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Serving Suggestions for the Festive Season – Cnk Catering

Warning: Food porn ahead!

Cnk Catering has some seriously good-looking dishes on the menu this party season. We were thrilled to speak to the Cnk team of event addicts to get the low down on their party season must haves plus food styling tips for event planners wanting to impress this Christmas.

What are Cnk’s favourite flavours for event season?

This festive season we’re embracing summer and the modern, outdoor Australian Christmas!

We’re celebrating with seafood stations, piled high with oysters, prawns, mussels and house cured gravlax.

We’re combining this with Nigels’s traditional glazed Christmas ham, and an abundance of fresh and seasonal sides and salads.

Add in a fresh cocktail like a Moscow Mule, and the party is on.

What are Cnk’s style tips and trends for serving up beautiful dishes this festive season?

Less is more! At Cnk we use lots of fresh produce and really let it shine. Serve it up on beautiful, unique platters and you’re bound to succeed. We love garnishing with micro herbs too!

What simple things can people do when entertaining at home to impress their guests?

 

At Cnk we’re big believers in styling with florals! A big bunch of flowers on the table will really go a long way.

We also love using colourful and irregular plates, which is a simple way to bring a look and the dishes to life.

Linen napkins (rather than paper) are a sure-fire way of impressing your guests!

Finally, make your life easy with lots of prep-ahead dishes like salads, grazing boards, and a whole fish that can cook while you entertain – so you can enjoy the party as well.

For catering that is just as beautiful as it is delicious for your next event, contact the team at Cnk

 

 

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For all your event hire needs – from crockery and cutlery to glassware and platters (and everything in between), Complete Function Hire is your one stop this Christmas. 

 

 

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Tips on How to Create Awesome Events – Roquette Catering

Roquette Catering have been creating unforgettable culinary experiences for over 12 years. Using only the best seasonal ingredients, the innovative team at Roquette Catering are renown for creating beautiful Kosher menus and for delivering the most memorable events in Melbourne.

Attention to detail is their happy place and the team at Roquette Catering know just how to throw parties that are talked about for years to come. We were thrilled this month to speak to the team at Roquette Catering to find out about their favourite flavours for winter PLUS some expert tips for event planners.

Innovative menus using only the freshest ingredients.

What are the team at Roquette Catering’s favourite flavours for the cooler months ahead?

We are loving Middle Eastern cuisine at the moment. With its hearty flavours, slow cooked and braised offerings and traditionally served in a family style manner, what is there not to love!

What advice would you give event planners on how to choose the perfect venue?

Awareness of the potential venue challenges is essential for creating a successful event, but only half the battle. How do you avoid these challenges or tackle them as they come up? Simple: you need a game-plan.

Roquette Catering create mouthwatering Kosher menus that party guests talk about for years to come. Image credit Jeremy Blode.

Roquette Catering’s 4-Step Game Plan to Manage any Challenge and Create and Awesome Event

1. Collate all your questions into a single document and bring it with you when assessing venues. Simply present it to the venue when you arrive and tick off all questions, to make sure you learn everything you need to know about the venue.

2. Invite your caterer along to view the kitchen. It’s important they know what facilities are available before selecting your menu!

3. Obtain costs for any additional equipment that may be needed in the kitchen or elsewhere as early as possible, so you can assess and budget them into the venue price.

4. For destination events, your best bet is to hire a coordinator who has experience in planning events at your destination.

A magnificent feast by Roquette Catering. Image credit Jeremy Blode.

Food trends for 2018 – what are the ‘must have’ menu choices for 2018?

Back to basics – good, nutritious and real food rather than over complicated dishes.

Homemade everything from dips, condiments, pickled and kimchi. Ethical and sustainable food is a highlight.

Meat alternatives such as our kale and quinoa patties rather than your traditional burger.

Roquette Catering’s Confit Salmon dish is not only beautiful, it is bursting with fresh flavours.

What can event planners incorporate as an exciting point of difference for their Bat Mitzvah or Bar Mitzvah?

Personalisation – with so many celebrations it is easy to mixed up into what everyone else is doing. By adding a level of personalisation from menu design and concepts to styling, printing and entertainment, guests will feel like they are celebrating the individual.

To celebrate your next event in style, contact the team of catering and event experts at Roquette Catering today.

