Catering: A Guide to Managing a Successful Business Operation

I teach at York College and fall semester was the first year that York offered an Introduction to Catering Management class. In my non-academic life, I am the owner of a catering business that has been in business in Philadelphia for 84 years, and we have catered for celebrities, presidents and even the Pope. The business is largely an off-premise business with a few exclusive contracts. To be completely honest with you, there is very little written about off-prem catering. There are plenty of books that are all on the order of the celebrity chef books, ie plenty of foam but little meat on the plate, much like one of the more ridiculous food trends in vogue lately. And what is out there that isn't self-congratulatory is thin on the realities and challenges of my world after you've managed to get set up.This text is a decent text, but really doesn't get to the sorts of logistics an astute caterer needs to master. My guess, and if I'm wrong I apologize, is that whatever experience the author has has been in the context of an hotel or on-premise business. The world changes more profoundly than you can imagine when you put it all on the truck. The instructional points are thin in this text at that point.I used this book as the text in the Fall because I felt it would be a simple enough introduction. It was a little too simple for the level of students at York. It's clearly written and there are great support materials for the teacher from the publisher, but I couldn't help but feel that the material was slightly dated, slightly off, and the students, many of whom are working in catering as a part time job, felt it was slightly less than it could have been. That isn't that surprising in as much as the CIA in Hyde Park doesn't really teach a course in off-premise catering, or at least in the logistics of how one might prepare, transport, cook a wedding, corporate event or non-profit gala in tents in a field with no electricity, running water or natural gas access with propane ovens whose calibration is inaccurate on a good day, and today it happens to be 40 degrees and raining in some Podunk village in the far end of East Succotash. And that is regardless of whether or not you do what I do, or just bar be cue, or a big corporation, or you take semis outfitted with an entire kitchen to look after movie sets and rock stars. The logistics are as important as the culinary and decorative sides of the event.So, the book is OK. Maybe the real book needed hasn't been written yet, but the world in which I labour continues to evolve, and better instructional materials are certainly called for. The strengths of this book, and they are genuine, focus on getting the financials together were you to start your own business. Important indeed. But it doesn't address the software out there now that will assist and expedite your sales and accountability, and it also just doesn't address the cruel reality that financial institutions are loathe to lend money to anything that remotely smells like a restaurant. To solve that challenge, you need backers who have faith in you, and there are no instructions on how to have someone have faith in you other than to do your job well to their complete satisfaction over a period of time. and in the end, it's a little thin on the realities of the off-prem world.

Dislike to much useless information if you don’t know what a pot is .A lot off pages just to fill the book.Some good information about financial markets and set ups

This review is ONLY for seller. The book I received was perfect, looks brand new! I saved quite a bit of money buying used verses new. I did skim through this book and the content seems as though it’s going to be extremely helpful for me, as I began my new journey! I’ll review again to cover rate the book itself.

This is a good text for those in need of managing skills... I wish the food prep section was bigger, but this is a very nice text manual, especially if you are considering, or just starting out in the field. I was hoping for something slightly more advanced, though I use it as a reference even still.

I purchased this book after borrowing it from the library and renewing it twice. I found it to be a good primer for anyone who is considering catering as a business. I'm a foodie and but haven't been to cooking school or anything like that, so I found the explanations to be clear and easy to follow. Also learned things I had no idea needed to be taken into consideration when starting a food business.

Good book and all but I feel like the information was all over the place and not well organized

This it a great book for anyone who is looking to get in the catering business

My partner is getting into catering. We've done a bunch so far and I thought the time is right to get serious. This book looks to be a good start! It arrived in excellent condition!

5 stars all around