All you need to know about Mobile Catering
Every time you plan to throw a party or arrange food for a wedding reception, you are presented with a bunch of options of food caterers to choose from. These caterers set up their cooking facility very close to your main area of event to provide food. Similarly, a relatively newer concept of ‘mobile catering’ has surfaced recently where food is cooked and served from a vehicle, cart or a truck.
How does mobile catering work?
One would wonder how does mobile catering actually works as vehicles (be it trucks or vans) are meant to be used for commutation and not for selling food meals. However, the recent trend is to install onboard heating, cooking and refrigerating mechanism in the vehicles where fresh food can be cooked and served to people, often near public events (concerts, exhibitions), office blocks or in downtown business districts. This holds true no matter where you catering is needed, even if it is Costa Rica for a steampunk jewelry convention.
What food does mobile catering normally serve?
Normally, you would find the following foods and beverages items being served from such mobile food outlets. Notice that each item is easy to carry and serve as a quick meal to save time:
- Freshly-made vegetarian food
- Ice cream
- Coffee, Donuts, Bagels
How can mobile food caterers partner with traditional caterers?
Mobile food caterers operate to target a specific type of audience to sell their foods. They do not (and cannot) target people who wish to have a nice and peaceful office lunch or a couple who wish to have a fine dine environment for the meal.
Mobile caterers often pair up with traditional caterers to provide them with all the equipments (grill, stove, refrigerator, etc.) in order for them to cook and serve food to people at the place and the time they want. Traditional caterers are more comfortable providing people food in a large gathering with an equally large set up for them to cook and serve meals. However, mobile caterers bring along the additional flexibility of setting up an entire kitchen virtually anywhere the guest wants.
Another method through which the traditional and mobile caterers can mutually benefit is the transportation of cooked food from the traditional caterers’ site to the desired place through mobile vehicles and trucks. All that needs to be done is to keep food fresh and warm for serving it to the customers in their own areas. This model is true for daily serving of food in a, say, business complex or a busy shopping street, where people are in rush and would want to grab a quick meal to get back to their work or to continue shopping. This maintains the high quality of food that you would normally expect from a traditional food catering company as well as provide customers with availability of food in areas where a normal caterer would not have supplied.
Hence, traditional caterers are experts in cooking and presenting of food to guests whereas mobile caterers can give them all the necessary facilities they would want to do their job as effectively as they would have done under their own traditional set-up.
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SEO & Google AdWords Training MeetUp
Castle Catering hosted a MeetUp group this past weekend for search engine optimization (SEO) and Google AdWords marketing techniques. The course was a beginners 101 course and was open to anyone and everyone. it was a free class that lasted approximately two hours. It was sponsored by SEO Optimizers located in Los Angeles, California.
Many people showed up tp learn about SEO and Google AdWords such as COO Steve Farzam, sheriff David Waters, and some other notable guests. There were approximately 9 people who showed up to this free MeetUp class.
Castle Catering in Pasadena plans to expand to hosting classes and seminars so if anyone is in need of an event rental room then contact them today!
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Pasadena Bar Association Meeting
The Romanesque Room hosts many weddings but is also a great location for corporate events. The local chapter of an association for attorneys met for their monthly meeting in late September. Dinner was provided by Restaurant Partner, Buca di Beppo, and Castle Catering provided the service. Tom Girardi, Celebrity Attorney, was the speaker at this meeting.
The client was very pleased with the venue and service and are planning multiple events here in 2015. This is another example of the versatility of the venue for large and small events and the options afforded by our Restaurant Partners Program.
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Castle Catering September 2014 Event Schedule
The first weekend in September was a busy time for both Castle Catering & The Romanesque Room. Two weddings took place along with a retirement party. These events took place in The Romanesque Room over a three day period. The same weekend our sister property, Castle Green, held another wedding ceremony and reception.
Castle Catering provided all the food for the retirement party which included appetizers and four stations – Italian, Mexicana, Slider bar, and our unique mashed potato martini bar which gives the guest a choice of two hot toppings and five self-serve toppings over creamy mashed potatoes served in a 10 oz. martini glass.
Restaurant Partners provided food for two of the weddings. They were StoneFire Grill and Carmine’s Italian Restaurant. Castle Catering provided the hors d’oeuvres that were served during the cocktail hour at both parties.
We had the opportunity to work with Chef Cipriano Reyes of Dolci Vita Catering for one of the weddings. Chef Cipriano was a friend of the bride’s and did an outstanding job with all of the food for their event.
