don't "bring people food".  We cater events and meetings and parties and generally help out wherever we're needed.  We take care of the people who order from us and make sure there is nothing else they need before we leave.  Why?  Because we're caterers and that's how we roll.

I hope I've explained well enough so far, what catering is.  I don't want to be too long winded and I'm sure I'll be back on this subject again to continue the explanation in another blog.  I guess basically, I'm just trying to explain that just because a place says they "cater", doesn't mean they really do.  Most places are just food delivery places.

I guess I just got to thinking that a lot of people are really shocked by the depth of service we provide and that surprises me.  It scares me when something which I consider to be common sense in this industry, other people call going above and beyond.  If someone is going to order 75 dinners from me, in my mind, of course I'm going to bring them a plate to eat it on and a fork & knife to eat it with.  That just makes sense.  Some places up-charge for that and others (mostly restaurants) don't even think to add it in!  You ordered food not plastic-ware after all.

It just surprises me the silly stuff that's out there and the people who get absolutely hoodwinked by it.  They see a new "catering" menu all in HG TV-style with items written in French and suddenly its a high-end thing.  "Its gotta be classy, they have Pasta au Gratin with Panko Crumbs."  No, it's still just box mac & cheese and it started as a powdery orange mess.  They just put bread crumbs on top and burnt them a little.  That's not catering.  Those things don't last and usually aren't worth the phone call.  They're all flash, no flavor.

My thought is to do what you're good at and only take on new things if you're willing to do them right.  I'm sure there are places that have branched out and have been very successful.  If you go into it thinking "this is what I'm focusing on", chances are, you'll be successful.  If you go into it thinking "I'm going to make tons of money on this stuff!" then you're not focusing on the right things and will inevitably fail... probably making a lot of other companies look bad in the process.

So for now, I'm going to leave it at that, but hopefully you've found this a little bit interesting and just a little bit informative.  Let me know what you think and we can keep the discussion going!

Jousting Easter Peeps

This time of year, everyone seems to be talking about one of three things:  microwaving Peeps, coloring dirty words onto Easter eggs or over-eating at some random relative's house while discussing sports.  The occasional comment of snow/rain/sun also sneaks into the conversation from time to time, but usually only on commercial breaks.  While I enjoy microwaving marshmallow animals as much as the next person (try putting two in together, face to face, and putting toothpicks in them... that way they joust as they puff!!) I tend to think more about the changing of the season and the welcoming back of greenery into our days at this time of year.

I find myself looking at the trees beginning to bud and the hidden flowers sprouting out of every nook and cranny and think, this is literally, a breath of fresh air.  Don't get me wrong, I love winter, probably much more than the average Cincinnatian, but even me, the self pro-claimed Snow Queen, find myself looking forward to the colorful spring displays nature puts on each year.

I like to think of spring as more than just an excuse to clean and suffer from seasonal allergies.  I think of it as a time to put new ideas into action.  A time to dust off old plans and find new ways to make them happen this year.  Everybody thinks New Years is the best time to put together resolutions.  I think that's wrong. I think spring should be the time to sprout goals and plans and dreams and it's a much better time to actually chase after them!  Its easy to say in January that you'll walk more or eat better or try harder but in reality, when you look out to the grey sky, you're going to go put on another blanket, a thicker pair of socks, eat a hearty, heavy meal and plunk yourself on your couch watching re-runs of your favorite TV show for the next three months. 

My though is, why not allow yourself some comfortable hibernation?  What's wrong with enjoying the holidays to the fullest and letting yourself relax for a few months?  Enjoy the slow season for the very reason that it IS slow and allow yourself some rest before everything wakes back up again.  Just be ready to go when the time comes...

When the trees bud, when the tulips sprout, when your allergies start acting up, THAT'S when you should start energizing yourself for your new year.  Your body will wake up and it will be time to get up and grow.  When you look out the window and most of the ice has melted, that's the best time to head out into the world and make the changes you've been pondering since Christmas.  Winter is the time to plan, spring is the time to put those plans into action.  As cliche as it sounds, our thoughts really are like seeds.  Put them in the ground when everything's dormant, but when its time to come alive, they should be prepped and ready to go!

So, since we've all had more than enough time to veg out on the couch this winter, its time to get up, shed some layers and get out into the new, green world and make some changes.  Its time to grow and time to smile, its time to suffer from our seasonal allergies and be happy the sky isn't grey anymore.  It's time to crudely color eggs and spend time laughing with family. So take to your microwaves, set those chicks to jousting and get your butts outside and DO something this year!  Make it worth the winter wait!

