Helping Foodservice Businesses Enhance Front-of-House Presence
while Improving their Operations, Brand, and Profits

Pizza is an iconic, global dish that originated in Naples and is now enjoyed worldwide. It's the perfect blank canvass for chefs and home cooks alike. You can stick with traditional toppings, or get creative with unexpected ingredients like smoked salmon, capers, and field greens, or even dessert pizzas. Whether you like soft flatbread, crispy Neapolitan, Chicago-style deep dish, or enormous New York-style slices, once you decide on your dough, your options for toppings are almost endless. 

Americans eat about 100 acres of pizza a day. With such a high level of commitment to this cheesy delight, let's explore some creative ways for foodservice operators to plate one of the country's go-to menu items. 

Action stations, also referred to as display cooking, are popular options in high-volume foodservice for a number of reasons. Guests are drawn to the interactive experience as they watch chefs prepare their meals in real time, often leading to higher check averages because of a perceived elevated service level. Sounds of sizzling food and fresh-cooked aromas activate more senses than a closed kitchen can provide, creating a stimulating experience for diners.

From a logistics standpoint, you have several options for action station setups, heat sources, and cooktops. Let’s take a look at some of the preferred action station choices out there to help you understand which applications may be a fit for your operation.

Off-site caterers encounter different environments and resources at nearly every event site, requiring more problem solving and adaptability skills than most traditional commercial kitchens demand. If your catering menu includes hot food options, one constant you'll need to navigate is finding the right tool for providing direct or indirect heat, or possibly both.

We're going to take a look at how chafing fuel, induction cooktops, and butane gas heat sources solve for different resources, rules, and restrictions that off-site caterers often face while serving at various venues.

Stainless steel is one of the most commonly used metal alloys. You can find it in industries from automotive to aviation to foodservice because of its excellent versatile properties. However, not all stainless steel is created equal. There are different grades of stainless steel, some of which are food-safe and some that are not. We’re often asked by restaurant operators which grade of stainless steel is the best for their operation.

We’re going to tackle this question for you by breaking down the different qualities of the two most commonly used grades of stainless steel in foodservice: 18/8 and 18/0.

When you think of cast iron, you may imagine antique potbelly stoves or cooking by the campfire. Cast iron is a wonderful metal for cooking, as evidenced by its centuries of use. It’s just as effective today, but it isn’t quite as versatile as stainless steel and aluminum - the two most common foodservice metals.

Cast iron comes in two configurations: natural, also referred to as uncoated, and enamel- or porcelain-coated. Both options create excellent cooking implements, and they both look fantastic. In fact, cast iron's elegant look has aided in the growing interest in using it to cook and serve.

Keep up with the cast iron trend by learning about the differences between natural and coated cast iron for foodservice applications, but know that it comes with its challenges for ease of use in kitchens and foodservice operations. 

Imagine a commercial kitchen with no stainless steel or aluminum. It’s hard to do, isn’t it? That’s because stainless steel and aluminum are the most commonly used metals in foodservice. Stainless is a bit more popular than aluminum, but they’re both used in countless front-of-the-house applications.

But what’s the difference between the two metals? Why would you use one over the other, or does it even matter? We’re going to walk you through the qualities of each metal and showcase some of G.E.T.'s front-of-the-house examples where each metal shines on its own.

On-site and off-site caterers need reliable heat sources to effectively serve their clients' guests. With indoor and outdoor event sites and varying restrictions on open flame, it's a good idea to build in some nimbleness to your catering operation. 

Chafing fuel is an old go-to for caterers. But induction heat has enjoyed popularity growth recently, in part because of new options on the market, making it less expensive than it used to be. They're both effective heat sources that perform similar job functions, but in different ways. Let's see how they stack up against each other. 

After working the nightclub scene in Houston for decades, I moved to sunny San Diego to follow my dream of owning a business. I filled my days with running and growing my own catering company.     

By the time I sold it 9 years later, I had learned a lot about what to do, what not to do, and how to save as much time and money as I could because, well, that’s how you run and grow a successful business. Change is always a daily event - embrace it and make it part of your growth plan.

I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that my catering business had healthy margins and happy clients. I pride myself on that. It’s how my business matured into one of the top catering companies in this great city.

Now that I’ve moved on to a new chapter in my life (one that’s a bit easier on the back and knees), I want to share my insight with you, fellow caterer.

I’m sharing because I want your events to be the talk of the town, your companies healthy, and your employees happy and dedicated.

Here’s some Catering 101 tailored from what I’ve learned:     

Savvy hotel operators are always on the lookout for the newest trends because it’s a smart way to differentiate themselves from the competition. When they're successful, whether their property appearance is modern and fashionable or traditional and faux-authentic, guests will:

• Be comforted by their investment decision
• Feel smart about their wise choice
• Tell their friends and support your marketing awareness
• Return again and again!

The smartest, trend-minded hotel operators (that’s you!) look for small changes that offer just the right touch of panache to upgrade their overall look. And if you have your eye on improving food and beverage (F&B) displays and serveware, you’re gazing in the right direction:

“As it turns out, when done properly, F&B offerings can significantly elevate a hotel’s profitability and long-term success.”
- Hotelier Magazine

We’re going to help you stay trend-forward in 2018 with a sneak peek at tomorrow’s styles within a frame of affordable, incremental upgrades you can easily apply to your F&B displays and serveware throughout your property.

As a professional caterer, you know that speed is the key to success. The faster you can serve, the more parties you can book, the healthier your company gets. That’s why nearly any professional catering service uses speed racks: you tray up your food on aluminum sheet pans, put it on the speed rack, and out the door you go.

However, once you get on-site, it’s fairly typical for operations to slow down because often caterers have to take their food off the sheet pans, re-plate it, and then serve. This step not only slows down your service but you also loose food temperature in the process.

If you opt for melamine serving trays instead of aluminum sheet pans, you set yourself up to bypass this slow part altogether, allowing you to go from speed rack to service in seconds. 

We’ll tell you why.