“In the past, clients have looked toward right-sized venues,” Banasiak says.
In order to maintain social distancing guidelines, which are unlikely to change anytime soon, in-person events will probably consist of smaller groups in larger venues to accommodate that six-foot radius. “This protects both the kitchen, the staff, and the guests from cross-contamination.” “Think custom branded to-go boxes or retro takes on branded hamburger boxes or mini pizzas in their own mini pizza boxes.” She also suggests passing hors d'oeuvres on large boards such as surfboards and pizza peels “so you don't come face-to-face with someone.”īorden also says she thinks more food trucks will be pulling up to events. Sarah Banasiak, The Revel Group’s chief creative officer, agrees with this concept, saying passed bites could be served in a fun enclosed container. Growing up in Japan, I enjoyed quite a few of these convenient meal boxes in the school lunchroom and even at baseball games.” “Bento boxes would offer a fully curated meal for each guest that is appetizing for both the eyes and stomach. This is the industry that breaks down barriers and challenges and rebuilds them into new things every day through teamwork and collaboration.” For example, a few years ago, Wolfgang Puck Catering introduced its “vertical buffet.” Cline says that “this is an example of how we can reimagine buffets in this post-COVID event space.”Īs for other creative catering options, Abby Borden, a Los Angeles-based event consultant and owner of Table Set Go, looks to her heritage. “I trust our industry to rise to the challenge to reinvent how we present and serve our menu items.
As with everything else, it will be about providing a visible level of safeguards so that our clients feel comfortable.”Ī few years ago, Wolfgang Puck Catering introduced its “vertical buffet.” Cline said that “this is an example of how we can reimagine buffets in this post-COVID event space.” Photo: Courtesy of Wolfgang Puck Catering Cline says that buffets will stick around unless a governing agency says they must go.
“They will definitely look different in the short term, with additional staff serving the food from chafing dishes and platters, and probably will require some type of shielding, but buffet-style service, in general, is too popular with too many to totally disappear. “I wouldn’t pull the plug on buffets just yet-or at least not fully,” says Doug Quattrini, current national president of the National Association for Catering & Events and an off-premise caterer for Sensational Host in Maple Shade, New Jersey. Jason Berkowitz, founder of Arrow Up, a hospitality consulting company currently helping restaurants reopen safely, echoes Fleury’s idea, saying that caterers will need to reinvent the way a buffet line works and operate more like chef-serving stations as opposed to guests helping themselves, or ready-made plates will be up for grabs along with individually wrapped silverware. These are a great solution, and may actually allow for some really fun and innovative new catering ideas and trends.” We think we’ll see those mostly convert to small-plate, chef-attended stations. Katie Fleury, director of sales for Washington, D.C.-based Ridgewells Catering, says that “we do think that, for the most part, these are gone for good-at least in the traditional ways in which we’ve known them. Will shared food service stations, such as buffets, survive the coronavirus? That’s still up for debate, according to our experts. Here, Cline and other event experts share their thoughts on what catering will look (and taste) like when live, in-person events are up and running again. locations including the Wolfgang Puck Bar and Grill at Disney Springs near Orlando. For the next phase-live events-Mary Cline, East Coast regional director of catering sales, for Wolfgang Puck Catering (WPC), said that the company is following local and state government guidelines for restaurant reopenings, along with recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control, to help set the protocol. With restaurants dotted around the globe, the team at Wolfgang Puck has been contemplating safety guidelines since the start of the pandemic, and is currently prepping for the reopening of some U.S. And catering and food service is perhaps the biggest issue they’ve been chewing on. begin to slowly reopen, industry pros have begun brainstorming how in-person events will be able to adhere to potential safety guidelines regarding COVID-19.
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