Exciting win for young apprentices

Posted by: oronr  :  Category: Hospitality News

Two young Victorian apprentice chefs; Tim Squires from Gingerboy in Melbourne and Matthew Carnell from Mercers Restaurant in Eltham (pictured left and right respectively) are the winners of the highly sought-after 2009 Thierry Marx Career Development Award.

The two winners were announced today at a luncheon at Nobu at Crown Melbourne, attended by finalists and their famililes, sponsors and industry identities.

Matthew and Tim will be sharing the experience with one of the 2008 winners, Natalie Watkins of Waddingtons at Kergunyah, who was unable to take the trip to France last year.

The trio will travel to France in early August for a trip of a lifetime, with a month’s work experience at Thierry Marx’s two Michelin-starred restaurant at Chateau Cordeillan-Bages in Bordeaux.

Look out for profiles of these passionate young chefs in the next issue of Essence newsletter.

Australian pork is safe to eat

Posted by: oronr  :  Category: Hospitality News

Australian consumers need not be concerned about contracting so-called ’swine flu’ by eating pork products, says Australian Pork Limited (APL), the national representative body for Australian pork producers.

The global concern with swine flu has been declared as not being a food-borne safety issue by leading world and local health organisations. 

The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say “swine flu viruses are not transmitted by food”.

The World Organisation for Animal Health Director General Bernard Vallat described the virus being dubbed ’swine flu’ as in fact a ‘cocktail’ of four different strains. “There is no proof that this virus, currently circulating among humans, really is of animal origin. There is no element to support this.”

Corporate Catering in Melbourne

Posted by: oronr  :  Category: Corporate Catering

Corporate Catering in Melbourne service seems to have you covered. www.cateringinmelbourne.com.au offers a wide array of savoury platters to feed your guest, whatever the occasion may be. Whether it is sandwiches that you are into or something that is a little more exotic, the www.cateringinmelbourne.com.au has something that will surely fit your taste buds. www.cateringinmelbourne.com.au can take care of your special occasion events, weddings, funerals, formal events, receptions, corporate functions, or just about any event where you have some guest that you need to feed. In addition to special events and occasions, they can also provide food for your office.

For corporate catering Melbourne, www.cateringinmelbourne.com.au is a place to consider calling upon. They have a service which they call Corporate Hot Delivery which is geared toward corporate catering. This service provides sandwiches as well as savoury platters of assorted meats and hot delicacies that will tantalize the taste buds. This could be a great way to treat the office for lunch or a special dinner occasion.

Some of the savoury platters that you will find on the Corporate Hotbox menu are things like; a Japanese platter, a fanned fruit platter, assorted wraps, as well as roll platters and sandwiches. These are just a few of the items that you will find on the Corporate Hotbox menu, you can check out the full menu on their website, just search for corporate catering Melbourne and click on Finger Food Company. By looking at their website, corporate catering Melbourne you can see all the services that this catering service has to offer. Once you take a look at this site(www.cateringinmelbourne.com.au), you will see what I am talking about. You will see why I believe the www.cateringinmelbourne.com.au is the stuff when it comes to corporate catering Melbourne.

So why not treat your office to some delicious sandwiches, some savoury platters, or some gourmet delicacies from the www.cateringinmelbourne.com.au. This could be an excellent way to reward your office for their hard work and let them know that you appreciate them. This can also be a good morale booster for your office as well.

The www.cateringinmelbourne.com.au has a lot to offer to those who need a caterer. They have, as I have already mentioned, savuory platters, sandwiches, and so much more to offer to your corporate, or special event.

Catering in Melbourne

Posted by: oronr  :  Category: Corporate Catering

Catering Melbourne specialises in Corporate Catering and meeting the needs of busy professionals. Providing turnkey catering solutions, Catering Melbourne understands that the requirements of Corporate Catering are unique – timing is crucial so that meetings run on time, fresh, tasty food is essential for maximising productivity and seamless service a must so that no detail gets overlooked.

Whether you are rewarding hard working staff, celebrating a success or entertaining valued clients, Catering Melbourne integrates their expertise in corporate catering with your specific needs and requirements.

Catering Melbourne’s Corporate Catering offers a selection of chef prepared gourmet food options:

Sweet & Savoury Platters - the perfect option for informal lunch gatherings. A beautifully presented selection allows everybody to choose a favourite savoury classic or be enticed by a sweet contemporary creation. Healthy Fresh Choices – busy, focused people need fresh, healthy food! Ideal for offering delegates light, but wholesome sustenance during an important board meeting or for a brief breakout session All Day Catering – the ultimate choice that allows for the day’s proceedings to be complemented by timely and scrumptious breakfasts, lunches and morning and afternoon teas.

