Roozervelts

Food Heaven Melbourne CBD

Shop 38-41 Collins Place, 45 Collins St Melbourne | phone: 03 9654 3670 | email: info@roozervelts.com.au

Roozervelts

Catering Observations From Baywatch

Pop culture says a lot about a society. In 500 years, people will marvel at the social depth, empathy and sophistication of late 20th Century society. They may even envy the achievements of those times, especially when encountering productions such as Baywatch, originally starring David Hassellhoff (the Hoff) and Pamela Anderson. 

Baywatch taught us a lot about who we are and better yet, who we aspire to be. Because at Roozervelts we are fascinated with the pursuit of catering excellence, let’s see which lessons from Baywatch we can best utilise to achieve this goal!

1) Slow Motion Catering Skills

No discussion of Baywatch would be complete without mentioning slow-motion. So the story goes, Baywatch’s famous slow-mo scenes were originally a solution to the problem of early episodes being of insufficient duration for the required timeslot. 

The challenge was resolved by stretching out selected parts of the footage, primarily, women running in bikinis, in slow motion. Ironically this became an iconic aspect of the production. 

What can you learn from this? Well, slow motion is a great mindset to adopt – channel your inner Baywatch if you need to handle any food or beverages! 

2) Vigilance

There’s not much use in a lifeguard who’s not vigilant, and the same is true of an event host. Just as saving tourists from sharks, rips and badly-written scripts was the mandate of the Baywatch tower staff, so too should a host monitor and ensure the wellbeing of guests. If you’re setting up the event, take the time, if possible, to check in with guests and ensure they’re having a good time. Their feedback is valuable and should be included to improve future events! 

3) Seasons For Catering

Unlike Baywatch, which is best enjoyed on a summer day at the beach, in Melbourne’s CBD we experience what can only be described as a confrontational range of seasons and weather. Get the most out of meals by complimenting the seasons with appropriate catering choices – cold for summer, hot for winter, and yummy finger food all year round! We’ve got you covered with a wide range of choices. Talk to our team about the best options for your event! 

4) Bikini Bodies and Healthy Eating

It’s important to eat healthily and it’s also important to enjoy your life. When you’re catering what matters most is that your guests have food they can enjoy. The key is variety – to make sure there is something for everyone to eat regardless of their fitness program! 

5) Give Yourself a Cool Name

According to Wikipedia, Baywatch was cancelled after the first season but revived by The Hoff only for it to become one of the most successful shows of all time. What’s really great about this story is The Hoff himself. At one point he was the most televised human being of all time! Was it because of who he was, or how he was known? Have a crack at stardom and catering fame by making yourself known around the office by a cool name. Here are some helpful conversions to get you thinking:

Coleman => The Cole
Walker => The Walk
Gonzalez => The Gonz
Patterson => The Patt

Top Gun Catering

When Maverick and Goose arrived at Mirimar flight school to enhance their ability in naval air to air combat fighter tactics, they brought with them a sub-par attitude barely offset by a great volleyball game. This mixed bag resulted in Goose’s death and an existential crisis for Maverick, who gamely recovered to nearly provoke world war three. Military operations, high-technology and G-forces don’t leave much scope for error. Let’s see what lessons we can glean from Top Gun to apply to our pursuit of corporate catering excellence! 

1) Always Look Great

No matter what you’re doing, it’s important to always look great. This observation is pretty vacuous but it is essentially the premise of Top Gun. As a Youtube comment states, “are these guys acting, or just looking cool all the time?” When it’s time to organise catering, what really matters is whether the party pies are hot, not how smoothly you drop a memorable line. 

2) Memorable Lines

This goes without saying. If you’re not doing anything meaningful, it’s easy to look super-intelligent by dropping some hot one-liners. Top Gun is replete with examples of this: “your ego is writing cheques your body can’t cash”, “Because I was Inverted”, and “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you” are all solid examples. Pre-load your lines so they’re ready to deploy for maximum effect, and watch the red carpets roll out as you wow your colleagues and superiors! 

