The Catering Journal

Articles

Practical guides, technology insights, operational resources, and real-world lessons for modern catering teams.

An open spiral planner and a linen-bound notebook on a kraft folder, with a brass clip, a dish of clips, coffee, and an olive sprig on a wood desk

Featured

A buffet mockup staged with empty vessels and risers at varied heights, blank tent cards at each position, an instant camera and its prints for the record shot, kraft tags, and packed totes waiting underneath

Why Every Caterer Should Mock Up Their Buffet Before Event Day

Thirty minutes in the warehouse can save hours on event day. How a simple buffet mockup reduces surprises, speeds up setup, catches missing equipment, and builds a visual library your whole team can use.

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Latest articles

A brass balance scale on a linen cloth holding an evenly matched stack of paper on each pan, standing in for two comparable options weighed against each other

Technology15 min read

Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365 for Catering Companies: Which Fits Your Tech Stack?

The question isn't really whether Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 is better. It's which ecosystem fits how your catering operation actually works, and connects to everything else in your tech stack.

A vintage chrome deli take-a-number ticket dispenser beside a well-worn leather operations binder open to handwritten notes, a fountain pen, and a cup of coffee on a warm wood counter

Operations7 min read

The Giver Problem

Every operation has one, the person who somehow holds it all together. It feels like loyalty. It's actually a single point of failure. Here's the pattern, and the fix that frees her instead of replacing her.

A fanned row of labelled kraft event folders, one pulled forward, beside a brass-clipped production schedule listing each event by date, and a stack of cups and a carafe set out for the meeting

Operations11 min read

How to Run a Great Weekly Catering Production Meeting

A production meeting isn't where you plan the event from scratch. It's the recurring checkpoint that confirms the event is ready to execute. Here's how to structure one that actually works.

Three bundles of cards tied with twine in descending stack heights beside a ruled count sheet and a brass clip, standing in for individual meal selections sorted into an entree count

Operations6 min read

From RSVP Meal Choices to a Kitchen Count the Captain Can Use

Collecting the meal choices is the easy part. Turning them into a kitchen count and a seat-by-seat the captain can actually run service from is where events go sideways. Here's the clean way to do it.

A vintage kitchen scale with brass weights, graduated brass measuring cups, and a nest of stoneware mixing bowls on a wood counter, standing in for scaling quantities to a headcount

Buffets7 min read

How Much Food for 50 Guests

A caterer's portioning framework that scales cleanly to any headcount, with math you can hand straight to the kitchen.

A vintage adding machine with a long curl of receipt tape beside a twine-tied kraft portfolio and a brass pen, standing in for working a proposal's numbers before they reach the client

Pricing9 min read

How to Price a Catering Proposal

Cost-up pricing that protects your margin without scaring the client away. The numbers behind a proposal that wins.

A blank checklist on a brass-clipped clipboard beside a tray holding three serving spoons, a pair of tongs, a brass clip, and a folded olive service towel, counted out on linen before packing

Operations6 min read

The Perfect Catering Packing List

The system that means you never arrive at a venue missing a chafer, a serving spoon, or the one extension cord that saves the night.

Three galvanized tubs of ice in ascending sizes with a brass scoop and a striped linen towel, standing in for scaling an ice order to the size of an event

Beverage6 min read

How Much Ice Does Your Event Really Need?

Ice isn't one number, it's three. Here's how caterers plan beverage, cooling, and backup ice so nothing melts down mid-event.

An empty buffet line set for service: a stack of plates at the head, then three chafers in a row, each with a napkin and tongs on a rest at the front and back, and a blank brass sign holder at the start

Operations6 min read

Designing a Buffet That Doesn't Back Up

A slow buffet line isn't a food problem, it's a layout problem. Here's how to design one that clears the room and keeps guests happy.

A blank staffing plan worksheet on a brass-clipped clipboard, with rows for setup, service, bar, kitchen, dish pit, and breakdown, beside a floor plan, a kraft tag, notebooks, and coffee on a wood desk

Operations7 min read

How Many Catering Staff Do You Really Need?

Staffing isn't one ratio. It's six roles, each responding to the service style, the bar, the rentals, and the room. Here's how the pros plan it.

Passed service pieces counted out on linen: five empty tasting spoons lined up in a tray, seven knotted bamboo picks in a row, a stack of kraft cocktail napkins, and a brass bowl holding the spare picks

Beverage7 min read

How Many Hors d'Oeuvres Do You Need Per Person?

The passed-service standard is simple math, but self-service stations play by different rules. Here's how to plan both without running short or over-ordering.

Blank place cards in brass holders above four folded napkins, each set with a different serving utensil, beside a blank clipboard, standing in for labelling and separating dietary options before service

Service7 min read

How to Handle Dietary Restrictions at a Catered Event

Allergies and diets are the rule now, not the exception. Here's a system for handling them that protects your guests and your reputation.

An unopened wine bottle on a brass coaster beside a row of empty wine glasses, with tumblers and coupes ranked behind them on linen in soft window light

Beverage7 min read

How Many Drinks Per Guest for an Event?

