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Preparing your Catering Business for Summer

admin — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 16:58:40 +0000

As the weather warms up and we find ourselves spending more time in the sun, enjoying the simple pleasures that summer brings, we also find our tastes and interests adapting to the season. The summer season brings a welcomed return to the little things in life, a return to a time in our lives when we were never too busy to enjoy life itself. When the sun is beating down and we’re relaxing with friends and family, a cold beer, barbeque chicken, and corn is all we could ask for.

We start to crave different things, so when the summer comes around, your business should reflect this natural seasonal adaptation and return to simplicity. Adding little touches to your menu or variations in your catering during the summer months helps keep things exciting and maintains with the pace of summer. Some catering services fall into the trap of keeping the same menu throughout the entire year but summer is almost a holiday in itself. Your menu should be weather appropriate.

It may come as no surprise to you but dining and drinking go hand in hand especially during the warmer months when outdoor events, in general, are popular. Things like graduation parties and Fourth of July parties are so common during summer. Everyone’s looking for an excuse to get together and kick back during the warmer months.

To prepare your business for summer, you may need to get some choice items beforehand to help set the summer mood. Any sort of kebab is a good menu choice during the summer and it is also easy to make. Bamboo skewers are cheap, throwaway items that are perfect for barbeques. If you want a more elegant look, stainless steel skewers are an excellent choice.

The summer months have a different demand on a catering service and often times, a more casual approach is appropriate. Plastic cups may be substituted for glass ones during summertime parties. As far as adult beverages, you have a lot of room for creativity here. Having an extensive knowledge of summer wines is important and can be a crucial addition to any party. A classy look is achieved when wine is paired with a stainless steel wine bucket. It also helps keep the wine chilled in the heat. A quality blender is a great addition as it gives your catering operation the option to offer frozen drinks such as Pina Coladas or Virgin Daiquiris for the children. It is an investment but it could remain a part of your business for years if taken care of. With a little creativity, you can turn something as simple as plastic water pitchers into a fun opportunity to try something new like a summertime sangria mix for a party.

Summer is a time for good food, good drink and good company and with a few choice additions to your catering service, it could be something memorable and successful.

Tips on Shopping for Catering Equipment

admin — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 07:32:33 +0000

Apart from an out of this world planner, a fantastic manager and a treasure trove of recipes, starting up a catering business require the presence of some good pieces of catering equipment. The basics that any caterer will need will include servers, chafers and steam table pans to name a few but will always be dependent on what kind of catering service is being put up.

For some help, here are the baby steps for buying catering equipment:

1. Deciding on a Specialty

Before an aspiring caterer sets out to buy his or her serving equipment, they need to think about what it is their catering service is going to specialize in. For example, are the occasions being targeted weddings? Or is the catering service looking to be popular amongst office functions? Some caterers even specialize in parties for children. In every separate occasion there is a special menu and thus the serving equipment should follow suit.

2. Purchase Plans

Once the catering service has decided on a specialty, it should no plan on what kinds of equipment they might want to buy.If the catering service is looking to appeal to those of younger generations, fun and playful serving equipment can be bought to engage the kids in the food their eating all the while setting a fun and playful mood to the dining experience. Similarly, if the events being catered to are more on the high end, there are elegant serving platters or steam pans available in the market.

3. The Search Begins

A great place to start looking for equipment is on the internet. Though buying your catering equipment online will entail a waiting period for the items to be delivered, it’s a small price to pay for the bargains that can easily be found. Though it might be a stretch, since dinnerware can be found at vintage stores, they may have some traditional and eclectic pieces available for catering equipment. Not only are the pieces classic but it also provides a long lost elegance for the diners to appreciate.

Remember though that there are no rules that say that a catering service needs to stick to one specialty. If someone starting a catering service wishes to appeal to all kinds of events, they just need to spend a little more time on choosing their equipment to fit their serving needs and themes.