3 Great Catering Lines:

a) I feel the need – the need to cater
b) Just some catering in the office, Kazansky
c) You can be my caterer anytime

4) Add Music

Watching Top Gun was such a spiritual experience because of the fabulous sound-track. Harold Faltermeyer, anyone? You know, whether you’re racing your motorbike, dancing with your superiors, dog-fighting Migs or just ejecting because you flew your plane to hard, make sure you’ve got some great tunes going hard and loud – preferably something from the 80’s. By the way, the same thing goes for your catered events. Just like a party, a bit of music adds atmosphere, good vibes and helps to kill dead air while everyone stands around waiting to drop their memorable line. 

5) Know When to Break the Rules

Maverick, despite his shortcomings, was neither inhibited nor restricted by operational guidelines. This was a strength in many ways, allowing him succeed beyond the capacity of his plodding, naive fellow naval aviators. Some rules are set in stone, and others are a bit more flexible. When was the last time you buzzed the tower? 

How to Cater Like an Olympic Champion

Held every four years, the Olympic Games is a fantastic international sporting event. Given the scale of the Olympics, many things can and do go wrong – it is a prodigious undertaking with successes and failures commensurate with the scope of the event. There are many lessons to be learnt from this process which can be applied by the savvy to better organise and facilitate corporate events and catering experiences. Let’s take a look!

1) Casualties – Avoid

No matter how important an event seems, it isn’t worth a human life! People routinely die in olympic preparations, a dark side to the glamour of the event which flies under the radar. These fatalities are often in the construction of Olympic infrastructure. Avoid casualties in your event preparations. Don’t lose track of what is important, no matter how stressful and difficult things seem. They’re not more important than your wellbeing. 

2) Plan Beyond Your Event

A catastrophic and unfortunate failure that is shared by Athens and Greece (2004 / 2016, respectively) is their failure to plan beyond the event. Having invested massively in new infrastructure, after the games were over, in the words of forbes.com, when world-class athletes left Rio and Athens, so did the Olympic spirit—leaving behind empty arenas, polluted aquatic centers, overgrown fields, dried-out golf greens, rusty stadiums, flimsy façades, and trash dumps in some areas. How does this apply to your catering? Here are 3 positive post catered-event measures to apply:

a) Ensure no food goes to waste – someone will appreciate it
b) Clean up thoroughly – leave no trace
c) Collect feedback, and improve your catering progressively

3) Avoid Steroids

Steroids and performance enhancement drugs are frowned on by most organised sporting events, for good reason. ‘Roid rage and the health issues associated with the massive promulgation of mass beyond nature’s intentions create an uneven playing field where competitors don’t stand a chance. While it isn’t unhealthy to have the goal of dominating with your catering prowess, do so in a sustainable way that will ensure your longer-term survival. 

4) Be Ready

The Athens Olympics in 2004 was a preparation nightmare. Unfinished venues, legal disputes, relocations, budgets and power struggles defined the leadup to this event theguardian.comdemonstrating that to achieve great things, readiness is a prerequisite. Here are 3 key readiness rules for catering:

a) Know your budget and stick to it
b) Understand who is involved and their roles
c) Don’t procrastinate

5) Indulgence

You may be surprised to learn that just because they’re Olympians, athletes aren’t above an indulgent snack now and again. As discussed in elitedaily.com, Sometimes indulgent eating is deliberate, for instance when athletes need to rapidly bulk up or address a dietary deficiency, and on other occasions its probably a case of comfort eating, for example, when consoling yourself after face-planting in the hurdles. Whatever the case, it’s pretty obvious, reading between the lines that eating indulgently will help you succeed in life.. so be indulgent!

Catering Lessons From Ghengis Khan

Are you organising a catered office function? Why not take a leaf out of the book of one of history’s most infamous and successful conquerers, Ghengis Khan? While taking over most of the world back in the 1200’s, many a Mongolian feast was held to mark the victory and domination of the enemy. While Khan isn’t much of a role model, you can’t say he wasn’t successful and motivated, and his banquets were probably very memorable. 

Let’s see how well ancient Mongolian dining styles translate to modern office functions!