Sweet and Savoury Platters

Stunning Sandwich Platters

These platters are an effortless way for you to present a colourful and tasty array of beautiful fresh sandwiches, wraps and baguettes. You can select from a range of our carefully designed filling combinations or create your own.

Scrumptious Sandwich Fillings:

Lightly Grilled Vegetables, Feta, Capsicum and Fresh Basil Pesto

Leg Ham, Relish, Swiss Cheese, crisp Lettuce with a dash of Grain Mustard

Decadent Smoked Salmon, crunchy cucumber with a zesty Lemon and Dill Cream Cheese

Succulent Turkey, Carrot, Cucumber, Alfalfa, Cream Cheese drizzled with Cranberry Sauce

Tender Chicken Breast, garden Fresh Chives, Avocado with Grain Mustard and real Egg Mayonnaise

Beautiful Roast Beef, Caramelised Onion, Rocket, Fresh Tomato with flavoursome Horseradish

Fresh Egg, Chives, Aioli, Ground Pepper, Alfalfa and Semi Sundried Tomato Paste

Smoky Bacon, Fresh Tomato, Crisp Lettuce with a smooth, creamy Mayonnaise

A Sandwich Tip:

We think 4 mini sandwiches per person is perfect $9.50 per person

Platters with 40 mixed mini sandwiches $95 (suits 10 people)

Platters with 80 mixed mini sandwiches $190 (suits 20 people)

Gorgeous Baguette and Wrap Fillings:

Lightly Grilled Vegetables, Feta, Capsicum and Fresh Basil Pesto

Gourmet Chicken Schnitzel, homemade style Mayonnaise, crispy Bacon and Tasty Cheese

Tandoori Chicken, refreshing Tzatziki Cucumber, Spinach and a splash of Sweet Chilli Sauce

Beautiful Roast Beef, Caramelised Onion, Rocket, Fresh Tomato with Grain Mustard and Horseradish

Perfectly Roasted Vegetables, Semi Sundried Tomatoes, Feta Cheese with aromatic Pesto Spread

Fragrant Chicken Satay, crunchy fresh Coleslaw, Cucumber, Spinach and Sweet Chilli Sauce

A Wrap Tip:

We think 2 half wraps per person is perfect $9.60 per person

Platters with 20 mixed wraps $96 (suits 10 people)

Platters with 40 mixed wraps $192 (suits 20 people)

A Baguette Tip:

We think 2 mini baguettes per person is perfect $9.60 per person

Platters with 20 mixed mini baguettes $96 (suits 10 people)

Platters with 40 mixed mini baguettes $192 (suits 20 people)

Want to Mix it Up? A Tip.

We think 1 wrap, 1 baguette and 2 mini sandwiches per person is perfect $14.50 per person

Platters with 40 mixed selected items $ 145 (suits 10 people)

Platters with 80 mixed selected items $290 (suits 20 people)

Catering Melbourne

Posted by: oronr  :  Category: Corporate Catering

YOU have got to love an environmental project that involves eating plenty of delicious local produce.

In an innovative move, Epicure Catering has now moved to what it calls “end-to-end” trading.

Epicure executive Michael Milburn said its partnership with food donation group SecondBite was an extension of its sustainable food philosophy.

It means any of Epicure’s properly stored extra produce at the Spring Carnival will find its way to many of Melbourne’s deserving charities.

Michael said the idea of the end-to-end commitment was to care about the environment all of the way along the food chain.

That started by supplying seasonal, locally-sourced and cruelty-free products all the way through to reducing waste and the use of water and energy.

Good news for those who eat the produce is that Michael said building relationships with top Victorian producers has improved taste.

SecondBite executive director Katy Barfield said volunteers, businesses and charities had embraced the concept with 250 tonnes of quality food now supplied to charities each year.

Michael said Epicure was now looking to introduce Canada’s green table initiative at the Melbourne Town Hall and other venues from next year.

It aims to help restaurants and caterers reduce their water and energy usage and waste in running their businesses.

Herald Sun 22-10-2008

Catering in Melbourne

Posted by: oronr  :  Category: Function Catering

There has never been a better time to have your event professionally catered. Today’s professional catering services not only provide great food for your guests, but can also provide a plethora of other services to help make any event a memorable experience.

In addition to the actual food and beverages, the most common feature provided by catering services is staff. Your caterer can provide you and your guests with servers, bartenders, and hosts or hostesses.

Most catering services will gladly provide you with ample furnishings and decorations for any type of event. These items can range from tables and chairs to lighting, table settings, floral arrangements, window treatments, and alternative seating. This is an excellent way to help consolidate various aspects of your event down to one provider. When vetting any potential caterers for your next occasion, be sure to discuss with them what types of furnishings and decorations are available.

