# staffing for 400



## lentil (Sep 8, 2003)

Just a quick question.  I have an event for 400,  Hot and cold hodos, desserts, 2 action stations (one pasta and one stirfry).  All college students.  We're staging out of a conference room and a closet (yes, a closet), but have a refer truck in the parking lot some distance away.  We need runners to get stuff from the truck on occasion.  The event lasts about 3 hours.

How many staff would you put on this?   No passed hodos.


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## oldfoodguy (Dec 9, 2010)

With threee hours to spread them over, I would go with:

Two  cooks and 1 runner per Action Station

Assuming the use of disposable plates, flatware etc. 8 servers should be able to keep up with the traffic. If using real stuff, add 2-3 more.  What about beverages/ bars?


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

didn't you have this gig last year? if not I'm remembering someone else who had the same type gig...


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## lentil (Sep 8, 2003)

Yes, that was me.  Last year we were hit hard, and I wasn't happy with the service.  We did the job on Tuesday and I had 3 call outs, so we ended up in the same situation.  It worked out better this time though- must have been an act of God!

This time, I drove the refer truck over with the cold food and all the set ups.  Sent a car with 5 staff to meet me there and the 2 cooks were to meet us there right before service with the hot food.  In a perfect world.   It was an hour and a half before service and my phone rang- the cooks had locked themselves out of the kitchen with no van keys and half of the hot food still in the cambros inside the building- a half an hour away!  They had to go to the restaurant next door to borrow a cell phone to call me.  I tried to call my other crew who were at another job near the cafe to bring the key back, but neither of them picked up their phones,  I didnt' know what to do.  Here I was with half the food, no kitchen manager, and short 3 of my staff.  I really wanted to walk out the door and go home!

Long story short, I got everyone moving and ready to serve and my cooks got there with 20 minutes to spare.  The job went well, all things considered.  Thanks for all your help!


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## lentil (Sep 8, 2003)

I forgot the best part!  One of my staff, a girl who is in a welfare to work program and has never catered with us before, had been told to wear black pants and a black shirt.  She's been spoken to before for wearing pants that were too low in the back showing us her backside so I told her that she would not be able to go if she wore them.  She didn't but showed up in a black top with white stripes, low cut in the front so her tatoo on her upper breast (a rose with WILD written under it) showed as well as a good amount of cleavage.  Her pants (black) were the type that had ties at the ankles but weren't tied.  I told her 3 times to tie them and tuck them into her pants.  I finally handed her a pair of scissors and told her to cut them off or wait in the car.  She did.  She also had a hickey on the side of her neck the size of a half dollar.  A good slather of make up cured it and a stiff drink cured me later.


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

OMG.....friggin nightmare....only one stiff drink after that? 

Reminds me of the Spainish dinner....snowing, really snowing for the midwest......after initial setup I went back (couple of miles) to the kitchen to make the paella, and a couple other dishes.  The snow slowed everyone down.....I got stuck outside a double locked door with the cambro loaded on the otherside of the door.....thank goodness there was a play going on 4 flights up and I finally got the attention of someone to unlock the door.....rushed back to the party and parked in someone's space who later on I found out ticked off so much he'd called the cops.....well the host had told me the vip was from Brussels, turned out she was from Barcelona.   LOVED the food....but comeon, who in their right mind would cook Spainish food for a Spainard without really experiencing it before, nor cooked it very often.....

It's all about perception, what people see is not what's going on behind the scenes.


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## lentil (Sep 8, 2003)

Doesn't catering make you want to cry some days?  It's so out of control at times!  And really!  Paella for a Spaniard!  You must be good!!!

I've probably said this before, but for some strange reason when I first started my business, whenever I was catering, I'd find myself singing that song by the Fray "in over my head" or I'll get in the van and that will be playing on the radio.  We don't  usually have  a problem, but that song seems to be my  theme song.  After I got the call that they were locked out, and after I decided that if I didnt' laugh, I would stroke out,  one of the girls who has worked for me for 3 years said, "would now be a good time to sing your song?"  It was, oh yes it was!

Actually it's a wonder I don't drink more than I do....


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## tigerwoman (Jul 18, 2002)

but the testament to your abilities as a caterer is that you did figure it out and got through it and other than high  blood pressure and big bar bill were none worse for the wear.  That's what they pay us for not just the food.  

Are you considering hiding a second key somewhere outside the premises or having a reciprocal key with a nearby business vendor (that has similar hours) in the future?  

Got to love it!


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Where do you get these people, Rikers Island??


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## lentil (Sep 8, 2003)

chefedb said:


> Where do you get these people, Rikers Island??


In all fairness, the 2 cooks are very good, but simply let the door close behind them while packing the van. Mistakes happen, right?

The tattoo girl? Well that's a different story. She came to me via a back to work program designed to train people so they can get off welfare. It's a good program. She's a little rough around the edges (to say the very least), but she no longer calls our elderly women customers "guys", she won't say "baby daddy" in around me because I said she may as well say "the guy I bleeped one night and now I have this baby", and she coughs into her elbow rather then into shared space. We're working on her. ;-)


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## lentil (Sep 8, 2003)

tigerwoman said:


> but the testament to your abilities as a caterer is that you did figure it out and got through it and other than high blood pressure and big bar bill were none worse for the wear. That's what they pay us for not just the food.
> 
> Are you considering hiding a second key somewhere outside the premises or having a reciprocal key with a nearby business vendor (that has similar hours) in the future?
> 
> Got to love it!


Great idea about the key! I'll talk to a friend near us. I never thought of that, but it would have saved us a lot of stress. Thanks, Lisa.


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