# Entree Quantity Help



## jenni belle (Mar 10, 2005)

Hello all! Once again I need some help. I'm getting better at calculating food when I have either one or two entrees, but this project is a little more involved.

I'm doing a luau and the customer wants many different meaty choices. We're going with chicken, beef and shrimp. The chicken will be tenderloin sized pieces. The beef will be kabob pieces, approx. 2" squares. On top of that, there will also be a roasted pig. With all the other options, I'm suggesting just one pig and have it cut into bite sized bits so that everyone gets a bite.

Here's my question. The party is an expected 300 crowd. How can I figure out how much of each entree since there are so many choices?


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## dano1 (Oct 23, 2003)

3.5oz pp, add 10%. depends on other factors, age, alcky, ehtnicinty, etc...


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## tigerwoman (Jul 18, 2002)

Have you already established a price? 

You have 4 main protein choices

Beef
Chicken
Roast Pig
Shrimp

shrimp you could calculate on how many pieces per person. eg 3-5 depending on how the event prices out.

One pig for 300 people doesn't seem like enuf, but perhaps you can do one roast pig whole with loins of pork or pork roasts as back up. 

Probably figure on 7-10 ounces total of beef, chicken and pork and then decide based on the demographics of the group which might be more popular and skew in that direction.

Also make sure you put the salads, breads, and sides first on the buffet line, so by the time they get to put the meat on their plate there isn't as much empty space. Not everything people take will always be eaten, especially with kids. And have someone controlling the shrimp (as well as being one of the last things on the buffet or have double sided mirrored lines converging in the middle with the shrimp being in the middle.

For example here in NYC, pork is probably the least popular.

Also another way to figure out is to see what a serving looks like

Eg if you are skewering the beef and chicken then figure out how much you will put on each skewer and how many skewers per guest. Maybe make the portion smaller and have more portions per guest....

Catering is a educationed guestamite. It gets easier over time, but keep notes, ask questions about the demographics of the guests - men vs. women, age, ethnic background, number of children and age range, type of eaters - sophisticated, meat and potatoes, simple, vegetarian, etc


Oh yeah, don't forget to offer some main course vegetarian options even if they haven't asked for them. With 300 guests there are bound to be vegetarians, vegans and people with various dietary restrictions for either health or religious reasons.


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## chef kaiser (Mar 12, 2006)

Hi, 

alot of food on one plate, but well never mind if the customer wants it. Go from the base, that an average main dish portion of meat or seafood in a healthy eating enviroment (3 course meal) is 160 grams to 180 grams. However the way you serve it and to make it look attractive with 4 choices I would go with 240 grams. As mentioned in other feedbacks, the budget , well give more of the cheaper item. Obviously the type of client and event is important to consider too as mentioned above by somebody too. 

If you would be more specific, advice could be easier given, we just have a 1500 pax wedding this coming Friday (Buffet Style), well food cost is important and has no place to be guessed as profit is important to sustain business. 

regards


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## david jones (Jan 15, 2000)

You need a new vocabulary with clients, beginning with "what's your budget for the event?" No matter how many shrimp the client may want, you have a profit motive and that's why you're in business.

Plan for an amount of proteins and then cost it out based on that. Shrimp can be passed as an app (skewered in sugar cane?) and seem very gracious is a small portion. Offer cheaper proteins in an abundant fashion, and maybe more styles.....


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