Themed events have been around for a long time, yet they recently have become even more popular and common. Themes are a great way to add a little extra something to parties, weddings, meetings, luncheons, or conventions. Ask your caterer if they can work with you to provide a themed atmosphere that will make your event even more memorable.

If you have a caterer in mind, but have not yet decided on a venue to host your gathering, ask your caterer! Chances are, local catering services have a great understanding of venues in your area. Your caterer can help you pick out a location that they feel will suit your needs from past events and experiences.

Presentation is a huge part of any service, especially catering. While the food may be superb, the presentation of these dishes can make it spectacular. Some caterers consider their food presentation to be an art form. From strategically arranged dishes, chocolate fountains, dazzling buffets, and sizzling platters, your caterer’s ability to present attractive dishes to your guests can make for quite an impressive event.

Catering in Melbourne

Posted by: oronr  :  Category: Corporate Catering, Function Catering

All your dreams are starting to come true and you are putting together all your wedding plans. There are a vast number of planning steps and procedures that you need to partake in and finding a good caterer should be at the forefront. In Melbourne there are a number of caterers that will offer their service and try to guarantee the best catering in the city. There are a number of factors that you should take into consideration before finalizing your decision on which Miami caterer to use.

Choosing the food at your wedding is often the biggest and most important decision you can make. If everything else goes according to plan, but the guests do not enjoy the food, the whole day can be put in jeopardy. While you almost certaintly realized that you needed to find a caterer the moment you starting planning, you have to be sure that you do not put it off until the last minute. The earlier you book a caterer, especially in such a popular area such as Miami, the better off you will be.

Before even beginning to shop for a caterer there are some factors you need to consider. It is important to decide whether you will be having an open reception or a set guest list. Negotiate a budget in relation to your reception and plan your guest list accordingly. You should have a pretty good idea of how many people you wish to attend your reception before looking to employ a catering service. Once you have come up with an estimated number and a price range, you can enquire into the services offered by caterers.

While you are surely already aware of the benefits inherent in investing in a professional caterer for your wedding, it can be quite trying to actually find the best one available. One of the first and best ways to being searching is to look for recommendations. These can either come from people you know and friends or from professional wedding planners. The caterer that you hire has a crucial impact on your wedding day on the whole, so it is important to take recommendations into careful consideration. If a caterer has ensured that someone else’s special day was perfect, there is a far greater chance that they will do the same for you.

Once you have narrowed down your search you should take the final step and start interviewing the Melbournecaterers that you are interested in. The interview process can be a great way to weed out the companies with less experience and find the ones that you feel most comfortable with. In the end, it is your comfort that is most important. By discussing your day and menu with a caterer one on one, you will get a much better idea of how reliable they are and which services they offer.

There are a number of caterers in Melbourne and the surrounding area. Some are experienced and reliable and others are not. Take some of the previously mentioned ideas into consideration and you will improve your chances of hiring the perfect service for your perfect day.

Wedding Catering Melbourne

Posted by: oronr  :  Category: Function Catering

We all know that the business of catering can be a fantastic and a business of profit if some basics are followed properly. Also it is widely accepted fact that event catering is more profitable for the people, who are in the business of catering. There is another type of catering service available, which is known as the mobile catering. Now, among all types of event catering, the wedding catering is best in all respect. So in this article we will discuss a little about the ‘wedding catering’.

While you are in the duty of catering for any wedding event, you should remember that wedding is an event, which is full of emotions and entertainment. Now, you can add the flavors of more joy and entertainment on the event with the foods of great quality and nice food serving skills. The wedding catering is not very much different if compared to some other catering events. But the difference can be seen in the menu of dishes.

The main aim of maximum of the wedding catering to serve the foods that is delicious to some extent and must satisfy the hunger of the guests. For an example in a ‘business meeting’, the primary aim is a good chat about a particular business fact. A good dinner can follow the business chat. But in wedding, the wedding cake, menu and good quality foods are very much important. Sometimes a wedding party may be based on some particular theme. In that case, the menu should follow the ‘theme wedding party’. For an example, if any wedding party is based on some theme related to Rome or Italy, you have to go for the Italian menu in the dinner of that particular wedding party. But only the theme-based menu is not good enough for a theme based wedding party. You should remember that probably some of the guests are not comfortable with the food of that particular theme. So you have to organize the foods of some other variation like Thai foods or Indian foods or the Chinese foods. Moreover, you should remember that might be there are some people present in the particular wedding party, who are restricted to have some special diet. So that you must organize some special diet too, which each and every one can eat. You should consider the religious preferences about the food the guests of a particular wedding party too. Selection of drinks is also as important as to select the menu of foods. Don’t forget to add the mineral water to the list of the drinks ever.

