Catering to customers' needs proves profitable

Moving fabulous food to where customers need it adds to the bottom lines of several local restaurants.

"I suppose you could make a living doing just catering, but catering can be somewhat seasonal at times," said James Clary, owner of Clary's Restaurant and Clary's Catering, which have been in business for 15 years. "If it slows down, we have the restaurant to fall back on. Also the restaurant is a springboard for catering. If we are catering a job and the people aren't familiar with us, we can say come in and try the restaurant. It works well for us."

Nearly Famous Deli & Pasta House owner Suze Dunville agrees.

"Catering allows us (at Nearly Famous) to have extra revenue that you don't have to put people in seats for, which really helps," Dunville said. " We didn't intend to start off in the catering business (in 1976), but people kept asking us to do something. So we did it to accommodate the customers and it grew from there."

Catering adds 30 percent to Clary's annual revenues, Clary said. Catering provides about 25 percent of Nearly Famous' annual revenue, Dunville said.

Having opened just more than four years ago, Mille's Cafe is a relative newcomer to the catering and restaurant businesses.

"Outside catering sales probably only do about 10 percent of the total sales, the bulk is our banquets and private parties within the restaurant," said Dan Calhoun, general manager.

"We've done catering as long as the restaurant has been here. It's helpful for people to see us outside the restaurant. It builds name recognition."

And part of building a reputation includes meeting the demands of clients.

"(Mille's) will cater just about any job," Calhoun said. "We try, if possible, to do things within the Springfield metropolitan area. We've done jobs as far as Fordland. We've done groups as small as 10 and as large as 300."

Said Clary: "We do all aspects of catering. From a party for two, if the husband is trying to impress his wife, to parties of 6,000."

Nearly Famous has catered to the tastes of presidents Ford and Clinton. "We've done presidential airplanes and the press planes," Dunville said.

"It's all custom work. I've catered on top of a hill in Branson with no water and electricity. It was a ground breaking for a theater."

Challenges

To accomplish their goals, caterers have to meet challenges from transporting food via catering vans, to lifting heavy hot and cold food storage containers, to dealing with the unexpected.

"Every day is completely different than every other day. You get very loyal customers and they trust you, and when they're in a jam you help. There are some things that can't be planned ahead, like funerals," Dunville said.

Being away from the restaurant often compounds any problems.

"Running out of food is a problem," Clary said, "It's a real nightmare having to cut portions down. You can't run back to the restaurant and get food. You have to have the right equipment. We discovered quickly to do large parties we had to have the right equipment to keep food hot. You have to be detail-oriented. On a catering job, you can't forget anything."

Staffing also can be a challenge. Mille's catering staff is pulled from those who work within the restaurant.

Clary's has developed an on-call staff as well. "On any given night we might need 30 extra people," Clary said.

Nearly Famous uses a separate production company Sophisticated Services, Dunville said.

On the menu

For the most part, catering menus differ from in-house menus.

"There are certain items I wouldn't recommend to a client for a catering job. One that comes to mind is souffls. If someone doesn't have the proper oven, it's impossible to cook souffls for 100 people. It's not a dish that can take transport and be served," Clary said.

Calhoun said: "When we (at Mille's) planned our banquet (and catering) menu, we thought of what people are most interested in, more likely to ask for us to do and tried to do something in a medium price range for people to ensure the quality of food, ability to transport and be held at a different location."

At Clary's, which has "done everything from corporate picnics with hamburgers and hotdogs to 10-course meals for wedding receptions," Clary said, "the catering menus change constantly.

"If someone calls for a catering quote, we try to put together a quote according to the function, budget and likes and dislikes of the client."

Dishes popular on the catering menus are: prime rib at Mille's, tuna nachos from Clary's, and the company casserole at Nearly Famous.

Regardless of the fare, health codes still have to be considered.

"A private party at a house isn't officially subject to health codes, but we try to go above and beyond," Clary said. He said much of the food is largely prepared at the restaurant and subject to health codes there.

Clary said at an event where the general public is invited such as the KOZK Wine and Food Celebration he makes sure the food is protected. For instance, gloves and sneeze guards are used.

Said Calhoun: "When we do catering jobs we always bring hand washing stations, thermometers to temp food items and all staff that serve are required to wear gloves."