Catering questions

[Belle Rita]

I am catering my grandson's bar mitzvah in two weeks. It will be a dairy luncheon following services on Saturday morning. I have cooked for 125 people before, but never for so many kids, about 50. Most of them are adolescents and I am having tuna and egg salad as well as many other items that some kids might like. Lox, whitefish salad, noodle pudding, mesclun salad, orzo salad with feta cheese, tomatoes, and olives, spanikopeta, olives and pickles, two kinds of cream cheese, sliced tomatoes, onions and cucumbers, bagels, and assorted breads and rolls. Potato chips too.

I know that if it were adults I would plan on having x amount for each of them, but I don't know how to figure for so many young people.

Also, if one is having several items as is usual on a buffet, is it necessary to have a full portion of everything for each person (adult?)

I did a luncheon for 150+ people in December, most of whom were adults and there was plenty.

 

[ella/TO]

Mazeltov!!!Those kids will go thru' that food like vultures.....bless their hearts...LOL.....and, they'll be wasteful too, I'm afraid. I think I would just count them as adults and go for it.....Enjoy!!!! Just remember to have cold drinks for them.......

 

[Belle Rita]

bar mitzvah

Okay, sounds like a plan. Thanks. I am going to make a fizzy fruit punch (juices and fruit punch and seltzer, no sherbet), and will also have seltzer.

 

[ella/TO]

don't understand your statement michaelmast.....who are they? and what does one win?.....LOL

 

[velochic]

I would say that growing boys that are in their teens are probably going to eat even more than adults would. Couple that with the waste that probably WILL occur, as a pp said, I would maybe plan for a bit more than you would for adults.

Your menu sounds delicious!

 

[gabagoo]

dont forget the olive and pickle trays...mmmm when I was a kid and went to these affairs I think thats all I ate!! lol

 

[Belle Rita]

A person after my own heart. When we used to go visit my aunt in Port Chester, NY the first thing we did was go to her refrigerator and get the pickles. New York had much better pickles than we did here in Massachusetts.
I already have the olives from an Italian store in town, and the pickles are tiny sour ones that I already have. I like having the extras.

 

[EveNyasia]

How much does catering an event for 60 people cost?

 

[Belle Rita]

Costs of catering

No easy answer for that one. what is the occasion? What is the budget? What time of day? Who is coming to the event? Who is doing the cooking? Professionals or yourself or friends?

I would say that what I catered for my grandson's dairy kiddush luncheon last Saturday would cost around 30-40 dollars a person without the waitstaff. But, because I am the grandma, and I absorbed some of the costs myself, it was way less. I don't have liability insurance or other overhead costs as a professional caterer would. The cost for the smoked fish was about 2.50 per person, but from a restaurant, etc., it would have been MUCH more. I made the whitefish salad which is labor intensive. So, again I say, no easy answer to your question.

So, I would start with the budget and go from there.