Photo Credit:

Mark Vancleave

The Best Tips When Buying Restaurant Furniture

admin — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 10:41:28 +0000

Buying restaurant furniture for the restaurant of your dreams is no joke. There are so many things you have to consider when choosing the type of furniture that would best fit the theme of your restaurant. The way your restaurant looks is as important in prodding people to come to your restaurant as the right marketing strategies. You simply have to be extra-careful when shopping for your furniture.

When before, restaurant furnishings were simply for sitting and eating, now, it’s different. The right kind of furniture partly spells the success of your business. When on that all-important trip, be sure that you keep the following in mind:

1. The furniture in a restaurant gives the feel or ambiance to the customers. With your resto’s theme in mind, you are now ready to determinedly find the perfect furnishings.

2. Measure the actual dining area. You have to be sure that whatever it is your buying, whether they are bar stools, tables or chairs, they have to fit into the eating area leaving enough room for your customers to move in.

3. You may create a very appealing look combining different colors, sizes, textures and shapes of furniture. What you have to remember is that getting these together should not appear cluttered and overly-eclectic. They all have to match and exude the ambiance that you are looking for.

4. Don’t get overwhelmed. It’s true that there are multitudes and designs to choose from. Materials vary from wood, metal, painted, natural, stained or laminated. So before you go shopping, you must have a short list of what you already have in mind to narrow down your choices. If, for example, you want to go for wood, concentrate on that; you’re sure to find choosing the right wood also a daunting task.

5. Find a supplier who will agree to send you samples, discounts if you buy in bulk and warranties. The staff must also be totally accommodating who will provide you with services like delivery resistance, swatches and catalogs.

6. If you are lost with how you’re going to design the entire resto, why not find a professional interior designer who will do it more effectively than you. It’s a worthwhile investment. After all, the ambiance is what will set your place apart from the rest. Just go to a good site in the internet and you are bound to find a good one near your vicinity.

What matters in the end is that, even if it took you a while and finding the right furnishing for your restaurant was extra-difficult, it will pay off. People simply love good quality furniture that fits their every mood.

Melamine for Dinnerware? Pros and Cons You Need to Know

admin — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:02:19 +0000

Melamine dinnerware has been used for a good number of years.Some of the earliest melamine tableware dates back to the late 50s and early 60s.Due to its flexibility and popularity as a product, it became, at least for a while, a threat to ceramics.Today, melamine is still popular for both residential and commercial use. Thinking of buying melamine for dinnerware? Here are the pros and cons you need to know:

Pros

Malamine durability

Melamine dinnerware probably won’t last forever but with proper care, it could last a good number of years. One advantage to this type of material is that it doesn’t break easily with normal use.

Choice in color and design

Melamine was once a strong contender as a replacement for ceramics because it was so easy for production companies to come up with different designs and colors using this material. This made melamine a favorite among customers who like to have choices. The possibilities in melamine dinnerware run the gamut from classic plain monochromes to the most popular patterns to Asian melamine styles to the funkiest melamine, craziest, or loudest designs and colors.

Excellent flexibility

Because of the nature of the material, melamine can be turned into almost anything in terms of dinnerware or tableware. From plates and bowls to cups, saucers, spoons, ladles and various types of food containers. It could also vary in thickness, depending on the intended use of the specific type of dinnerware.

Melamine dinnerware is also excellent for use in both homes and public facilities such as restaurants and cafes because it’s easy to clean. Unlike earthenware, melamine is light and easy to carry, a stand-out quality when it comes to serving with ease.

Melamine is Recyclable

Another advantage to melamine dinnerware is that it can be recycled, something that eco-friendly homes and restaurants are quite happy about. In fact, there is much melamine dinnerware being sold today that is made from 100% recycled melamine.

Price, cheap dinnerware

Melamine dinnerware are some of the most affordable in the market, making them popular among starter homes, small restaurants and cafes, high-traffic cafeterias, diners, Asian restaurants, and anyone who prefers a more cost-friendly way to serve food.