Catering Variety

Unfortunately, the ancient Mongolians can’t teach us much about variety in dining. According to historyonthenet.com, they were big on animal products and had two main food groups – White Foods and Red Foods. These related to animal-derived foods (e.g. milk) and meat, respectively. 

Nowadays we know that variety is the cornerstone of a well-catered event. There should be something to suit everyone, even if you don’t like your food white or red! Make sure when you’re organising your catering to provide variety across flavour, temperature and texture to provide an experience that your guests will love. Minus one, ancient Mongolians! 

Fighting and Rioting

In ancient Mongolian times, patience and orderliness amongst guests was not necessarily guaranteed, and fighting and riots often ensued (madfeed.co). These types of behaviours are often discouraged in the corporate world and create headaches for HR! Helping your guests to stay peaceful with these quick tips:

a) Make sure you’ve ordered enough food
b) Ensure adequate access to your catering. If you’re serving from a table that can be moved, bring it out off the wall to provide 360 degree access to the goodies
c) Discourage fighters and rioters by sending them to the end of the queue

Nomadic Negatives

It’s not all fun and games being a nomadic warrior. According to historyonthenet.com, the nomadic lifestyle kept the ancient Mongolians away from handy mod-cons (ovens, microwaves, fridges, etc) as well as the ability to store foods. This created a reliance on found items. Ba-bow! Ancient Mongolians, times have changed! Your catering need not be based on the weeds you can scrape from the ‘steppes’ of your office building. Make the most of catering professionals, such as our team, to make life easy for you! 

Cooking Methods

historyonthenet.com describes a pretty rudimentary approach to cooking, in which warriors would stick a bag of meat, onions and flour under their saddle. The heat from the friction would cook the ingredients into a kind of stew. If that sounds delicious to you, you’re living in the wrong era! This type of cooking proves difficult to achieve in an office environment. Bringing the horse into the building is hard enough, let alone getting enough speed to warm your stew without taking out a few cubicles. This method is recommended to be discontinued!

Sharing the Good Stuff

It’s not all bad news from the Ancient Mongolians. One thing they did get right according to madfeed.co was that everyone ate the same stuff. I suspect Ghengis probably got the best bit of meat, but generally, everyone enjoyed the same fare. This is an enduringly powerful component of shared dining – the opportunity for different people to sit down together and share creates bonds and powerful social networks where before there were none. 

Catering Wisdom from The Bachelor

You may be familiar with The Bachelor – a premiere cultural highlight on the Australian television channels of multiple countries including Australia. Famous for showcasing interpersonal relationships in only the most glowing light, life lessons from The Bachelor are many and and varied, and include how to make friends, meet life-partners, negotiate and succeed in life. This wisdom shouldn’t be wasted! Since we’re interested in all things catering, let’s unpack the top 5 lessons from the Bachelor to help improve your next corporate catering experience! 

Lesson 1 – Excluding Your Guests

In the Bachelor, there are never enough roses for everyone.. d’oh! That’s right, someone’s always going home empty-handed. It’s a harsh reality and an appalling proposition, but moreover, a poor philosophy to apply to your corporate catering. Here’s how to avoid tarnishing your event with this unfortunate result:

a) Ensure you’ve ordered enough food for everyone;
b) Make sure you have got different dietary needs covered;
c) Include some vegetarian dishes as a matter of course, just in case – don’t leave anyone out! 

Lesson 2 – Practice Your Memorable Entrance

Considering a grand entrance with a gymnastic routine? It’s a great idea – in theory! However, face-planting in front of your colleagues may spoil your appetite – and theirs! Ensure adequate practice has taken place beforehand, preferably with professional supervision. Under pressure, those somersaults and cartwheels can be difficult to produce, especially within the restrictions of corporate attire. If you do go down this path, start small.. The higher you leap, the further you may fall! 

Lesson 3 – Alone Time

The most sought-after experience on The Bachelor is some ‘alone time’ with the Bachelor or Bachelorette. To achieve this, contestants compete with each other aggressively and often with mixed and undesirable results. Events and functions are a great opportunity to get some one-on-one with people you don’t ordinarily have the chance to spend time with, but let’s face it, dragging someone out of the way by their hair will do little to endear you to the rest of the team. 

