Catering to the high end

General Article
March 6, 2003

Closest source for specialty meals at competitive prices is - surprise - right here at home in Food Services

Preparing a catered vegetable buffet platter are (from left) Yossarian Kelley, Kristine Hornung, Annie Lamb and Heather Hearsey, all of Food Services. Photo by Todd McNaught

By CLAY EALS

Are you planning a fancy, catered event at the center, complete with fine china and flowers?

Chances are you didn't know about the closest catering option of all - the center's Food Services Department.

The department provides the same high-end, full-service catering as outside firms and at competitive prices, said Kristine Hornung, who recently joined the department as catering coordinator.

"Generally, there isn't anything we can't prepare for the same cost or less than an outside caterer," she said.

Want an example?

Try this multi-course meal: a first course of wild greens, toasted pine nuts, roasted tomatoes and caper vinaigrette; house-baked sunflower-seed bread; an entr?e of seared, herb-crusted salmon, blend of wild rice and seasonal vegetable; and a dessert of fresh pear tart with cinnamon whipped cr?me.

Difference of $8.50/meal

For that meal, an outside caterer would charge $26.50 per person, whereas Food Services would charge $18, Hornung said.

Outside caterers charge at least $8 per person for china service and $5 per person for linens, while Food Services charges $3 and $2, respectively, she said.

During weekday hours, outside caterers charge at least $25 an hour for servers, whereas at Food Services they're included. After hours, outside caterers require a minimum four-hour charge for servers, but Food Services merely charges $25 an hour.

Non-alcoholic beverages cost $4.25 per person via an outside caterer and $2.50 per person with Food Services. Outside caterers charge a 100 percent markup on beer and wine, while Food Services charges actual market cost.

Best of all, while outside caterers charge sales tax to all groups, Food Services adds no sales tax for in-house events. (Non-center groups are subject to sales tax.)

The difference in total cost for just one catered event could amount to several hundred dollars, Hornung said.

"Let's keep our Hutch funds here at the Hutch," she said.

Lengthy experience

Hornung comes to Fred Hutchinson with lengthy catering experience, having owned and operated a high-end catering service in New York for 12 years and working at Baci Catering in Seattle for several months.

She noted that the Event Management System, the new online, conference-room scheduling service to be phased in this spring, will make it easy for faculty and staff to not only order the popular daily catering service but also arrange for high-end, specialty catering.

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From breakfasts to box lunches, Food Services caters a dozen events a day

The Double Helix Caf? and Club Met Caf? may be the public face of Fred Hutchinson Food Services, but the department also specializes in meals "to go."

From breakfast spreads of muffins, fruit, juices and coffee to box lunches of sandwiches, fruit, cookies and beverages, Food Services caters an average of 10 to 12 events from morning to evening every weekday.

"Some days we'll have five, but some days we'll have 20," said Jan Oliver, manager of food services. "We are here to do all kinds of catering."

Such routine service includes sandwich buffet platters and wine-and-cheese presentations - virtually anything in the way of food that a center department wishes to provide for a gathering, anywhere at the Day Campus or at Met East. Fancier, "executive" versions are available as well.

And just as with so-called high-end catering, Food Services' prices for routine service are quite reasonable, Oliver said. "We'll match outside prices or come in lower," she said.

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