Cons

Will stain and scratch

Melamine would probably have become the king of dinnerware, effectively bulldozing ceramics, plastics and glass had it not been for its weaknesses. Because it’s made from resin, its surface can be scratched by commonly used objects such as spoons, forks and knives. Rough handling can also result in chipped edges. Another disadvantage to melamine is that it tends to stain over time. The problem is that once the stain appears, it’s next to impossible to remove.

Cannot resist high heat

Melamine dinnerware can be used with most warm foods and even hot soups and entrees. It could withstand heat but only up to a certain point. This type of resin cannot be trusted in high heat. As such, melamine dinnerware are neither microwave-safe or oven-safe. They are also not recommended for sustained exposure to heat, even at temperatures they can handle.

Source material

Some people are wary of using melamine. After all, this organic compound is made with formaldehyde, a chemical used not just in the production of fertilizers and resins but also in the preservation of organic materials. However, many commercial melamine dishes have the NSF approval, the food service safety standard in the US, reassuring consumers about the safety of the particular melamine they are purchasing.

3 Ways Restaurants Can Ensure Visitor's Health and Safety

admin — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:59:38 +0000

For many years, restaurants have played a major role in promoting healthy diets and lifestyle choices for millions of families around the world. But with the increasing demand to implement and maintain food safety standards, it has become mandatory for restaurants to continuously improve their food quality procedures not just to keep up with competition but also to promote safer food preparation. Here are the top 3 ways that restaurants can ensure their customer’s health and safety:

Provide regular training to employees regarding food safety

The key to ensuring that food is kept safe and sanitary for customers to enjoy is correct knowledge among restaurant employees. This includes the food production crew, food service staff and even employees whose work is not related to food or food handling. Inadequate training is one of the top 5 reasons why employees in the food service industry fail to meet food safety standards.

It is also important to educate restaurant staff and employees regarding the negative consequences of unhygienic food handling and food preparation within unsanitary premises. With proper training, employees become aware of what they are expected to do in order to perform their job well and keep their customers healthy and safe.

Make food safety a priority

Other than food taste, choice and presentation, another way that restaurants can promote food safety and customer’s health is to ensure that food safety becomes a primary concern of food workers. Currently, there are over 13 million workers employed by the restaurant and food service industry. Sadly, over 55% of illnesses that are caused by food can be traced to restaurants. In most cases, these incidents are caused by improper or erroneous food handling.

To encourage the implementation of food safety standards in restaurants, it would help if signs are put up in places such as the food preparation and food delivery areas, washrooms and toilets. These will serve as a reminder not just to restaurant employees but also to customers that a high standard of food safety practices is in place.

Use products that promote food safety

Another way that restaurants can promote customer health and food safety is by using facilities and equipment that are considered safe and hygienic. A few recommended products include:

Safety gloves – food handlers are required to wear safety gloves to keep food safe and prevent spoilage. Safety gloves serve a double purpose — they protect the servers hands and ensure that food contamination does not occur.

NSF food storage containers – NSF is the safety standard seal in the food industry. Products with this seal are considered food grade, safe for use in the kitchen and in the dining area and are hygienic.

Food dispensers – food dispensers are ideal for storage. They are air-tight and made with strong material that keep away contaminants such as dust, dirt, smoke, oil and bugs. They are also useful for cursory visual checks of food items for spoilage.

Sneezeguards – these are designed to prevent food contamination for displays and buffets. Made of clear, sturdy material such as glass or fiberglass, sneezegards provide ample visual of and access to the food and ensure that food is protected from foreign material.

Soap dispensers – are considered more hygienic than soap bars. Since users’ hands do not touch the soap itself, contamination is kept to a minimum.

Hand dryers – may either be push button or automatic. Hand dryers are a must in restaurants because they replace soiled, used towels. They are recommended both for food preparation areas and washrooms. In lieu of hand dryers, paper towels and paper towel dispensers may also be used.

