A Meeting Planner’s
Guide to Catered
Events
Chapter Two
Meal Functions
Purpose of the meal
function
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satisfy hunger?
create an image?
social interaction and networking?
showcase a person, product, and/or idea?
present awards?
honor dignitaries?
refresh attendees and re-sharpen their attention?
provide a receptive audience to program speakers?
keep people interested in other nonfood activities?
increase attendance?
You must ensure that the
caterer understands your
particular reason(s) so
that the appropriate menu
and production and
service plans can be
created.
Menu planning
 Meeting planners need to stay abreast of
current food trends.
 Read trade journals
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Special Events
Event Solutions
CaterSource
Catering
Association Meetings
Successful Meetings
Trends
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Fresh, Seasonal Food
Locally Grown Food
High Quality Ingredients
New, Unusual Ingredients
Creative Presentations
Excellent Service
Demographics
 Age, sex, ethnic backgrounds, socioeconomic levels, diet restrictions, where
the attendees come from, employment
and fraternal affiliations, and political
leanings.
 Can indicate the types of menu items that
might be most acceptable to the group.
Psychographics
 People’s life styles.
 The way in which they perceive
themselves.
Politics
 Serving veal to animal-rights
organizations.
 Beef raised on recently deforested
tropical rain forest land.
 Tuna from countries that use drift nets
that trap and kill dolphins and other sea
life indiscriminately.
 “Green” concerns.
Meal Restrictions
 Find out about any meal restrictions as soon as
possible.
 Contact attendees to ask if any are vegetarian,
keep kosher, avoid red meat, or have serious
food allergies.
 No need to plan meal around the dietary
restrictions of a single person.
 Be courteous; make sure that every person has
food on the table that he or she can eat.
Three types of
vegetarians
 Type one: will not eat red meat, but will eat
chicken and/or fish.
 Type two: “lacto-ovo” will not eat anything that
has to be killed but will eat byproducts (cheese,
eggs, milk, etc.).
 Type three: “vegans” will not eat anything from
any animal source, including honey, butter,
dairy, marshmallows, and meat.
 When in doubt, assume the guest is a vegan.
Menu restrictions
 Some guests consume special diets for
religious or life-style reasons.
 Devout Moslems and Jews will not eat pork or
shellfish.
 Orthodox Jews require kosher-prepared foods.
 Some persons will not eat red meat or poultry, but
will eat seafood.
 Accommodating some ethnic/religious requirements
may create added expenses due to outside
specialized personnel (e.g., a Rabbi to supervise
kosher preparations), acquiring special food items,
etc.
Kosher
 Kosher simply means clean.
 True kosher food must follow stringent rules
and pass the approval of a "Mashgiach" who
does not have to be a Rabbi, but must be
authorized to give certification for Kashruth.
 Kosher-style food may use traditional Jewish
recipes, but does not necessarily follow the
kosher rules.
 If a group is coming from a previous
function where heavy, filling hors
d'oeuvres were served, the meal should
be lighter.
 If guests are coming from a liquor-only
reception, then the meal could be
heavier.
 Protein foods, such as seafood, lean
beef, and skinless chicken, will keep
guests alert.
 Carbohydrates, such as rice, bread, and
pasta, tend to relax guests and put them
to sleep.
 Fats, such as butter, whipped cream, and
heavy salad dressings, also tend to make
guests sleepy, sluggish, and inattentive.
Nutrition
 Many attendees will appreciate it if you
provide alternatives, including some lowfat, low-calorie, or high-protein meal
options as well as a variety of lowcarbohydrate foods.
 If a convention or meeting lasts three or
four days, or longer, you should try to
minimize the amount of UFOs
(unidentified fried objects), foods high in
fats or carbs.
 Serve sauces and dressings on the side
so that guests can control their portion
sizes.
Hard to produce foods
 Lobster, soufflé, rare roast beef, medium
rare tuna or salmon steak, and rare duck
breast are almost impossible to prepare
and serve satisfactorily for more than a
handful of guests.
Repetition
 Do not repeat the same preparation,
presentation, or product.
 If attendees will be at a hotel for several
days, and if they will be eating mostly
catered meals, you must be careful not to
repeat food items from meal to meal and
from day to day. An exception might be
the breakfast meal.
