James Beard Award–winning journalists expose food industry secrets in “the Kitchen Confidential of the big-ticket catering world” (New York Times). Hotbox reveals the real-life drama behind cavernous event spaces and soaring white tents, where cooking conditions have more in common with a mobile army hospital than a restaurant. Award-winning food writers the Lee brothers steeped themselves in the catering business for four years, learning the culture from the inside out. It’s a realm where you find eccentric characters, working in extreme conditions, who must produce magical events and instantly adapt when, for instance, the host’s toast runs a half-hour too long, a hail storm erupts, or a rolling rack of hundreds of ice cream desserts goes wheels-up. Whether they’re dashing through black-tie fundraisers or celebrity-spotting at a Hamptons cookout, the Lee brothers guide you on a romp from the inner circle—the elite team of chefs using little more than their wits and Sterno to turn out lamb shanks for eight hundred—to the outer reaches of the industries that facilitate the most dazzling galas. You’ll never attend a party—or entertain on your own—in the same way after reading this book. “Lively . . . [with] just the right combination of sophistication and self-deprecation [to] show us what really goes on behind the scenes.” —The Wall Street Journal “An absorbing, immersive, appetizing tale, written with sharp intelligence and style.” —Susan Orlean, New York Times–bestselling author of The Library Book “Brilliant, gleeful . . . full of tips and secrets.” —Bill Buford, national bestselling author of Heat “[A] captivating tell-all.” —Publishers Weekly

"The Food Service Professional Guide TO Series from the editors of the Food Service Professional magazine are the best and most comprehensive books for serious food service operators available today. These step-by-step guides on a specific management subject range from finding a great site for your new restaurant to how to train your wait staff and literally everything in between. They are easy and fast-to-read, easy to understand and will take the mystery out of the subject. The information is boiled down to the essence. They are filled to the brim with up to date and pertinent information." -- Amazon.com viewed February 8, 2021.

Those passionate about parties or cooking can now realize their dream of working from home at something they enjoy. Denise Vivaldo shares her experiences and advice on all the essentials and more, including estimating start-up costs and pricing services, finding clients, outfitting one’s kitchen, and honing food presentation skills.

Catering Management, Third Edition gives detailed advice on all the crucial business aspects of on- and off-premise catering. The Third Edition features special new material on non-hotel catering operations—such as small business management and running your own catering operation. It presents fresh information on menu design and pricing, complete with illustrative menu examples and tips for using software tools to create enticing menus.

Do you enjoy cooking for others? Is your buffet table a work of art? Are your parties the best in the neighborhood? Then catering may be a great career for you! It's all here-from getting licenses and choosing the perfect name to developing menus and getting the word out. Seasoned food expert and caterer Joyce Weinberg covers all aspects of the catering business and shares her secrets to success with you, including how to: Choose a specialty-fancy fundraisers, company and family picnics, or romantic weddings; Learn the ropes before you start your business; Create a marketing plan that gets your company noticed by all the right people; Find clients and generate repeat customers. The Everything Guide to Starting and Running a Catering Business is all you need to make your passion your profession!

Discusses various aspects of a career in catering, such as the challenges involved in being a professional caterer, administration, sales, operations, convention food and beverage functions, weddings, beverage sales, etc. Also includes glossaries of hotel terms, wines, and alcoholic beverages, in addition to diagrams for meetings, food functions, and buffets. Directed toward persons interested in becoming professional caterers.

This book marks the fact that food catering has gone mainstream. At one time associated with organizers of seminars and conferences as a means of bonding the attendees of the event or to provide convenience so that each person who attended did not have to look for his own food. The food catering business is very closely connected with the industrial economic development of the Asian economies that underwent transformation in the late 1940's and continues up to today. The food provided at the seminars were arranged in three groups. A coffee break was held in the morning with a range of light snacks that included a major starch like fried rice or fried noodles. The lunch menu was clearly more extensive with a soup, a vegetable dish, a meat dish, a fish dish and a dessert. Care had to be taken to avoid offending anyone. Pork was not allowed nor was beef. The only meat served was chicken and it came in different forms: fried, roasted, boiled, with sweet and sour sauce, or with black pepper sauce or simply hot and spicy. The last meal was the tea break. In a way this meal was a milestone because the people of the Asian economies never had an afternoon break as they were expected to go home at 5 pm and have a meal at home at 6 pm. With the tea break it became a custom to have dinner or the evening meal later at 7 pm. The food provided at seminars went beyond the training room because it was convenient to have meals provided for, cooked by someone else. The idea that developed was called parties brought to you. Today sixty years after the introduction of the first seminar catered meal food catering is the norm for people wanting a party at home to celebrate a major feast or a personal milestone event like the birth of a baby or a wedding. Food catering has also become an event related to hospitality and appreciation. The mourners at a funeral wake are grateful to those who come to pay their respects and food is now catered to provide for these guests. In this book the author takes the approach that food catering must grow beyond its present roots and move out to become more mainstream in the form of a meal for a social gathering like that around a steamboat. Food catering has also the responsibility to maintain the health of a community by observing the rules of being: Less salty Less oily Less sweet Free of transfats Free of gluten Free of MSG And other Chemicals. Food catering becomes a mainstream food by being available and by being healthy.