*Feature image credit – Charlene Miller. Styled in conjunction with The Style Shed

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For all your event hire needs – the team at Complete Function Hire are on hand to help ensure your upcoming event is perfect.

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The Hottest Winter Food Trends – The Catering Company

Winter food has traditionally been synonymous with slow cooking, comfort foods and rich flavours. These days, corporate event planners are looking for tasty, seasonal menu choices with a healthy focus. We spoke to the team of foodies at The Catering Company to find out what’s on the menu for winter.

What are The Catering Company’s favourite flavours for winter?

Since January, our heads of department have all been working really hard at updating our “Build Your Own” menu. We have some new flavours on the menu that are proving to be very popular! Some of our hot sellers for the cooler months are:

Savoury baked bites – Lamb filo cigar with sumac yoghurt.

Golden, fried and crispy – Risotto balls with mushroom, rosemary and garlic aioli (this new flavour is a mouth-watering team favourite!).

Grilled goodness – Vietnamese turmeric and lemongrass chicken skewer with nuoc cham.

 Sliders and burgers – Chicken katsu slider with Asian pea shoot slaw.

Lots of businesses host conferences throughout winter – how can corporate event planners add a special touch to their catering?

Corporate meetings have changed a lot over the years. People are moving away from sandwich platters as they are finding the bread component too heavy to consume alongside cakes, pastries and danishes. Event planners have been halving their bread component and adding our amazing seasonal salads. Our most popular would be the broccoli mentioned below (the tahina and lime dressing is a taste sensation!

Chargrilled broccoli & zucchini salad w tahini, lime dressing which is light, vegan, gluten friendly and bursting with flavour and goodness.

We have introduced poke and Buddha bowls to the menu for corporate catering. It allows for team members to leave the office with their lunch. Removing yourself from the office environment over lunch promotes health and wellness, bringing back to work inspired minds!

Buddha Bowls, are new to our menu. They are big bowls of wholesome goodness. Most are vegan and gluten free.

Tofu & black bean Buddha Bowl – white quinoa, black beans, silken tofu, roast sweet potato, grilled eggplant, cucumber & corn salsa – this dish is a stand out favourite and a hot seller.

Sashimi salmon Poke Bowl – black rice, sashimi salmon, edamame beans, cucumber, slaw, pickled ginger, lemon wedge & wasabi mayonnaise

Also our seasonal buffets work well in the office too!!

Serving suggestions – what are The Catering Company’s top food styling predictions for the cooler months?

Grazing tables for functions are soooooo hot right now!

We think we do them especially well because of our Italian heritage. There is no skimping on charcuterie, cheeses and bread for our spectacular masterpieces, which includes prosciutto carved straight from the bone.

It’s a definite show stopper and really wows all the guests at the party. We head straight to the Epping markets to select green foliage, heirloom cauliflowers, tomatoes and punnets of fresh herbs to complete our tables.

Thank you to the team at The Catering Company for the winter food inspo (and for making our mouths water).

For all your winter event hire needs – contact the team at Complete Function Hire today. 

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Expert Advice For Wedding & Event Planners – Ed Dixon Food Design

The team at Ed Dixon Food Design ‘live and love food’. Creating spectacular occasions of all kinds since 2001, the team at Ed Dixon Food Design know just how to throw an amazing party!

With an eclectic range of incredible event spaces plus their beautiful menus that look almost too good to eat (almost!), Ed Dixon Food Design has gone from strength to strength over the last 17 years.

We were so delighted to speak to the team of catering and event gurus at Ed Dixon Food Design to find out about their wedding and event trend predictions for this year and to get their top tips on how to make an event really special.

What are the Ed Dixon Food Design team’s catering and event trend predictions for 2018?

Shared dining is still easily our most popular menu for weddings and events and we’ve seen this evolve into huge grazing tables. In 2018 we think this will lead to more DIY food stations – taco bars, sundae toppings, “pimp your Prosecco”, etc. This type of event is a win-win – guests enjoy the novelty of something different whilst hosts can tackle dietary requirements, quantities and variety really easily.

