Really! How often do you hire a caterer? Unless, you have a summer house in the Hamptons, probably not very often! That may leave you with a gigantic question—one you probably forgot to ask the caterers before the dawning of the big event; “Just how do I prepare the kitchen for their arrival? What will they bring and what will I need to have on hand?” The following 5 tips can help you prepare the kitchen for the caterer’s arrival.”
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The Service
The caterer prepares the meal for the event, affair or party. This way the hostess doesn’t have to do any of the cooking. Usually the meal is prepared ahead of time, so you needn’t worry about the caterer’s cooking in your kitchen. Still the kitchen needs to be ready to warm the appetizers, meal and such if necessary.
Clean
Your first step in preparing the kitchen is to get it spotless. Make sure there are no dishes in the dishwasher, the sink or on the counter tops. The caterer will need space to set-up and to make each dish look presentable. He or she will also need the availability of the dishwasher to clean up or place dirty dishes in.
Watch the Time
You can expect the caterer and staff to arrive several hours early for the event. They will need full use of the kitchen so you many need to plan on eating breakfast, lunch or other meals somewhere else during most of the day.
cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo shared by Wendy Nelson Photography.
Open Way
A caterer may bring some kitchen equipment with him. He might need stands food warmers, food presenters and other stuff. Make way for these needs! Be sure the path to the kitchen is easily accessible and that food storage bins can be rolled or brought in easily.
Make Room in the Fridge
Call your caterer and ask if he will need special equipment like the blender, the grill or any other standard kitchen appliance. A day or two before the caterer is scheduled to arrive, clean out the fridge. Remove most of the things you have here to give the caterer enough refrigerator room to keep items chilled. In some cases he may also need access to the freezer, but this will depend on what is being served.
Complete these small details before your caterer arrives and you should not have a problem with anything that is caterer related to your event.
This article was written by ezCater.com, the best source for Charlotte catering.