Toilet seat covers and dispensers – bacteria from human waste such as E. coli and salmonella are notorious for contaminating food and jeopardizing food safety standards. By using disposable seat covers, restaurants can ensure that hygienic practices are in place.

How to Choose Dinnerware for Your Restaurant

admin — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:48:43 +0000

It may not seem like a lot but dinnerware does play a major role in ensuring the palatability of the food in restaurants. We eat with our eyes, it is said and the use of dinnerware is key to food presentation. Just imagine what a 5-star restaurant would be like if it served its best steaks on styrofoam or paper plates. That could still work with a little creativity but there’s a high likelihood customers won’t be as pleased. Choosing dinnerware for your restaurant? Here are tips on the kind of factors you need to consider:

The ambience and look you want in your restaurant
Fast food restaurants generally do not have the same concerns as fine dining restaurants regarding dinnerware. Where fast food restaurants would probably do well with melamine, woven wood, plastics, and glass, restaurants offering finer fare may want to consider using porcelain or china plates. However, there are very economical china choices for casual dining as well.

Consider the kind of ambiance or look you’re trying to promote in your restaurant. Is it classic and formal? High-brow and fine? Funky and playful? Keep these in mind when choosing dinnerware. Square plates are trendy and stylish, while colorful plates like the Concentrix pattern by Tuxton dinnerware could even be mixed and matched with one another . Italian glass plates make beautiful serving pieces as well as dinner plates for an elegant setting.

Intended use of dinnerware
If your restaurant’s menu includes entrees on hotplates, you might want to consider choosing dinnerware that can withstand high heat. Microwave-safe and oven-safe dinnerware are practical choices. They are also reusable and are quite durable. Barring any accidental breakages, these types of dinnerware should last for a good number of years. Sizzle platters that include aluminum/steel plates on top of Bakelite or wooden under liners are an outstanding way to serve steaks and other dishes that should be served sizzling hot to the table.

Color and design
Color and design are very important factors to consider when choosing dinnerware for your restaurant. It usually has a lot to do with the type of service you’re offering, the ambiance you’re going for, the kind of customers you have, the color scheme of the establishment and of course, your menu.

A classic restaurant with basic family-friendly menu, for example, will do well with the basic white porcelain dinnerware. There are typically two types of white: Bright white/Super white or American white. American white is an off-white / beige color, where the bright white is a much purer white. If your restaurant serves more flavorful fare such as Chinese, Italian, Mexican or Spanish, adding color and design inspired by the cuisine will enhance the dining experience of your customers. There is a wide array of ethnic and Asian-inspired melamine platters and dinnerware perfect for serving family-style or large portions. Melamine is break-proof and economical. High-end restaurants serving gourmet cuisine should very carefully consider their dinnerware. Chef & Sommelier china has won awards due to its special design and ability to preserve the chef’s original presentation from kitchen to dining room.

A good third option is having your restaurant dinnerware customized to your specified design. Some of the most popular restaurants have their plates, bowls and utensils printed or designed to reflect their logo, for example, color or theme.

Durability
There are cheaper alternatives to the moderately-priced and more expensive dinnerware that you can use in your restaurants. Cheaper melamine, paper, plastic and bioplastics, for example, can be excellent choices. The only downside is that while economical, barring melamine, these materials do not last for too long. However, there are melamine plates that look almost exactly like porcelain, like the melamine serving pieces in Tablecraft’s Frostone Collection.

Budget
Dinnerware used in restaurants are generally priced higher than those used for homes, so be ready to spend. This is because they are manufactured specifically to fit the commercial setting. They are hard-wearing and are best for heavy-duty use.

When choosing dinnerware for your restaurant, have a budget in mind but make sure that you consider value above all. You might not have to spend more initially if you bought cheaper, less durable materials but in the long run, buying better dinnerware could save you more. You also want to take into account the smoothness of the bottom of the china. Better quality china will not scrape and scratch as much when stacked.