Posted by Carl Jones on February 21, 1998 at 10:22:04 :
In Reply to: Re: Ya'll are so nice.... posted by Sharon Odmann on February 20, 1998 at 12:40:05 :
: Carl,
: : i think the clients ARE stupid for giving newbies a shot
: : without being real cautious....
: Man, I take exception to that. Define newbie as it relates to catering.
: :If they would interview them and ask
: : good questions, then talk to some real caterers, they would see the
: : difference up front....
: I am real curious to know what you mean here. What are the good questions? And what, for heaven's sake is a "real caterer" and _do not_ give me that illegal caterer boloney either. What are the differences?
: : Wish I did. I lost my private chef gig, and with it my really good income that allowed me to weather the catering storms. I do not want to return to b-o-h, : Sharon Message from Carl
: Ok, i once was a newbie, someone who has little to no experience, and Since then, we have catered that event several times, but for the past These are some of the things that are covered in my booklet. When they do use it ( by that i mean, when i can get it into their hands before they send out the specifications) They will usually narrow their invitations to bid to a couple of caterers. What is a b-o-h? joy! Carl
: : oh, i do have a bread/butter regular earner,
yes they were stupid to allow me to their banquet of 500 ppl. They
also were very LUCKY that it turned out great...... My point is the
client SHOULD not risk embarassment for such an important event on someone
who has never catered an event of their size and menu... BUT they did
8 years ago with me and got a great meal... I worked harder on that
event than any since, because at least i knew that catering was not the
same as running my restaurants...... (at the time i had 10 years in
the restaurant biz)
2, they gave it to an uuqualified caterer.. someone who, LIKE ME, had not
catered before.... well it was a fiasco both times with both "caterers"
since then, both of those "caterers" have stopped catering...
I agree with gerald below, a real caterer is someone who is trained, not
necessarily a CEC, (i'm not), but someone who has taken the time to investigate
catering, learn food safety and protection, understands there IS a different
set of rules for catering than short order cooking... has learned the science
of food and applies it to catering..... from what i can tell by reading
your posts, sharon, you are someone who has done this...... you may be "new"
at it, but you are qualified just the same and you would not take on something
you were not CERTAIN you could do successfully....
By the way, there are several jobs that I have turned down because i didnt think
that i could do them successfully...and i told them that (i know ya'll may find that
hard to believe) :)
the questions they should ask? 1. tell me about your catering experience
2. How do you prepare your green beans? 3. How many servers are you planning on
bringing? 4. How many support staff workers are you bringing? 5. How do you
assure that the food will be safe? 6. What are the safe holding temps for foods? (just to see if they know without guessing)
7. Tell me about your last banquet for 1000? 8. How many serving lines do you suggest?
9. What do your servers wear, could i see a uniform? 10. Tell me about your catering equipment?
11. How much food are you planning per guest? (oz's) 12. Is the tea fresh brewed or concentrate?