Secondly, you should appoint some catering guides while the ‘food serving’ is going on. The appointed ‘food servers’ should act modest with the guests of the party. The ‘catering guides’ will instruct the ‘food servers’ about the ways of food serving. The food counters should be created in multiple places in the party hall instead of a single place. So you can understand that a ‘wedding catering event’ can achieve some great success if it is done with some proper planning.

Catering in Melbourne

Posted by: oronr  :  Category: Corporate Catering, Function Catering

Food catering is always an essential ingredient for any party, corporate event, wedding event, family reunions or baby showers. When your guests attend your event, they will expect to be served with delicious and good food. When you are organizing an event, a professional catering company can be a great assistant to you. They can be so helpful that they will be able to take some stress off you. Although catering has a basic idea which is to cook some food and serve it, actually there is more to it. Now, let me share with you some simple tips so that you are more prepared and make sure that the catering company can execute your plan successfully:

1. Finalize your location, date and time for your event. These are some of the most important things that you must finalize before hiring a catering company. Sometimes, a catering service may be available on site. This is good because they will be very familiar with the ground, layout and coordination. If you are bringing in a catering company, make sure that they are briefed on the location, date and time of your event.

2. Set your budget for catering service. Before you set the budget for catering, you need to ask yourself how important the roles of food and drink will play at your event. How many guests are you inviting to your event? Are you having a buffet or a sit-down dinner? Do you need to have a theme or style for your event that will be reflected in the food that you served? All these are some questions that you need to clarify first. Sometimes the cost of the catering service also depends on the caterer’s level of expertise and reputation

. 3. Find out whether they provide catering staffs. Some catering service will provide staffs and servers. Find out from them how many staffs they are providing for your event. A general rule of thumb is to have 1 server for every 10 guests. You can also request the dress code of the staffs in accordance with the dress attire of your guests and the theme of your event.

4. Find out whether they provide full event planning support. Other than food catering, some catering company offers full event planning which includes decorations and event layout arrangement. Check with your caterer to see if they provide a full service. So if you are planning an event, it is always good to have a catering company to assist you. They will lessen your work load and together with you, they will help make the event as successful as possible.

Catering Software is Growing in Popular

Posted by: oronr  :  Category: Corporate Catering

Many chefs get into the hustle and bustle of the catering business because of their desire to create visually and flavorfully appealing dishes for their customers. Most don’t realize, however, that they may not have time to relish in the beauty of their dishes. Catering is a fast-paced industry with many customers to serve, events to plan, and orders to fill. So how do many successful caterers stay on top of their hectic schedules? They do it by using catering software. Catering software allows even the busiest caterers to experience more overall organization, more event cohesion, and more time to enjoy their culinary fortes. The program can feature amenities such as event planning, event reminders, master menu completion, customer invoices, and even employee payroll.

It’s no surprise that a lot of caterers think that creating sales reports, planning employee staffing, and billing customer invoices is boring. If you wanted to be an accountant, you would have gone into the accounting field, right? Well, catering software can take some of the pain out of all of those necessary tasks. The program will keep track of your event costs as you are planning them, so it’s easier and quicker to create customer invoices once the event is complete. You can also keep track of your employees’ timesheets electronically, which helps when you generate payroll. Updated sales reports can be viewed at any time as well, making it simple for you to see where your company stands today so you can set additional goals for tomorrow.

Caterers generally agree that though they enjoy the challenge of creating the perfect master menu for an event, the time involved with it has a tendency to detract from other important items of business (aka, planning the event itself!). Catering software offers a solution for this problem as well. Creating a master menu, an exploit that could take anywhere from a few hours to a few days previously, can now be completed in just a few minutes. Because your recipes will be organized within your catering program, it’s much easier to track down favorites, look up new recipes, and even create a zesty twist on an old classic. And if one or more of your recipes is rejected by a customer, it’s no big deal. Take a few more minutes (not hours) to adapt the master menu and meet their taste preference.

There’s no argument that the food, the environment, and the embellishments are vital to creating a successful event. In order to reach that success, however, the process must begin with efficient planning. General planning, like all other aspects of catering, takes time and can be somewhat tedious. Catering software can help ease the load of planning by providing automatic event reminders. If you need to marinate your orange chicken the night before an event, the program will remind you. If you have an appointment with a potential client this afternoon, you won’t forget to bring a sample of your shrimp marinara to dazzle them. Catering software can help you keep track of all the details of any event while allowing you to enjoy your time in the kitchen and serving your happy clients on the big night.