Drop-offs are simply that. Hot and cold foods are prepared in the catering commissary and delivered to the party site. Foods are self-service.

Limited Service Catering is when the caterer prepares hot and cold foods in his or her commissary, delivers them to the site and provides a limited staff to set-up, serve and clean-up.

Full Service Catering is the same as Limited Service except that some of the foods may be reheated at the site, and full service staff is there to tend to all of your needs including set-up, service and clean up. Some caterers refer this as Drop and Serve.

Gourmet Catering is the most expensive, and involves on-site cooking of most of the foods. The caterer will set-up a kitchen and cook your meal to order. This is the ultimate. This may not be available in certain rural areas, but every metropolitan area boasts a cadre of caterers that can meet you upscale needs. Keep in mind that certain facilities restrict on-site cooking.

Just a note: Some caterers do all four of these types of catering, while others specialize in just one or two types.  Local Affairs will assist you in finding the caterers that will best meet your needs.

What Are the Basic Styles Catering We suggest that you have an idea of the style of service you want, so that when you begin your dialogue with the various on and off-premise caterers, they’ll be able to serve you better. Of course, if you have no idea, be honest with the caterer and he or she will offer suggestions. One question we hear a lot is which is cheaper, a buffet or a seated-served dinner? We’ve learned well from our legal colleagues, so when you ask, we’ll answer with "That depends!!" It truly depends on what you’re serving. A simple chicken dinner with a salad, chicken, starch, vegetable, rolls and dessert that is served will be less costly than a lavish buffet with lobster, shrimp, caviar…. Get the idea?

Let’s start with Hors d’oeuvres! These bite-size appetizers can be passed butler style by wait staff, or they can be placed on tables for your guests to help themselves. Both styles work well. With a limited staff, buffet style works the best. But remember that with guests helping themselves, you’ll need larger quantities.

By offering passed hors d’oeuvres you’ll need more staff, but you’ll be able offer higher cost items since your caterer can control the quantity served. For example, when serving shrimp for a one hour cocktail party, two per person will work fine when the shrimp is passed if you’re serving other items; but if you put them out on a buffet, you can count on four to six or even more being gobbled up by your discerning guests.

Gourmet catering usually involves hors d’oeuvres being cooked to order and passed hot and fresh, as opposed cooked ahead of time and placed in chafing dishes where they can dry out and not be as fresh or appetizing.

For the Main Meal—Buffets, Food Stations and Seated Served

Buffets Hot and cold foods are placed on a table or tables and guests can help themselves, or be served by staff. Most buffets include all of the hot and cold foods on one table, with desserts either being served or on a separate table. Two sided buffets allow guests to help themselves, but move almost twice as fast. If you do this, be sure that the caterer has plenty of food, since when guests help themselves they tend to take too much. One great way for a two-sided buffet is for the caterer to provide a server on the end of the line to help with the more expensive items.

Food Stations How do food stations differ from buffets? Very simple! Food stations contain different types of foods on located in different places around the party. Examples include raw bars, pasta stations, grill stations, stir fry stations, sushi and sashimi stations, fajita stations, carving stations, dessert stations, cappuccino, espresso and international coffee stations and on and on and on and on. How about a paella station? The options are virtually limitless. These work well when you want your guests to mingle, or where you wish to draw your guests to various areas within the party locations. An example of this would be a special event in a department store.

Seated-Served Dinners These are self-explanatory. The wait staff serves the guests the various courses. Sometimes the first course is pre-set, with the rest of the meal served. Most caterers serve the food already plated in the kitchen. Russian service involves the wait staff serving food from platters and tureens onto plates and bowls place in front of each guest. Some people confuse this with French service, which is not advised for catered affairs since this involves tableside cookery such Duck a L’Orange, Bananas Foster and Cherries Jubilee….Save this for a small dinner in an upscale French restaurant. It’s not good for catering.

Adventuresome? Want Something Different?

Try combining the various styles:

• Passed Hors d’oeuvres and Foods Stations During Cocktails Followed by a Seated-Served Dinner

• Buffet Style Hors d’oeuvres Followed by a Pre-Set Salad, Buffet and Served Dessert

• Buffet and Passed Hors d’oeuvres Followed by A Salad Station, Seated Served Dinner and Dessert Buffet