Beverage planning is more than the bar. Here's how to size water, coffee, soft drinks, and alcohol so no one goes thirsty and nothing goes to waste.

An empty grazing table laid out on linen: wood boards, slate slabs, inverted ramekins for risers, cheese knives, a brass riser, and a tape measure running the length of the table

Buffets9 min read

How to Plan a Grazing Table: Quantities, Variety & Seasonal Ideas

How caterers plan a grazing table that balances quantity, variety, display space, and replenishment, without overproducing.

A printed time and temperature log with ruled rows and columns of small empty checkboxes on a warm oak table, a brass pocket watch and folded linen beside it, three tented cards standing on a brass easel behind.

Buffets8 min read

Grazing Table Food Safety: Working the Clock on a Table Built to Sit Out

A grazing table is built to sit out. Here is which items are actually on the clock, how the four-hour and six-hour rules work, and how to build the display so the timing works in your favor.

An Event Discovery question sheet on a brass-clipped clipboard, sectioned into the basics, the vision, the experience, and the details, beside a twine-tied proposal folder, a blank calendar, and a Who What When Where Why How card

Sales11 min read

Catering Discovery Questions: What to Ask Before You Build the Proposal

Discovery is the bridge between an inquiry and a proposal. The questions that actually matter, and how they change by event type.

Event linen fabric samples and tablecloth sizing sketch for choosing tablecloth size and drop

Operations10 min read

Tablecloth Sizes for Events: A Sizing Guide for Caterers

How to calculate tablecloth size and drop for round, rectangular, square, and cocktail tables, plus a quick-reference chart and the mistakes that cost you in the warehouse.

An architectural floor plan spread on a wood desk with a brass tape measure extended across it, a kraft clipboard, a stack of blank site photo prints, and a brass key on a kraft tag

Operations9 min read

The Art of the Venue Walkthrough

A great catering walkthrough isn't about measuring doorways. It's the one moment operations, sales, the venue, and the client can stand in the same space and imagine the event together.

A single proposal folder tied with twine and held by a brass clip on a wood desk, its cover card reading One Link. Always Current. One Proposal. One Source of Truth.

Technology12 min read

Curate: One of the Most Forward-Thinking Catering Platforms Available Today

A closer look at Curate's all-in-one catering software, from proposals and recipe costing to payments and integrated online ordering, and why native e-commerce is reshaping catering technology.

A scatter of opened kraft envelopes each holding a differently written inquiry letter, beside one structured inquiry form on a clipboard with the same fields and checkboxes every time

Technology14 min read

Jotform for Caterers: Collect Better Information Before the First Conversation

The right intake form answers the questions you'd otherwise chase over a week of emails. Here's how caterers use Jotform for inquiries, captain's reports, checklists, and feedback, and where that information hands off to your planning.

A stack of tied kraft delivery boxes with blank tags beside a brass desk clock and a card showing a delivery route between two map pins, standing in for orders, timing, and the drop

Technology15 min read

Why We Recommend Shopify for Catering Delivery

Shopify already solves the hard parts of e-commerce. The real work is adapting it to how catering actually operates, delivery dates, ordering cutoffs, and capacity. Here's how we'd approach it.

A formal place setting seen from above on linen: charger, dinner plate, folded napkin, bread plate, blank place card in a brass holder, three forks to the left, knife and two spoons to the right, and three glasses above

Service13 min read

Complete Guide to Place Settings for Caterers and Event Planners

Where every plate, fork, glass, and napkin belongs, and why. A practical, operations-first guide to setting a table correctly for any event, from casual buffets to formal dinners.

The five steps of the Click to Table Framework drawn as linked circles, package, price tag, delivery truck, clock, and rising arrow, shown on a laptop on a wood desk with a brass clip, notebook, and coffee

Technology14 min read

The Click to Table Framework: A 5-Step Approach to Launching Catering E-Commerce That Actually Works

Most caterers start online ordering with the wrong question, which platform to buy. The Click to Table Framework is a five-step way to think through catering e-commerce as a business decision first, technology second.

Five kraft containers tied with twine and hung with blank tags, lined up on a stainless prep counter beside a stack of emptied hotel pans, ready to be labelled and sent out

Operations9 min read

What To Do With Catering Leftovers: Donation, Composting & Smart Food Recovery

Nearly every caterer eventually faces the same question at the end of the night: what do we do with the food that's left? The answer is a plan you make before the event, not after.

A stack of printed delivery slips on a wooden clipboard held by a single brass binder clip on natural linen, a folded linen napkin, a wax-sealed cream envelope, a leather portfolio corner in the foreground with a pressed olive sprig, and a single whole pear resting nearby in warm late-afternoon window light

Operations10 min read

Outsourcing Catering Delivery Without Losing the Last Impression

When you outsource delivery, you outsource the last impression. The standard doesn't get to drop just because you didn't drive the food yourself.

A catering floor plan divided into four service zones with dashed boundaries, beside a fanned set of captain checklist cards and a brass clip on a warm oak table.

Operations6 min read

What Is a Zone Captain?

On large events, one captain cannot see every room. A zone captain owns a defined area: its staff, its timing, and its guests. Here is how the role works and when you need one.

The Catering Journal

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