Alright, so after my first posting I see a few people at least took 30 seconds from their day to check it out.  Thank you for that.  Hopefully a few people subscribed while they were visiting and are interested in sharing or at least reading my blog from time to time.

So, since I am new to blogging, I did what anyone would do... I Googled what the heck I'm supposed to do with it!  Some sites say blogs are just there for you to express your thoughts and opinions, others say its to help people.  Still others say its where I'm supposed to market my business ideas or to show that I am an expert in my field.  But overall, they seem to say this is a way for me to stay connected, be it with family, friends, co-workers, customers or just anyone!  I like that idea.  But then again, I liked all the other ones too, so Googling pretty much didn't help at all.

After much review and online research, I've decided to do what I originally planned on doing... winging it.  I'm open to any comments, questions or topics.  Just hit the "Respond" button or "Comment"  or whatever the button at the bottom of the blog says and let me know what you'd like to hear about.  Otherwise, you are going to be subjected to my inane ramblings, which from time to time might prove useful or even funny or sometimes both.  Who knows!?

On this blog, I'd like to include something useful and helpful in relation to the catering/hospitality field with each post but first, I suppose I ought to fill in a tiny bit of biography in order for you to actually believe some of the info I'm going to put in here.  I've been involved in the catering/food service business literally, since birth.  My family has been catering, cooking and generally taking care of things for over 40 years, but I can't claim that kind of longevity myself.  Personally, I have been catering for over 15 years.  There's not much I haven't seen or at least heard of when it comes to this field and rarely am I surprised by some of the things I see.  I did go to college to study this industry, so at least one public institution in this state certifies that I know what I'm talking about.  I've held a few different jobs over the years relating to catering and food service so I do have a little varierty to share with you all.  Its not always been just family drama for me.  If there's anything you're curious about, please feel free to ask.  If I don't want to share that bit of info, I'll say so.  Otherwise, ask away.

So now after that terribly convincing display of know-how, I'm going to share a helpful little insider trick that some of you might actually find useful.  Many of you have used store-bought chafing dishes.  Those little wire racks that you found at Sam's or Costco and have the flames underneath them that keep your hot food hot, and after a while, dangerously chewy?  Many people have them stored in their garages or offices and like to save a few bucks on their catering order by using their own, rather than renting from us.  (This is a totally awesome idea and I love it!  I'm all about saving money whenever you can, as long as you aren't sacrificing quality.)  My only bit of wisdom I'd like you wire-dish-users to keep in mind is to please note that the pan you have your two inches of water in is very often the same size pan that we caterers also use to transport food in.  This usually proves problematic when we go to put the food pan in the water pan.  The result is most often a splash all over your table and a confused look about what just happened.  My professional opinion?  Only put about a half inch of water into your pan.  You aren't trying to boil the food, just keep it warm for serving.  My other suggestion? In that half inch of water, grab a couple inches of aluminum foil wrap and twist it into a coil or two, put them in the water and voila!  You have something that will keep the food pan from squishing water over the sides of the bottom pan.  It works, I've done it, it's awesome.  Trust me.

Keep it in mind on your next order... you might be surprised.

Until next time, happy catering!

New Beginnings!

So, being 13 years into the new millenium, I've decided that we might as well put a personal voice onto the internet for Raffel's Catering!  I'm new to blogging, so please bear with me for a bit.  I want this to be a useful forum wherever and however possible and not just a place for pointless chatter... there's already more than enough of that on the internet as it is!

I've always had an interest in writing, no matter what my high school English teachers might've said, and I'd like to add to that interest here on our blog.  It seems like it might have some interesting potential...

So, seeing as how this IS my first and only blog so far, please feel free to comment and let me know what sort of things you might be interested in discussing or hearing about.  I have no problem going into some controversial topics or answering bizarre questions.   But be warned, if you ask a stupid question I can almost promise you that I will respond with a stupid answer.  But, if I can figure out what you really meant, I'll give it my best shot to respond accordingly.

I'm sending this blog out into the ether to see what comes of it and will hopefully get a few people interested in following it.  I'll try to keep the topic relevant to catering and other food service/hospitality topics but I can't guarantee I won't veer off-topic once in a while.  I can only talk about centerpieces and linens for so long before I'll go even crazier than I already am!!

I want this to be a more casual front for us and a place where people can actually get honest answers to questions that they can't seem to find on the internet.  A lot of times there's just way too much out there when all you really want is a quick, simple answer.  At least in my opinion.

Alright, here we go bloggers... let's see what we get!