Ed Dixon Food Design’s gorgeous (and healthy) Ocean Trout canapés are an essential menu choice. Image @bravonovember

The focus on health is continuing with trends leaning towards a more vegan offering – poke bowls, acai bowls, substantial salads. Also, non-alcoholic cocktails are increasing in popularity.

At the other end of the scale, we’re also seeing an increase in ‘midnight snacks’ at weddings and evening events. Think pulled pork sliders, loaded fries and mini ice-creams – carnival type food!

Salted Caramel Ice Cream Pops are always a huge hit at the end of the night. Image @hellourbansafari

Tell us about some of the most unique spaces that you create in events in.

The most unique space we’ve been in recently would be the Gershwin Room at The Espy. We did an event there whilst the rest of The Espy was still gutted. The atmosphere was super spooky!

What are the team’s favourite wedding style predictions for this season?

For styling themes, we think Scandi will still be big – timber, clean lines and a warm atmosphere work so well at weddings, also the style is very accessible as it’s present in many areas of our lives; furniture, décor, etc. We predict the Palm Springs theme to become more commonplace – the colour palettes are great and everyone loves a relaxed summer vibe! We also think balloon installations will become bigger and crazier!

‘Wed-stivals’ are one of the team’s wedding style predictions for this year. @michaelbriggsphotography

The other trend we’re predicting is more wed-stivals – Festival Weddings. We’ve started doing a few of these, but with the popularity of glamping, music festivals and festival-type styling, we see this becoming more popular.

Tips for event planners – what are your team’s top tips for organising memorable events this year?

• We love an outdoor party however always make sure a wet weather contingency is in place!
• Trust your suppliers – they are (generally) experts and have a heap of experience planning events like yours.
• Preparation is key – we recommend maintain a Master Sheet, which has all your supplier details and information. This will allow your Event Manager to identify gaps or troubleshoot BEFORE the day of your event.
• When in doubt, pay a professional. Similar to the saying “If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, wait until you hire an amateur…” You will NOT feel like hanging lights or putting on chair covers on the morning of your wedding. You also won’t feel like packing up and carrying everything home after your reception so pay the extra and have it all done for you.
• And in terms of weddings – take a moment to soak it all up – it goes way too fast!

Ed Dixon Food Design’s Berry Smash Cocktail is a stunning addition to any soiree. @bravonovember

What’s new at Ed Dixon Food Design?

We have a new head chef who is bringing a wealth of knowledge and fresh ideas to the team. Plus, a change of season means new menus are out soon! Watch this space.

If you want to make your wedding or upcoming event reallys special, contact the awesome team of foodies at Ed Dixon Food Design today.

The team at Complete Function Hire are at your service to discuss all your wedding and event hire needs. 

*Feature image credit @bravonovember

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Food Trends & Expert Tips For Event Planners – White Card Food & Events

The team at Complete Function Hire enjoys working with Melbourne’s most talented event planners and incredible venues.

On this week’s blog, we were delighted to speak to the team of foodies at White Card Food & Events to get their food trend predictions for the year ahead and some great tips on how to create an event that your guests will remember for years to come.

What are the White Card team’s catering trend predictions for 2018?

Wedding and event planners are going to continue to opt for shared menus and grazing stations this year. This style of catering is so wonderful for all kinds of events as it allows people to explore new flavours in a fun way and it also creates a visual experience too.

Grazing stations create a real wow factor!

We love featuring local produce through our menus and another food trend for this year will be around creating innovative ways of healthy eating including Buddha Bowls and really gorgeous mocktails.

White Card  manage events at some of Melbourne’s most unique spaces. Tell us why weddings and events at The Immigration Museum and Scienceworks are always so memorable?

Our spaces vary so much – from the elegance of the Immigration Museum to the rustic industrial feel of the Pumping Station .

Our Pumping station is so full of history with unique design features such as beautiful red bricks and metal engines. Minimal effort is needed to turn the space into your own to create your dream event. We have also enhanced the space with rows of Edison festoon lights which creates a gorgeous ambience for parties.

The Immigration Museum is conveniently located in Melbourne’s CBD and is the perfect location for summer cocktail parties.

The Immigration Museum is so elegant and full of light. The gorgeous urban courtyard is perfect for a summer cocktail party or end of year event. The Immigration Museum is conveniently located in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD so it is a very popular choice for business events of all kinds.