The parties were all successful…and the clients were happy!
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Wedding Ceremony & Reception in Pasadena
On Monday, July 21, another wedding ceremony and reception was held at Castle Green. One of Castle Catering’s Restaurant Partners, In-N-Out Burger, supplied their signature “Double-Double” burgers as the entrée. The Castle Catering Chefs prepared hors d’oeuvres as well as mixed green salad, garlic mashed potatoes and hot vegetable to complement the burgers. This is an example of how Castle Catering’s Restaurant Partners Program gives our clients almost limitless choices of cuisine … including options like the iconic In-N-Out burgers.
Vendors:
Marcie De Leon (day-of-coordinator)
(562) 999-2571
Photographer: Paul and Jewel Studios
(805) 324-3341
Flowers: V & B Studios
(310) 409-5623
DJ: PR Attractions
(951) 522-9252
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Castle Green Wedding Venue
Castle Green, the “sister property” of Castle Catering/The Romanesque Room held a wedding on the 5th of July. It was quite a success as Castle Catering provided all the food for the event. The ceremony was held on their expansive lawn and then the guests moved inside to the ballroom for the reception. The event coordinator was Samantha Sisk of La Bella Dia Weddings and Events. With the cooperative efforts of Samantha and all the vendors, it was another flawless event.
Vendors:
- Event coordinator: Samantha Sisk, La Bella Dia Weddings & Events. (626) 497-5726. . www.labelladia.com
- Caterer: https://castlecatering.net
- Alcohol: Bill Sullivan, The Bottle Shop. (626) 355-1262
- Flowers: Grace, Tea Rose Garden. (626) 578-1144.
- Photographer: George Street Photography. (866) 831-4103. www.georgestreetphoto.com
- DJ: Scott Norris, Coastline Music. (310) 396-0527.
- Ceremony musicians: Desiree Deasy, Ladies Choice String Quartet. (818) 402-7475.
- Bakery: Cakery Bakery. (818) 790-3223
- Photo Booth: Brian Davis, Lucky Photo Booth. (323) 229-9455
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Awards Banquet for the Pasadena Rugby Football Club
Rugby Club June 2014
Rugby Club Memorabilia
Rugby Club Awards
The Awards Banquet for the Pasadena Rugby Football Club was held in The Romanesque Room on Saturday, June 28.
Alex Rylance is the coach and our contact. Castle Catering worked with one of our Restaurant Partners, StoneFire Grill, to provide a two entrée buffet for the group.
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51st Annual “An Evening with Star Chefs”
(Left to Right) Mary Grace Hankins, Xavier Vargas, Christian Hankins, Omar Rivera, Walter Galvez
The 51st Annual “An Evening with Star Chefs” for the benefit of Rosemary Children’s Services was held on June 21 in the front of Pasadena City Hall.
Rosemary Children’s Services in a non-profit organization dedicated to helping abused, abandoned and/or neglected children.
Founded in 1963 by Julia Childs, “An Evening with Star Chefs” is Pasadena’s “oldest, largest, and most prestigious culinary benefit” according to the invitation letter by Rosemary Children’s Services.
The Chefs of Castle Catering participated as part of this annual fundraiser. There were 300+ guests in attendance in front of Pasadena City Hall. The Chefs prepared three items: 1. Appetizer: Stuffed mushrooms 2. Entrée: Carnitas 3: Dessert: Bread pudding
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What To Look For In A Catering Company
You still remember that last time you’ve been at a wedding party.
Good food, friendly waiters, frequent replacements when a certain dish or pastry was too popular to last, water and drinks served to you as soon as you approached the table.
A good catering service is like that.
I remember this family wedding party I’ve been at in 2004 with a certain pleasure. Aside from the setting — a beautiful garden in front of the restaurant! — the food was delicious, it matched everybody’s tastes and there was enough choice for the vegetarian and the allergic not to feel left out.
They didn’t cheat us — the food was great and nobody felt sick after the buffet.
So, what you should look for in a catering company?
Well, aside from reading the reviews and hearing from people who have experienced their services before, meet with the company representatives and make sure the catering service has the following 8 quality points before you make your choice.
1. Availability to furnish menu samples for tasting
A good and honest catering company will let you taste the food before you plan it all out to make sure it is what you’re looking for.
If the company doesn’t allow you to taste their menus, something’s wrong and you better get suspicious of the quality of their food and cuisine.
A good caterer has nothing to hide about their food. Make a web search for negative reviews if you’re in doubt.
