Blog posts tagged with 'restaurants'

Next to the kitchen equipment required to produce the restaurant's menu items, it can be argued that dinnerware is the most important purchase a restaurant will make for its business success. Commercial dinnerware lends itself to the ambiance of the restaurant itself and can be utilized to enhance the presentation of the menu with creative use of intricately shaped dishes. Because dishes are such a pinnacle item for a restaurant there are a number of variables you should keep in mind when stocking your restaurant:

Budget

Buying dishes from restaurant suppliers can be notoriously expensive. Commercial dishes tend to be higher in cost than personal dishware as you’re looking for a higher durability dish. If you're looking for alternatives, try finding wholesalers who specialize in commercial-grade dinnerware. Factory-direct wholesalers who target the party rental and hospitality industry tend to have dishes that will be as suitable for a restaurant's needs as restaurant supply stores. They can also offer cheaper pricing than restaurant suppliers, especially for restaurants with multiple locations and high volumes.

Durability

Because the turnover in your establishment is pivotal to the success of your restaurant, it is vital that the dinnerware you buy be durable, commercial quality that lasts through many breakfast/lunch/dinner sittings. Take into account whether the dishes are commercial dishwasher safe, can withstand oven temperatures of up to 400 degrees, and can be turned over time and again while still looking like new. A lot of the leading brand names offer chip warranties but chip warranties do not cover breakage and are often quite restrictive in how you can make any kind of warranty claim. Make sure if the supplier offers a chip warranty, that you know all restrictions and conditions attached.

Aesthetics

Dinnerware should lend itself to the theme of your restaurant. Most restaurants tend to stick with traditional white dinnerware to allow the chefs free reign to dress the plate however they see fit. Traditional white dinnerware is also the most prevalent and readily available of the styles as many of the more ornate or coloured dishes tend to be for personal consumption.

Variety of place settings:

Look for a dishware supplier that has many different place settings, platters, bowls and other serve ware available such as risotto bowls, trio bowls, slanted bowls, etc. This allows you to have a cohesive line of dinnerware to focus your guests’ attention on your pièce de résistance, your food.

If you’re interested in viewing the tabletop items National Event Supply has to offer, including all our porcelain dinnerware, platters & bowls, download the National Event Supply Tabletop Catalogue.

Well you caught us – we’ve been negligent and completely missed September’s round up of interesting and relevant articles around the blogosphere. We’re sorry – do you forgive us? To make up for it, we have October’s round up for you full of the very best content for the very best readers (you silly ;)).

When meeting with a potential client for the first time, caterers need to get their prospects to talk so that caterers can read between the lines and determine how their prospects feel, learn about their needs and how to best serve them. Maybe they’re more interested in food presentation or in having a certain dish that has importance to them. This article dishes up a number of questions so you can learn what’s important to your prospects and how best to meet their needs. Check out the article over at Catersource Magazine.

The staff you hire can make or break your business when the key to success in the foodservice industry includes outstanding service and top notch food produced. In this article, CRFN asked four industry experts for their views on hiring the best people for your operation. Read the article to learn the secrets that have made their businesses so successful.

With the business climate becoming better every passing day, no longer are event rental companies in a discount death spiral of discounting far or fast enough. Now, many companies are using discounting as a strategic business tool instead of a way to survive. Check out this article from Special Events Magazine to see how other event rental companies are utilizing discounts.

With Fall officially here, it’s time to begin planning your holiday party inventory needs. With holiday parties on the decline over the past few years, BizBash along with Seamless surveyed 1500 event professionals to forecast the state of the corporate holiday party for 2013. Check out this infographic to see the results.

Source: BizBash

Rounding out the month of October was Halloween. To celebrate the season, we took a chainsaw to our wood folding tables to solidify our claim they were solid wood instead of medium density fiberboard with plywood laminated to it. Check out the video in this post to see more.

We hope you have enjoyed this month’s round up of posts. If you ever come across content you think is awesome, we’d love to hear from you - just shoot us an email at info (at) nationaleventsupply.com!

National Event Supply is seeking a reliable, professional and results driven person who enjoys the challenge of assisting customers, contributing to the growth of a dynamic company and is proficient in French and English both written and verbally. We’re looking for candidates who are passionate in their pursuit of delivering superior customer service, and forming positive, long lasting relationships with our customers.

We currently have the following position open:

Bilingual Inside Sales Representative

Join our team. You’ll get a competitive salary, excellent commission and a stake in our future success. All positions are based out of our Mississauga headquarters, so we need candidates who will be able to get to our office every day-Monday to Friday. No relocation is offered.

Submit your resume to stephanie@nationaleventsupply.com. Please include a cover letter with a few sentences explaining why this opportunity is right for you and how you’d be a fit for our team.

If you know someone who may fit this role, we’d appreciate your referrals!

Stainless Steel is an often misunderstood alloy, particularly when it comes to cutlery. As a result we hope to improve your understanding of stainless steel cutlery with this blog post. To do so we have compiled a list of questions that we are often asked about our stainless steel flatware.

What's the difference between 18/10, 18/8 and 18/0 stainless steel cutlery?

