Any good, experienced cooks?Follow

Get a job you're qualified for.

See, now the reason I got the job is because I know the guy, and he knows that because I'm doing the much easier job I get later on from him for much much more money, he won't need to pay me much for this. He also knows that while I don't have much experience in this sort of place, all I really need is a plan and some recipes and I'm golden, once the menu is made, I can make whatever's on it without any problem.

I'm mostly just not sure of what kind of food I can make, I can do the job, I just need the menu.

Avocado salad
Turkey/Chicken w/ vegis
Kick *** chocolate cake w/ fruit.

Here you go.

Personally I would focus on doing a smaller few dishes well, instead of serving many dishes that are just so-so. This should be a little easier to maintain quality food, and you won't have to worry about such a hefty menu. I'd say 3 main dishes should be sufficient to give people a good choice, show some variance in your cooking, and be easier to get feedback with a tighter menu.

Do you get to get any info beforehand? Such as the expected crowd, what the promoters are looking for exactly? What they aren't? Are there any special diets to consider? (eg. a large attending group of diabetics, people with common food allergies)

How much staff will it take to cook all the food, and how is it going to be served?

Sorry just things I think of. My friends restaurant I worked at did a fair amount of wedding receptions and catering for large business parties. It's a lot more small town that what you're doing but the principles are about the same.

The last wedding I went to had 150 guests. The menu went something like this:

- Spinach and walnut salad, with strawberries and red wine vinaigrette dressing
- Baked chicken in a red wine portabella mushroom sauce
- Baked cod in a butter and white wine sauce
- Roasted redskin potatoes with basil
- Steamed green beans
- Fluffy buttermilk biscuits

The dishes were relatively simple, but everything was well made. (It was at a vineyard, hence the wine sauces on everything.)

Read these quotes aloud to yourself, then go tell your friend that you've decided you're not the guy for the job.

Thank you, that proved very useful in the meeting I just had with the guy. Menu seems to be set.




Looking into that over the next few business days, however, even if I have to buy at wholesale, considering what I've got on the menu, I should be able to stick within the budget.



I will have that. The college here has an amazing culinary program so my employer and I have decided to see if we can get some second year students in to get them some extra experience. I'll be "hiring" a fair amount of trained, free help. Otherwise, there is enough in the budget to hire a few people, and I have a rather large amount of time for prep and for the service, so while I'd like to have a decent sized staff, I can probably make do with 3 or 4 other people.



A full meal.



I will have details about the location within the next two weeks, but I've attended functions at all the places on the list, so I have an idea of the layout, and I'll have plenty of time in the two weeks preceding the event to figure everything out on site.



That's exactly what I'm doing. There are a few choices for each course, giving people plenty of variety without creating chaos for myself and my staff in the kitchen.



Expected crowd is 75-100, the promoter is looking for fancy, but within budget, which we've hashed out, and i just need to give him a final estimate of my budgetary needs. I've made a point of offering low sugar meals(I know how to cater to diabetics as my brother was diagnosed last year with Type 1), and I'm steering clear of anything that is considered a common food allergy. Food will also be 100% Kosher.



I have the necessary experience, I've cooked for far more people who have been there, with less staff than I will likely have for this, with a much more complicated menu. I have created and cooked menus at restaurants before, and I do know what I'm doing. All I need to worry about is the food, the kitchen and the quality. Almost all other aspects are being handled by the employer. I also have passion for this, which is something I didn't have for the last project. I ******* hate tech work, but it was a paycheck, and a free trip to Vegas. Even though it went bad, if I could go back and do it again, I would. And I did learn a lot from it, and I'm implementing that in what I'm doing now. I have a large amount of time before this happens, so I'm making use of that to make sure that I am ready for anything that could go wrong. And I have trained staff, which makes it a lot easier.

Where I live, you get nowhere unless you take risks, and this is relatively low risk compared to other projects I've worked on.

I might just do that, can't do anything but help.

That's not a regional thing, it's, for the most part, a staple of life.

Anyway, goodluck, hopefully your Born Loser curse bypasses you for once.

Then why are you here asking for a menu? If this was something you could truly handle, you wouldn't need us.

You also said in the Career thread that you want to be a professional chef but if you're so bereft of ideas now, you're never going to make it.

This was going to be my recommendation (Damn you Poldaran!).

I dunno, dirty rice actually holds up pretty well. I think it's the gravy that's mixed in.