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Hot Stuff: Why the Caterer Needs Some Chill Time
SFist Mary Ladd tells us what it's like on the other side of the buffet line!
We need to relax, pronto! A killer gig of taking care of other people -- otherwise known as catering -- leaves us with sore muscles, red eyes, and a smile on our face. Say Wha?
Don't let anyone lie to you and say catering is easy. It's not. But we are crazy enough to enjoy doing it. Something about running around, telling people what to do (so what if our kindergarten teacher wrote in our report card that we'd be a dictator of a small island country?), working with a bunch of strong personalities, and being around all that food. Catering is a great way to keep up with culinary trends. Also, we have always been so vain, and are enamored with the added bonus of how easy our clothes fit, from all that physical work.
Supervising catering means we are bombarded with chances to ask, or more likely, tell our staff to please move or do something. Sorry Mick Jagger, but in catering, time is NOT on our side. There are a zillion components to coordinate and then execute. Wearing a watch (and the right shoes) is vital. Once an event begins and guests arrive, the catering machine revs into high gear --vrrrrrroooom! Ideally, time flies by as customers get their food, eat and enjoy.
Of course issues come up. That's what they pay us the big bucks for: to solve problems. We have yet to tell an employee, co-worker, customer, or vendor to drink a nice big cup of STFU. Shhhh, that was the voice in our head talking!
Our staff such as bussers (the hard working backbone of catering) and servers have their jobs to do, and they hopefully set to it. When the event ends and the guests are gone, it's time to get our staff to tick off the "what's next?" items on our list. That would be clean up and tear down.
First, find an empty cart or carts. What? Someone moved or took our carts? F***ers! Send catering staff to hunt down empty carts. While waiting, get other staff to pull linens off empty tables (otherwise known as rounds). Take inventory of leftover product: napkins, food, beverages, utensils, trays, etc. When carts show up, load 'em up and take to their various locations: the trucks, walk-in, kitchen, or storage rooms. This is sometimes the toughest part of catering because we have at this point been on the job for a long time, and everyone is zonked. Everyone also knows they can probably take a meal break or go home after tear down finishes, and they may be hungry.
We get a teeny bit woozy sometimes at the end of a catering day because we don't get to eat much. Oh, the Irony of It All! We love, love, love food, but don't have much time to actually eat it when catering. The culprit is called S*** To Do. At home or out at restaurants big and small, we usually try to take our time and savor each bite, looking and acting like a gentle and delicate flower. Maybe sip a tasty adult beverage while leisurely chatting and eating. Ha! In catering, we have been known to rip meat out of a sandwich and shove it down our throat, with barely any chewing. So that's what Caterers Gone Wild looks like.
When we finally make it home from catering, our husband is happy to see us. Sure, he missed us, but the reality is: his life is easier when we are out working hard. We have little time to be critical of the state of our apartment when catering. Nor do we want to argue over the remote control, or squawk when we realize the Brita water filter is six days overdue for a change. Instead of caring about little stuff like that, we just want to rest and relax for awhile.