National Event Supply currently offers two levels of cutlery being 18/8 and 18/0. The difference between them is the nickel content in the flatware. The 18 stands for 18% chromium which gives the steel its hardness as well as stain, heat and corrosion resistant properties. The 10, 8 or 0 stands for 10%, 8% or 0% Nickel. Nickel gives flatware its soft feeling and fantastic shine. In terms of the hardness and fantastic shine, the best cutlery that we offer is made of 18/8 stainless steel.

Can stainless steel stain?

It is important to remember that it is called stainless steel, not stainproof steel. We have worked extremely hard over the years to ensure we only provide high quality stainless steel cutlery. With that said it is not stainproof as there are ingredients found in many citrus products, coffee, tea, salad dressing, salt (or foods with high salt content), and vinegar that can cause discolouration in your flatware. Additionally, hard water can cause putting or spotting on your flatware. It is also important to note that soaking your flatware for extended periods of time, particularly when the soap used has a citrus/lemon additive, is bad for the longevity of your flatware and we do not recommend it.

Why should I pick stainless steel flatware versus another material?

There are many reasons to select stainless steel for your cutlery when you are looking at the different options available. The first reason is that it is dishwasher safe making it easy and convenient to clean. Every caterer, banquet hall, golf course and party rental company knows what a hassle and time consuming process hand-washing cutlery can be! Many won't even stock cutlery that can’t be washed in a dishwasher because time is money-especially when you need to turnover cutlery fast. Another reason to select stainless steel cutlery-ownership is relatively carefree and practical as it is resistant to corrosion, rust and staining. It is also very economical because it has a long life while in use and is relatively inexpensive to purchase. Finally and perhaps most importantly, it looks good! A nice set of cutlery can really add a pop to your table top.

Why do your flatware prices vary even though they are equal quality?

Beyond the material used (18/10 versus 18/0), which causes a difference in the price. There are many other factors that come into play in the manufacturing and price of our cutlery. One key factor is weight; generally the heavier the pieces are, the more they cost. That is why knives and large serving pieces are more expensive. Another key factor relating directly to cost is the level of detail in the flatware. Other factors that come into play are pattern detail, extra finishing, and additional pieces available.

Is your flatware dishwasher safe?

Yes, all of the flatware sold by National Event Supply is dishwasher/commercial dishwasher safe. We recommend that any National Event Supply flatware placed in a dishwasher in such a way that the water and soap will not pool on any part of the flatware. This ensures you have the shiniest cutlery ready for your next event at a moment’s notice.

If you’re interested in learning more about the cutlery lines that National Event Supply stocks, feel free to contact us.

Our Serenity Crystal stemware along with our Copa / Eclisse glassware is a popular choice for commercial businesses including party rental companies, caterers, hotels, restaurants and banquet halls. With crystal and glass bearing striking similarities in aesthetics, we thought it made sense to clear up some of the top asked questions.

What is the difference between glass and crystal?

There are a number of differences between glass and crystal that should be known before purchasing stemware. Glass tends to be thicker than crystal as crystal is stronger so it can be worked thinner than glass. While glass can look quite similar to crystal, if you hold up a piece of crystal stemware to the light, the crystal will act as a prism. Crystal also produces a musical tone when you run a wet finger along the rim or when struck, though I wouldn’t recommend striking a suppliers’ crystal – it might not leave the best impression. Glass also tends to have a rolled / rounded rim while crystal tends to have a clean, straight cut rim.

Traditional crystal contains lead. The lead addition adds sparkle, gives more weight to the stemware, and increases its durability. There can be health concerns associated with the addition of lead oxide so many suppliers now have lead-free crystal – which is what National Event Supply carries.

Is lead crystal safe?

Lead crystal has been the primary form of crystal glassware since its inception. With the recent awareness and movement away from BPA due to health concerns, there has been debate on the use of lead in crystal. It is advised that you should not use lead crystal containers to store beverages for periods of time longer than a day. As per Riedel’s website, assuming that "worldwide legal standards are met and also surpassed", there are no issues or concerns with using lead crystal on a daily basis.

How do you clean crystal & glass stemware?

Always make sure to ask the supplier this question before purchasing as there’s no hard and fast rule that all crystal needs to be hand washed and all glass can be placed in a dishwasher. For businesses that deal with large quantities of stemware, it is recommended you look for crystal or glass stemware that is dishwasher safe as this will allow you to turn around your inventory faster while utilizing less man hours to do so. Imagine having to clean the glassware for a 500 person event? Not a fast or easy job.  Being able to use a dishwasher can save you thousands of dollars. National Event Supply only offers Crystal and Glass stemware that is dishwasher safe – keeping our customer’s in mind.

Should I be purchasing handmade or machine made glassware?

This is really a matter of personal preference. Handmade crystal and glass can lack the consistency of machine made crystal and glass. Handmade crystal in particular can be more costly than machine made crystal as some manufacturers employ master craftsman to produce their crystal glasses. While machine made glass and crystal can lack the artisans touch, they generally look more consistent and can be less expensive depending on your supplier.