Easy to produce foods
 Chicken
 Beef
Holding time
 Large pieces of food hold heat or cold longer than
small pieces.
 Solid meats hold temperature better than sliced meats.
 Lettuce wedges stay fresher and colder than tossed
salad.
 Whole fruit and muffins stay fresher longer than sliced
fruits or sliced cake.
 Whole vegetables hold better than julienne cuts.
 Cold foods stay cold longer than hot foods hold heat.
 Cold foods stay cold longer if served on cold plates.
 Hot foods stay hot longer if served on warm plates.
Menu Balance
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Flavors
Textures
Shapes
Colors
Temperatures
Presentation
 Take time to check how the plates will
look before they leave the kitchen.
 Color, texture, shapes, and arrangements
should work well together and
complement one another.
 People eat first with their eyes.
Matching Food & Wine
 Generally speaking, delicate, lessflavorful foods should be served with
white wines.
 Red meats, pastas with meat and tomato
sauce, and other strong-flavored foods
should be served with red wines.
Styles of Service
 Buffet
 Attended
Buffet/Cafeteria
 Combination Buffet
 Plated Buffet
 Action Stations
 Reception
 Butlered/Tray Service
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American/Plated
Family Style/English
Preset
Cart French
Banquet French
Russian
Hand Service
Waiter Parade
The Wave
Breakfast
 Speed and efficiency are extremely
important.
 Attendees will be going to business
meetings, seminars, or other events after
the meal.
 Breakfast that runs late can throw off the
whole day's schedule.
Breakfast
 Many attendees will skip breakfast.
 Some of do not eat breakfast normally.
 Some may prefer early-morning exercise
workouts.
 Others may have been out late the night
before and would rather sleep than eat.
Breakfast
 A buffet is the best type of service to
have for breakfast functions because it
can accommodate very easily the early
riser and the late arrival.
Breakfast Buffet
 The traditional breakfast buffet includes
two or three types of breakfast meats,
three to six varieties of pastries, two
styles of eggs, one potato dish, and
several selections of cereals, fresh fruits,
cold beverages, hot beverages, and
condiments.
Continental Breakfast
 Continental breakfast buffet is more
economical.
 The traditional continental breakfast
includes coffee, tea, fruit juice, and some
type of bread.
 A deluxe version offers more varieties of
juices, breads, and pastries, as well as
fresh fruits, yogurt, and cereals.
Refreshment Break
 Refreshment breaks provide liquid
repasts and possibly a snack.
 Attendees can stretch, visit the restroom,
call the office, and, if necessary, move
into another meeting room for the next
break-out session.
Lunch
 Similar to breakfast in that it is intended
to provide a convenience to attendees
and to ensure that they will not roam
away and neglect the afternoon's
business activities.
 If you serve a heavy meal, attendees will
most likely become drowsy and
inattentive later in the day.
Reception
 It is usually a pre-dinner function designed
primarily to encourage people to network
 Food should be lighter.
 Some receptions are not pre-dinner functions.
 Food should be heavier.
 Referred to as "walk and talks."
 Held during standard dinner hours and are intended
to take the place of dinner.
Type of Reception
Type of Eaters
# Hors d’oeuvres per Person
2 hours or less with
dinner following
Light
3–4 pieces
Moderate
5–7 pieces
Heavy
8+ pieces
Light
6–8 pieces
Moderate
10–12 pieces
Heavy
12+ pieces
Light
8–10 pieces
Moderate
10–12 pieces
Heavy
16+ pieces
2 hours or less with
no dinner
2–3 hours with no
dinner
Reception
 Items should be bite-size.
 This allows attendees to sample a wide variety
of foods without wasting too much.
 Ensures that food will be easy to consume.
 Ease of consumption is important as attendees
may have to balance plates, glassware,
handbags, business cards, and even cell
phones while moving around.
Dinner
 Longer, more elaborate affair.
 Many dinners are part of a theme,
ceremony, or other type of major
production where food service is only one
part of the event.
 Theme parties will promote dinner
attendance.
Dinner
 Meeting planners are usually more
adventurous when booking a dinner
function because they usually have more
money and time to work with.
 Russian and French service styles are
more likely at dinner than at other meals.