What Actually Happens at a Catering Tasting (And How to Get the Most From It)

A tasting isn't a sales pitch — it's a working session. You'll try four to six dishes plated exactly as they'll appear at your event, because a short rib that's stunning at a chef's counter behaves differently after a 40-minute banquet hold.

While you're tasting, we're taking notes on more than 'liked it': salt tolerance, sauce preferences, texture reactions. Those notes follow your file all the way to the event-day kitchen brief.

Bring your real constraints. The most productive tastings are the ones where a couple says 'my father won't touch anything with fennel' — that's exactly the information that turns a good menu into yours.

Expect to talk logistics too: venue kitchen access, power for stations, service timing. Ten minutes of walkthrough talk at a tasting saves an hour of day-of improvisation.

Every tasting ends with a same-week menu proposal and live pricing in your portal. You can adjust guest count and watch the total update — no waiting three days for a revised PDF.