Kosher Critic: When a caterer disappoints

There is an old story about a wedding that was attended by a prominent rabbi. The rabbi sat with the groom at his tish and throughout remained silent while others offered words of congratulations, heaping praise of the bride. At one point one of the rabbi’s students came up to him and asked “Isn’t it customary to always say something positive about a bride to her groom on the day of her wedding?” In response the rabbi leaned close to the groom and said, “Your kallah has a lovely name.”
I tell this story because I have attempted to adapt the mentality of always finding something I like about what I am reviewing even when I have not liked the establishment or product that I am writing about. I found the exception that proves the rule and that was my experience this past Rosh Hashana at the Gateways program catered by Michael Schick.
I have been to events catered by Michael Schick before and I will be honest I have enjoyed them. He is overall a good caterer with a tremendous drive to serve well-made gourmet food. But something happened this year at Gateways. Perhaps a slash to his budget or the rising cost of food that resulted in a meal that was, and I am sorry Michael, simply abysmal.
I have prepared a short list of areas where caterers often falter, and it is my hope that any food service people reading this would take my advice to heart.

Ingredients: The allure of using frozen vegetables is very strong. They have an exceptionally long shelf life and can be bought in bulk for a low price. However, the process of freezing them also strips away the flavor and the nutrients. Since each catered event is also a showcase of your talent, serving frozen veggies may carry a higher price point in the short term but it is unlikely to get you more business. In this way using frozen food is penny wise but pound foolish.

Protein: In today’s gourmet food environment, many chefs want to showcase luxury proteins like duck, veal and lamb. The problem is that these items are much more delicate and expensive than beef, chicken and turkey. They hold up to the cooking, freezing and reheating process with far less grace their more common counterparts and they also require a greater level of skill to prepare. Rather than serve a mediocre piece of veal, it is better to serve a stellar piece of chicken. The reward will be a greater volume of business from your thoroughly impressed audience.

Garnish: While I know that today’s diners demand that their food be artistically arranged and pleasing to the eye, this is no excuse to use inedible garnishes on your plates. A giant sprig of rosemary rising up from my beef wellington like a sad little tree does not make me think the dish is tastier; it simply means that I need to remove an object out of my meal.

Keep it simple: Just because they do it on the Food Network doesn’t mean you need to. Just do what your good at. Serve great food. It doesn’t need to be gourmet sounding it just has to be gourmet tasting. Don’t pander to the intellectual food snobs; cater to the palates of your audience.

I could keep going but there is only so much of the paper that I can take up with my advice to kosher caterers. To all our readers, have an easy and meaningful fast.

Zechariah Mehler is a widely published food writer and expert in social marketing. Follow him on Twitter @thekoshercritic