Success is on the Menu — Tips for working with your event chef
The secret to a great meal at your next event doesn’t begin in your venue’s kitchen or even at the farmer’s market. It begins with your chef and the working relationship you establish with him or her. Gus Gaspardo, vice president at Padelford Riverboats, reveals what every planner should know about working with their event chef.
Q. Briefly tell me about Padelford Riverboats and what you do there?
A. I’m the vice president at Padelford Riverboats, a seasonal business here in Minnesota. We do both private and public cruises that incorporate dinner, happy hour, site seeing, themes and more. We run approximately 90,000 passengers a year from May through October, both private and corporate events. Our passengers are ages 3 to 93.
Q. What’s the most important thing a planner should do before meeting with a chef?
A. Meet with sales staff first. They know what works best and what doesn’t. Because we operate boats, there are different constraints than with a land-based venue. However, when you work with a chef, the biggest thing to recognize is that not all of your guests are going to have the same taste. Therefore, you should choose what you think will work for the majority. Recognize that you’re ordering for the masses. You should try to please the majority of your guests. For example, foods like lamb, liver and fish might not go over so well.
Q. What should a planner expect from a chef when planning the menu?
A. Chefs are in tune with what’s seasonally fresh. Padelford’s chef is focused on fresh local foods, which increases the quality of our products considerably. Rely on your chef’s judgment and experience. For example, the quality of baby red potatoes is not good right now, so we steer our guests toward choosing Yukon gold for their menu. Ask the chef what’s working and what’s not. We track all that so we can tell if a certain food item is coming back on a plate too often. We’ll then try to steer guests away from choosing those items for their menu based on what we’ve witnessed at prior events.
Q. What’s the most important thing a planner should keep in mind when planning an event menu?
A. People have a lot of dietary restrictions these days — gluten, dairy, sodium. Talk to the sales staff for assistance on what menu items are gluten free and maybe choose one for a second entrée option.
Q. Any other thoughts or tips?
A. Come in prepared and look to your chef’s knowledge and experience to guide you. Also, know that success comes when you adhere to the food supply chain - more fresh, more local, more seasonal.
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