We love our unique event spaces and work closely with our brides and corporate event clients to ensure we create extraordinary event experiences that incorporates their own personal style.

What are your team’s top tips for organising memorable events this year?

  • Try and find spaces that offer an experience for your guests. We can organise for your guests to view one of our original steam pumps in action or to lie back and enjoy a planetarium show before a cocktail or dinner event. Incorporating one of these special experiences will leave a lasting impression on your guests
  • Guests love a grazing table with an interesting selection of tasty bites. We find that grazing stations enhances the event space and creates a real wow factor when guests arrive
  • Get in early if you have your heart set on a special event space for end of year events!

What’s new at White Card Food & Events?

We are currently finalising our end of year packages so stay tuned to White Card & Museum Spaces for more details very soon! Baja was a huge success in 2017 and we are working on something very special for the end of this year which we can’t wait to share.

If you are looking for a unique Melbourne venue to create your dream event, speak to the team at White Card Food & Events today.

 

For all your wedding and event hire needs, click here to contact the team of event experts at Complete Function Hire.

 

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Catering Trends for 2017 by Complete Function Hire

Events, Event Supplier, Complete Function Hire, Melbourne events, weddings

At Complete Function Hire, we love working closely with Melbourne’s foremost caterers, venues and event planners to deliver incredible events. We have the pleasure of working with the best in business! On this week’s blog, we speak to Ren Burton (Customer Relations and Social Media Marketing) from The Catering Company to learn about this year’s trends in catering and to find out what the awesome team of foodies at The Catering Company are up to.

What are the trends in catering for 2017?

We have noticed a big lean towards sustainable driven products. People are becoming more aware of the impact on the environment and as a result bringing this information into the workplace.

At The Catering Company, we always have the environment in mind through all of our operations. We hand pick our own fresh produce from the Epping Markets which allows us to design seasonal menus that are bursting with fresh flavours!. We also love working closely with and supporting amazing local suppliers.

Packaging is a hot topic in catering at the moment and we have eliminated non-recyclable packaging materials and only use compostable products.

How do you accommodate the dramatic increase in special dietary needs and food allergies?

The level of special dietary needs for our clients continues to grow and we are not just talking Gluten Free and Dairy Free but a big rise in Veganism and Paleo diets also. People are becoming very conscious about what they are eating and cutting down on processed sugars and carbohydrates. To fulfil such requests, we have a Nutritionist and Dietary Chef in our team that are continually developing menus for The Catering Company to ensure we are able to cater to all kinds of dietary needs and so that we are at the forefront of food trends.

What are the most popular trends and styles for food presentation?

Catering, Events, Weddings, Complete Function Hire
Delicious fresh food, simply presented on wooden boards.

There is definitely a provincial / handmade trend in at the moment which celebrates the Artisan.  This reflects in our food presentation too and we love presenting our food on simple wooden boards to let the food do the talking!

What are the most popular choices from The Catering Company menus?

Events, Catering, Melbourne events, event hire
“Greenvale farm pork belly, black caramel, peanuts” by The Catering Company.

Some popular canapés of the moment are our ‘Lamb loin, shiso, lotus root, black sesame’ and our ‘Greenvale farm pork belly, black caramel, peanuts’.

Events, Weddings, Catering, Event Hire, Complete Function Hire
Home made scones with jam and cream are always popular for any event!

The classics are always popular too and our ‘Pulled pork sliders with house made BBQ sauce and coleslaw’ is always a hit. Our corporate clients love the freshness and variety of our sandwich fillings and we can make up to 2000 a day! Our house baked goods from our pastry chef Tisa are always a crowd pleaser. She makes the best baked scones with jam and cream.

What’s new at The Catering Company?

Our weekly buffet specials are new for 2017 which are collated with a theme in mind. Last week we offered a French provincial menu which included a beautiful Grain fed Beef Chateaubriand with bacon and shallots and Confit duck Legs with roast pears, fennel and asparagus. Coming up is our Mexican Street Food Menu which is a colourful and flavourful buffet that will impress your guests. We love providing variety and diversity for our customers and our new themed buffet specials have been a huge hit!

Thank you to our foodie friends at The Catering Company for their advice on the latest food trends!

For all your wedding and event hire needs, be sure to contact the team at Complete Function Hire today.