Even more from the geniuses over at Room Forty…If you missed part I, read it here…

ASK ABOUT THE CATERER’S FOOD PRODUCT

Get the caterer talking about their products. The latest catch phrases have caught. Everyone says things like “organic, sustainable, and local”. If you’re hearing “local”, ask them specifically what farms they work with. You want to know if their meats are “prime”, natural meats, or if they’re “select” and pumped with growth hormone. You want to know if their fish is fresh and wild, or frozen and farmed. You want a caterer that is as passionate about their salt (maldon please) as they are about their steak—so get them talking. No one is going to tell you “our proteins are pumped with hormones and our fish is right out of the freezer!” So just ask a nebulous, “tell me about your products.” If nothing is offered in terms of their product, odds are it’s not a “selling point” for them, which will tell you a lot about the quality of product.

ASK HOW THE CATERER APPROACHES PREPARATION

In terms of preparation there is a wide spectrum. On one extreme there will be caterers that make literally everything “in house” down to the pickles on your slider. On the other extreme, (sadly) there will be caterers that order pre-made hors d’oeuvres from catering wholesalers and re-heat on site. Get them talking to you about their chef. Find out about the chef’s background. As goes the chef, so goes the kitchen, so you want to know as much as possible about the chef. His T.V. credits matters much less than his training and experience in cooking—so be wary if the first thing you hear was: “our chef was just on the show_____”.

ASK WHICH WINES WILL BE SERVED

If you’re ordering wines with the caterer, ask which wines will be served and how they decide on selections. Wine and food go together, period. A great meal becomes a complete meal when paired with good wine. Often times wine pairing isn’t even considered when wines are selected. Remember, flavors either really work together, or really don’t . Don’t do the “how much wine can I get for five hundred bucks?” Ask them to suggest what varietals will work well the menu you’ve selected. If you’ve got a brunch format featuring eggs Florentine, and they’re proposing Cabernet, you might want to move on.

This week and next, we have a very exciting guest post from our friends over at Room Forty on what to look for when hiring a caterer…carry on to get all of the nitty gritty:

Over the years we’ve continuously received the same feedback from prospective clients after navigating the “sales call” conversation with them. The feedback? “That was so informative!”

One of the safe assumptions we make when people inquire about our services is that we are one of several companies they’ve contacted. But more times than not, it’s the first time people have hired a caterer—so there’s the lay of land: “Lots of options, first time I’ve done this.”

We realize that hiring a caterer is usually a big decision, with big dollars, big expectations, and big unknowns (unless you crash someone’s wedding, how do you really know how a caterer will approach their services on event day?).

Branding matters, and says a lot in distinguishing the different options—but when you’re looking at 5 different catering proposals and 20 different menus, (to borrow Seth Godin’s phrase) everything can begin to “taste like chicken”. So… if all the catering proposals “taste like chicken” how can you distinguish between Jidori and Zacky farms?

Here’s some help:

If your caterer isn’t inspired or excited from a culinary or hospitality standpoint—odds are your event cuisine and service, are going to be equally blah. Part of the reason catering can be notoriously underwhelming is that often times catering companies think first of logistics, then try to spice-up whatever menu will work with the event logistics. You want to work with a company that flips that equation on its head—and cracks logistical codes to accomplish its culinary vision, as opposed to coming up with a culinary vision that will fit within the logistics. Logistics matter, but they should always follow inspiration.