Message #71627

[rose.winter1980]

I don't usually order catering, but ask our meeting room organizer to order food for me - generally at least once a month.  The food tends to be sandwiches and fruit and, very occasionally, small cakes.  If we have an all-day meeting, I will also order late breakfast pastries, which always go down very well. 

We order food from a couple of companies that deliver and always, if we look for someone new, we will try out the sorts of things we intend to order.

I arrange some formal dinners and lunches throughout the year and I put together menus for those in discussion with the chefs at the venue we are using.  I usually visit the venue and, if it is a place we are not sure of, eat there unannounced so that I can see the quality of the food on offer and the service. 

The worst thing for us is that we have a lot of people with special diets to cater for.  You would be surprised how much difficulty requests for gluten-free dishes can cause! And don't start me on nuts or shellfish, or religious dietary restrictions.