Blog posts tagged with 'platters'

Our white melamine is some of the best out there in terms of its break resistance, how easy it is to use, and how close it looks to traditional porcelain platters and bowls. Because our customers are so in love with our white melamine, we have been adding to this product line over the past few years – including this months with a new 4” round white melamine bowl and a 20” x 13” white rectangle melamine platter.

I’m pleased to announce that we’ve now brought in Faux Slate Melamine Platters in a gorgeous black colour – textured to look like slate without the porousness and potential breakage of traditional slate.

This product line is available in 14 different sizes:

• 10.6" x 6.4" Faux Slate Melamine Platter
• 10.75" Round Faux Slate Melamine Platter
• 11" Square Faux Slate Melamine Platter
• 12" x 20" Faux Slate Melamine Platter
• 12" x 8" Faux Slate Melamine Platter
• 12.75" Round Faux Slate Melamine Platter
• 12.8" x 6.8" Faux Slate Melamine Platter
• 13" Round Faux Slate Melamine Platter
• 13" x 10.4" Faux Slate Melamine Platter
• 13" x 7" Faux Slate Melamine Platter
• 14" Square Faux Slate Melamine Platter
• 17" Round Faux Slate Melamine Platter
• 21" x 13" Faux Slate Melamine Platter
• 7" x 16" Rectangle Faux Slate Melamine Platter

These platters are black throughout, are easy to clean, and have smooth or irregular edges depending on the size of platter. They’re dishwasher/commercial dishwasher safe and safe for temperatures up to 200F.

If you’re interested in a rustic faux slate melamine look - perfect for commercial settings such as catered events, hotel dining rooms, and restaurant dining rooms – request a quote including shipping below:

We had an interesting question asked of us that we thought worth answering on our blog. A potential customer asked if our melamine serveware would warp in commercial dishwashers.

For those not familiar with melamine, it is a synthetic resin that is used to form durable, break-resistant dinnerware, serving platters, and serving bowls. Melamine serveware can look almost identical to porcelain or be dyed to look like wood, marble, slate or stone. We specifically choose our melamine serveware to look as close to porcelain as possible – we’ve even had trade show attendees do a double take once they feel it!

Commercial dishwashers are like residential dishwashers on steroids and they often either use sanitation chemicals or higher heat to properly wash dinnerware, serveware, flatware and glassware. It is understandable that a potential customer would have a concern regarding warping in a commercial dishwasher.

Melamine platters or bowls works well in a temperature range of 2°C – 93°C (35.6°F - 200°F). Anywhere below zero degrees melamine platters and bowls will get quite brittle and breakage will more easily occur. A temperature above 200 degrees and warping will more easily occur. Commercial dishwashers work up to 180 degrees Fahrenheit so given Melamine’s wide temperature range you should not have warping issues putting them in your dishwasher.

In case you’re not familiar with our “On Sale Now” section of our website, we have a page devoted to products that we have an overstock of or are looking to clear out of inventory. We have a number of new items either added on Sale or reduced in price that are worth mentioning. Check them out below!

Tan on Tan, Slate Blue on Grey, Royal Blue on Grey Plastic Folding Chairs 

now $14.41 each regardless of volume purchased.

5ft Rectangle Plastic Folding Table

on Sale for $58.95 each regardless of volume purchased.

4ftx24” Rectangle Plastic Folding Table

On Sale for $36.95 each.

Solid wood harvest table

On Sale for $449.99

We also have provided deeper discounts on the following porcelain products:

A1902B - Quadrato 11.25" Square Charger Plate - Black

Originally $11.49 and now marked down to $2.91.

A1837 - 15" Triangle Plate

Originally $9.19 and now marked down to $2.91.

So you live in Vancouver, BC and you’re looking for a way to lower your current restaurant costs for tabletop supplies. OR perhaps you’re looking to extend your budget by sourcing lower cost restaurant dishes or melamine serveware – whatever the situation may be, once you know you're ready to move forward, the next step is finding the right restaurant supply for the project.

Considering we've supplied hundreds of convention centers, hotel restaurants and full-service standalone restaurants in the Vancouver area over the past few years, as well as the fact that we've seen so many other restaurant supply stores and their products/service, we're happy to give our thoughts on some of the better restaurant supply stores in the city.

As you're likely aware, we at National Event Supply have been expanding our target market from nationwide party rental companies across Canada to restaurants. Selling direct to restaurants instead of through a distributor model allows us to offer the same quality tabletop supplies as the major brands, without all the middlemen taking a cut of the total cost. Although factory-direct wholesalers have been popping up to meet the restaurant industry’s needs for years, there are some occasions (due to kickbacks, one-stop shop, immediacy etc.) where a restaurant supply store makes sense over a wholesaler. In a case like this, we'd recommend you consider the following companies:

1. Puddifoot:

Based on Rand Avenue by Fraser River Park in Southlands, Puddifoot is well known for distributing very high-end dinnerware lines such as the Patra and Nikko brands as well as custom designs and productions by request.

2. Hendrix Foodservice Equipment:

Based out of Brockville, ON with two locations in British Columbia including one on the east side of the Trans-Canada Hwy, Hendrix Foodservice Equipment offers the largest one-stop shop collection on this list of foodservice equipment, food prep, smallwares, chef knives, tabletop & serving, furniture etc.

3. Pacific Restaurant Supply:

Based in the neighbourhood of Hastings on E Cordova Street in Vancouver, Pacific Restaurant Supply is not only a restaurant supply company but also help clients design and build their restaurants along with a full service custom stainless fabrication and installation company allowing custom installations.

So there you have it, an honest assessment of some of the best restaurant supply stores in Vancouver.

Questions or comments? Please feel free to leave your thoughts below.

Photo Source: Buffetenhancements.com

In the foodservice industry, there are two different types of chafer pans: stainless steel food pans and porcelain chafing dish inserts. Stainless steel has long been the chosen type of chafer pan, however porcelain chafing dish pans have been growing in popularity. To help with purchasing decisions regarding whether to buy a stainless steel or porcelain food pan I've compared the two below for easy reference:

Stainless Steel Food Pans:

• Dishwasher-Safe with most manufacturers recommending hand-drying the pan immediately after the rinse cycle or hand-washing and drying to preserve the original finish
• Not Microwave-Safe
• Food Pans are Oven-Safe Up to 390˚F (198˚C) however prolonged oven use at high temperatures may cause discolouration.
• Prolonged exposure to high heat settings may cause your chafing dish to discolour. A stainless steel cleanser and non-abrasive cloth should refresh the metal
• Warping can occur if placed on cold surfaces or immersed in cold water when hot.
• Food cannot be left or stored in food pan for long periods of time. As well, superficial pitting may occur if very salty or acidic foods are left in the pan.
• Lightweight
• Generally less expensive than porcelain

Porcelain Food Pans:

• Dishwasher-Safe
• Microwave-Safe
• Oven-Safe Up to with no discolouration
• Non-warping
• Food can be left or stored in food pan for long periods of time.
• Heavier than stainless steel
• More expensive than stainless steel
• Easier to break than Stainless steel

Generally whether an event venue or caterer choose porcelain or stainless steel is a matter of personal preference of the company. There's some companies that swear only porcelain will do while others would consider porcelain sacrilege. Hopefully this comparison will help you decide what your company prefers and the benefits and drawbacks of each.