If you are running a luxury hotel and catering is one of the core functions, then you need to be extra-vigilant. The first food Fails happen before you even open your doors. Before guests arrive, there’s the food prep stage, when chefs must go through their pantry and fridge to get enough staples. They check what can be frozen and what needs to be thrown away. The last thing they want is to serve food that might not appeal to guests or induce them with germs. And as for after hours? Well, yes, this is a critical time for any caterer too.
For instance: does leftover salad taste good the next day? What happens if it’s served cold? Does reheating it make it soggy again? Or if boiled it loses its “oomph”? Luxury hotels have different expectations from their caterers than other types of hotels do; therefore, a few pointers about how to run a catering service should come hand in hand with operating an elite establishment like one. Here are some common pitfalls that can happen when you’re operating a food service at your Luxury Hotel:
Too much too soon
There’s really no need to rush into running a food service at your hotel. The very first thing you need to do is get to know your chefs. They need to know you and your guests. Once you have a rapport with them, you can move on to establishing a basic menu. And once you have that figured out, you can start taking reservations. For instance, what time is breakfast? If it has a time limit, then guests might not show up. What about lunch and dinner? Will there be a time limit? Can you extend it?
Breakfast and Brunch fail
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It sets the tone for the rest of the day. This is one meal that everyone needs to be ready for. If they aren’t, they run the risk of feeling sluggish, lethargic and even sick. Therefore, you need to coordinate breakfast with your opening hours at the hotel. If you don’t want to close the door to your guests, then you need to serve a continental breakfast until 10:00 am. For instance: will cereal, bread, eggs, and fruit be ready by 8:30 am? If not, make sure that you have enough supplies in the pantry and fridge. And once guests start to arrive, make sure that the food is served quickly.
Lunch and dinner fail
Like breakfast, you need to know when the lunch and dinner services need to commence. Similarly, you will also have to coordinate with this time window with your opening hours. For instance: does 11:30 am fit into your schedule? If not, then maybe it’s better to close down for an hour or two. Also, you need to check if your chefs can prepare food for all your guests at once, as this is an important thing to consider. There’s nothing wrong with serving a variety of dishes during lunch and dinner, but it’s important that your chefs can handle all the orders without taking too long.
Take too long to serve the right food
This should never happen. Seriously, how can you watch the clock while your guests are waiting at the table? Instead, you should ask your chefs to show you what they’re doing. This allows you to make sure that they are not taking too long. And most importantly, you need to let your guests know when the food will be ready. If they are waiting at the table and you don’t tell them, then you will lose your guests’ trust. Once the food is ready, let your guests know. Don’t leave them in the dark.
Don’t check for allergies or other dietary restrictions
This is something which you will realize only when you have catered on a few events. Different guests have special dietary needs or allergies. While most of the time, you might not know about it, it’s better to be safe than sorry. You can easily ask your chef what ingredients are used in the food and how the preparation of those ingredients affect people with allergies. For instance: is there any ingredient that is not allowed to be used in your food? If yes, then you can easily change it and make sure your guests are unaware of it.
Un-edible fruit or desserts
This is also one of the most common food fails. Think about it. Do you really want to serve guests an unappetizing meal that has unappealing fruits? Or, do you want them to taste an all-time favorite that is not appealing at all? This is one thing that you need to be extra-vigilant about. Once you have all the food items in your pantry and fridge that are fit to be served to your guests, check if they are edible. Make sure that they don’t have bugs or have unappetizing color or shape. If they don’t, then don’t serve them to your guests.
Bottom line
When it comes to running a food service, you need to know the ropes. You need to know the ingredients that are used in your food, their nutritional value and how they affect people with allergies. You also need to be extra-vigilant when it comes to serving unappetizing fruits and vegetables. If they don’t have any nutritional value and are unappealing in color and shape, then don’t serve them to your guests. These are the food Fails that can happen in your Luxury Hotel.
