Tag: restaurants

Use Edible Flowers, One of the Hottest Trends of the Year

Stay on Top of the Latest Trends by Using Edible Flowers

How to Use Edible Flowers

Cooking with edible flowers is once again a trend. After going out of style for many years, cooking and garnishing with flowers is back in vogue and on the buffet tables at catered events everywhere. As a savvy caterer, it’s time for you to embrace the edible flower trend to add a touch of elegance to all your affairs.

The Use of Edible Flowers Goes Way Back

In “The Edible Flower Guide: Cooking with Flowers from the Garden,” the Gardening Channel offers advice and tips on using edible flowers safely and beautifully, and lists the many edible varieties, including those we’ll mention below. As the site explains, edible flowers are experiencing a renaissance, of sorts. They’re popping up everywhere – on top of wedding cakes, in cocktails and even in soups and salads. And not just the usual and well-known edibles, like lavender or nasturtium; in addition to the tried-and-true favorites, other flowers, like pansies, tulips, violets, and orchids are getting the culinary treatment.

Continue reading Use Edible Flowers, One of the Hottest Trends of the Year

How to Interview and Hire the Best Head Chef

Learn How to Hire the Right Head Chef for Your Catering Business

How to Hire a Head Chef for a Catering Company

If you have a catering company, but are too absorbed by the business end of the operation to do the cooking yourself, it’s time to start looking for a head chef. This might seem like a daunting task, as the chefs you should be considering are many things rolled into one: They must be passionate about their job, creative and ingenious in the kitchen, and able to lead a full staff at the same time that they whip up the fabulous dishes that will keep your business alive. You will probably have to interview many candidates before finding the best person for the job, but once you do, you’ll rest better knowing that the food end of your business is in the most capable hands.

Hiring a Head Chef

Hiring a chef is a major challenge for a caterer. You’ll be looking for someone who is a competent and hardworking chef, as well as a person who will be as dedicated to your company’s success as you are. If you find the right person for the job you will be able to trust him or her to prepare food (of course), as well as train new staff members, develop menus, and offer input and advice regarding marketing decisions that will affect your business. The head chef will become your right-hand person and you should take your time thinking about what you’re looking for, wording the best advertisement, sifting through resumes, and interviewing the candidates.

Continue reading How to Interview and Hire the Best Head Chef

How to Cater for Gluten-Free Customers

Advice for Catering for Your Gluten-Free Clients

Gluten-Free Catering Cuisines

Dining out in restaurants or eating at a catered affair can be a risky proposition for anyone who is restricted to a gluten-free diet. While many restaurants and caterers offer gluten-free options – along with other offerings that take into account various food intolerances and allergies – not all take the time to train staff about the dangers of food sensitivities and to ensure that those “free-from” items are also free from cross-contamination.

These days, however, given how many gluten-free products are available – including vegetables, meat, legumes, and flour alternatives, such as cornmeal and rice flour – chefs can offer menus that are entirely gluten free, making life for a caterer whose client has gluten-free demands much easier. Caterers can offer a wide range of gluten-free cuisines, many of which we’ll discuss here, such as Mexican, Thai, and Indian.

Continue reading How to Cater for Gluten-Free Customers

Choosing the Right Takeout Containers for Your Restaurant

The Best Takeout Containers for Your Restaurant

A Guide to Takeout Containers

In today’s mobile society, even the most elegant restaurant has to be prepared for the takeout crowd. Today, smart restaurant owners make it easy to order and pay for takeaway food with the help of apps, smartphones, and online ordering systems. What this means, though, is that restaurants have to be stocked with a steady supply of takeout containers.

Take-out containers have come a long way from the bulky white Styrofoam boxes of years gone by. In recent years, the demand for a new and improved travel food container has graced us with a variety of sizes, shapes, and materials – including reusable containers – and the trick is finding the right ones for your business.

Continue reading Choosing the Right Takeout Containers for Your Restaurant

Follow These Guidelines to Train Your Restaurant Wait Staff

Your Restaurant Wait Staff: An Essential Piece of the Puzzle

Training your Restaurant Service Staff for Success

In the restaurant and catering business, you are only as good as your personnel; therefore, priority must be given to the professional training and development of your wait staff. Service is such an integral part of the dining experience, that even excellent food preparation and presentation will not support a restaurant without a well-trained and attentive wait staff to showcase it. At the end of the day, the success of your restaurant may depend on your ability to ensure that professional, courteous service ranks right up there with skillfully prepared dishes and delicious cuisine.

Start Early to Train Wait Staff

Training restaurant servers should start before your business opens, or ahead of a new employee’s first day of work. You want all employees thoroughly trained before you make them the public face of your restaurant. Training includes being ready to interact with customers, knowledge of the menu, and familiarity with any tech equipment your wait staff has to use.

Every person learns in a different way. There are no 100% correct methods to train all your wait staff, nor do you have the time or resources to custom-make a training system for each employee. But by starting early, and paying attention to the way an employee learns best, you can more efficiently convey information.

Continue reading Follow These Guidelines to Train Your Restaurant Wait Staff