LOCAL CUISINE
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Catering Nightmares A
THE BAD, THE VERY BAD, AND THE CATASTROPHIC by Kevin Finch
mong the major decisions to be made in pulling off the wedding of your dreams (or any other important celebration) is your
choice of a caterer. Food plays a huge role at most parties, and people tend to take it very personally if everything isn’t perfect. You can stop reading now if what you want is a list of the top caterers in the region or insider tips on who decorates the best cake. There are plenty of lists like that on the web. Instead, I decided this month to ask caterers, chefs and event planners to vent – anonymously of course – about the rest of us and what happens when we get a bit too lathered up about our wedding reception, that special birthday, the corporate product launch or the retirement party for our spouse. You name the event, I wanted to hear how we have behaved at our worst as well as find out what else can go horribly wrong behind the scenes – and I wanted it straight from the caterer’s mouth.
Ask just about anyone on a kitchen crew or hotel staff the
right question and the stories start to flow. You’ll hear of Bridezilla incarnate and other horrific clients as well as tales of food disasters, hellish parties, guests gone wild, impossible expectations and last-minute crises. One chef and friend, Richard Kitos, reflects back on years of catering to the rich and famous of Los Angeles. “Chefs that cater have to be MacGyver,” Kitos says. “There is always one thing not there, but you have to figure out a way to get it done.” Listen to enough stories and you’ll realize that caterers also need to be State Department veterans or, better yet, trained in hostage negotiations in order to deal with demanding, distraught or seriously drunk guests. Yet the surprise is that in almost every case, the chef, the caterer or the hotel staff managed to salvage something at the last moment. In many instances, the client and guests have no idea anything ever went wrong. So even as I’m passing along a few nightmare scenarios, I’d like to propose a toast to the kitchen MacGyvers and hotel diplomats that save us – most of the time – from ourselves and party doomsday.
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