Crowd Pleasing Careers in Catering

By Marianne Salina

When Francis Ford Coppola purchased the Inglenook Winery in Napa Valley, he wanted to celebrate with 3,000 of his closest friends. Pulling this off required the skill and craft of numerous catering and culinary aficionados. Knickerbockers' Catering, the oldest catering company in the Napa Valley, came to the rescue. The catering crew cooked up an elaborate menu with cuisine that met the high standards of Coppola and kept an extraordinary number of guests wined, dined, and well-satisfied.

Catering School and Hands-On Experience

Successful catering companies like Knickerbockers' rely upon culinary craft and cooking skills in addition to the business savvy developed in catering school. Whether your ambition is to coordinate large catering extravaganzas such as Coppola's, or small, intimate events, business training fosters an understanding of the market, costs, and organizational requirements of the industry. In addition to numbers, a formal culinary education will give you a glimpse at some integral details of a catering career including:

Learning how to keep a thorough schedule allowing for proper prep time, serving courses on cue, and cleanup
Understanding the type of event you are catering and how to differentiate recipe and menu needs
Using software to create catering databases, allowing for changes in guest numbers and menu details

An Orchestrated Catering Event

Providing delicious cuisine and impeccable service are the ingredients for a successful catering career. The serving staff should be organized and detail-oriented, and the menu should reflect the theme and nature of the event. Catering school will teach you how to keep inventing--whether creating a new recipe or seating hundreds of guests for an outdoor wedding reception. Research today to learn how you can provide a catering performance that everyone will remember.

Sources

Catering

How Catering Works

Knickerbockers Catering: About Us

About the Author
Marianne Salina is a freelance writer in Spokane, Washington. She writes about pursuits in education and degree opportunities.