Here are some handing ice-breaking tips to make it happen!
a) Act! If you do nothing, the opportunity will be lost. 
b) Manoeuvre! Like an army on a the battlefield, get into a strategic position! 
c) Ice-break assistance! Rather than come in cold, arm yourself with an offering – a platter or plate of snacks is great for this. This gives you a reason to move around the room, and then make the most of your opportunity when you have it! 

Lesson 4 – The Cringe Factor

The Bachelor is famous for being cringeworthy, but cringe and corporate lunching go together like tomato sauce and vegemite. Bin the cringe and aim for inclusivity! Keep an eye on your guests and make sure they’re having a good time:

a) Don’t be in a rush. You can’t be everywhere at once, so make sure that wherever you are, you’re present. 
b) Small gestures go a long way. Check in with your guests and collect their feedback. 
c) Do your research. Guests need suitable dining options to meet their needs. 

Lesson 5 – The Goal

At some point in The Bachelor each contestant must realise that the cost of success may be their dignity – and there is no guarantee of success. Fortunately, planning for a corporate event need not require this type of public evisceration. Keep your dignity intact, keep cool, and remember that if you’re in charge of organising the event, you’ve earnt the right – so just make it happen! 

How Vulnerable is Your Catering?

Brene Brown, anybody? Once considered a weakness, the role of vulnerability is rapidly changing in the workplace and in the world. Courtesy of the research of Brene Brown, vulnerability is being re-assessed as an amazing source of strength, authenticity and connectivity. What does this mean, and how can Brene’s lessons be leveraged to improve the corporate catering experience? Read on to learn more! 

The Power of Vulnerability

Have you taken the time to familiarise yourself with Brene Brown’s TED talk The Power of Vulnerability? In a nutshell, by being courageous enough to be more vulnerable (taking more emotional risks) we can be more authentic and connect better with each other. This will lead to improved results. Since organising events and functions can be a stressful, complicated and demanding job, let’s see how Brene’s insights can help make things easier!

“What we know matters but who we are matters more.”

Nice one, Brene! Being right all the time is pretty stressful. As humans we all make mistakes. Vulnerability is about acknowledging these mistakes and creating an authentic interaction. Owning our failures as well as our triumphs has the capacity to improve relationships, assuming a healthy and non-toxic operating environment. As you navigate the rollercoaster of challenges associated with any corporate catering gig, express who you are and take ownership with these tips:

a) Excellent Communication – establish great comms and use them
b) Plan for contingencies – try to have a plan B for major aspects of your event
c) Empower your team by sharing responsibility 

“Connection is why we’re here; it is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives.”

A well-organised social function is a fabulous opportunity to create connection. What better way for people to meet and hang out than around the company of some delicious food and beverages? As long as humans have lived, the social aspect of eating and sharing food has strengthened us and empowered our endeavours. So how can your catered event be ‘better connected’? 

An easy and obvious solution is that since eating is a shared experience, make sure the playing field is even and equal so everyone can participate in the activity. Know your audience, and even if you’re not catering specifically for vegetarians, for example, what’s the harm in including some vegetarian options? That way you can be sure that there is something for everyone. 

“Don’t try to win over the haters; you are not a jackass whisperer.”

This is a poignant line. To set out to please everyone is a fallacy. To succeed with some people, you’re probably going to put some other people offside. It’s the way the world works! As far as catering goes, at least make your choices defensible. Understand as best you can the parameters of your event – guest numbers, dietary needs, locations, essential requirements. Plan based on what you know and create a justifiable position for your actions. 

“Imperfections are not inadequacies; they are reminders that we’re all in this together.”

Thanks Brene! This is a great reminder for all of us, especially those involved in the facilitation of events – a pastime that can occasionally be a bit dicey. Things can and do go wrong. What matters isn’t what goes wrong, but how it is dealt with. Kindness, patience and a sense of humour are all useful assets for an event organiser or host. Dispense them lavishly! 

Quotes from:  https://hackspirit.com/brene-brown-quotes-that-will-inspire-encourage-and-empower-you/