2. Prompt, on-time service
The party for your special event is starting soon — why isn’t the catering here yet?
A catering company is always prompt and on-time with their delivery service, so if they’re late and they still won’t call you and give you a reason for the delay, this is a sign the company isn’t serious.
Make sure to be clear about this matter as soon as you place an order with a catering company.
3. Food quality and conservation
There’s no need to highlight how important it is for the food to be fresh and come from quality sources, preferibly organic and naturally grown.
Conservation is also a decisive factor in the quality of the food. Good food gone bad because of a bad conservation practices is not only dangerous to your guests’ health, but it can also lead the catering company’s business to immediate death, so a conscientious company will take serious care of food conservation.
You should be able to asses this 3rd quality point when you taste the sample menu. Make sure to give the caterer detailed feedback on the quality, especially if you feel something’s might be wrong.
4. Friendly yet efficient staff
When the catering company doesn’t just supply food, but even service staff (waiters, attendants), you know this is a sign of prestige. The staff should be friendly and personable while attending to your guests.
If you have a lot of kids at the party, ask for a kid-friendly menu and staff with kid entertaining skills. A good catering company has staff that knows how to entertain kils and make your event interesting for them, too.
5. Clarity on the transports
I f you agreed on certain delivery times but the catering company is late, they should provide enough reason for you to wait.
Accidents happen, there might be a roadblock or another urgent matter coming up to delay the caterer, but if they don’t pick up the phone to let you know, your trust will definitely drop right there.
Ask the company for clear procedures in case of transport delays and how long they normally take to deliver.
6. Reliability and honesty
Serious businesses are always honest and reliable, and this is even more important for catering companies, especially about the replacement of bad or corrupted food and delivery times (see previous points for details).
There’s no point in hiring a catering company if they have a history of unreliability and dishonest behavior to their clients. These two factors are perhaps the most important in the list, so make sure you look for them when you read client testimonials and reviews.
Use Yelp.com to find out.
7. Communication and transparency
Your catering company will call you if they have a shortage of a certain food, couldn’t get in touch with one of the suppliers or the delivery has to be delayed for some reason. Communication is essential. If the company doesn’t call you and the service disappoints you, that’s a catering service not to use a second time.
Also, they should be transparent about their procedures and how they handle food. This is especially important if there’s a history of allergies in your family, so don’t hire the catering company if they seem to be sleazy or if there’s a risk they will use ingredients one of your guests can’t tolerate.
8. Good quality/price ratio
Finally, the quality of the service and the food should go hand in hand with a fair price. Low quality food at a stellar price is a no-no.
Don’t buy into the “prestige” talk the company may fill your head with — the real prestige is in honesty and reliability, not in names. If the food isn’t good and the service is scarce and uncommunicative, this isn’t the company you want to hire.
What other quality factors did you observe last time you hired a catering company for an event?
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Valentines Dinner Via Castle Catering & Restaurant Partners at The Romanesque Room
Again this year I am organizing a special Valentines Dinner for some very Special People. Forty to forty-five Soldiers and their spouses will enjoy an intimate dinner provided by Castle Catering and it’s Restaurant Partners at The Castle Green and The Romanesque Room.
I want to give you an opportunity again this year to express your gratitude directly to one of our Heroes by delivering “your” message that you are proud of them and thank them in the form of a Valentines Day card.
I am not only asking you to participate, but if you are comfortable doing so, help us get the word out by forwarding this email to your contact lists. As I ask this, I do not know if this request violates any kind of privacy issues for you….if it does, then don’t worry about forwarding. We are just trying to get as many Valentines Day Cards with a “message of thanks” as possible.
Here is what I am asking you to do if you are so inclined…
1) Send a Valentines Card with a message of Thanks to:
“A Soldier and Spouse”
C/O Castle Catering Suite 102
50 E. Green St.
Pasadena, CA. 91105
2) Certainly NOT required….but if you would like to enclose a check for $5, $10 or $20….or whatever you would like, made payable to “The Wounded Warriors Project” the soldiers will see them and we will forward them all to the Wounded Warriors Project.
3) Last, if you are so inclined…..forward this message to some of your contacts and give them the opportunity to also send a Valentines Day Card with a “Thank You” message.
That is it…..I hope you will participate.
Thank you so very much.
Owner, Castle Catering
Ron Hobbs
Ron Hobbs
Owner, Castle Catering
50 E. Green St.
Pasadena, CA. 91105
(32) 195-68-49
Fax (626) 793-6769
castlecatering.net
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Awards
