Planning barbecues
Choosing the right type of event and careful planning are the first steps to making your barbecue a success:
Barbecue event vs. daily business
The first question is whether you want to offer barbecue in your gastronomic business as an extra event or as an addition to your daily business. BBQ events have the advantage that details can be discussed with customers in advance and special requests can be covered. Likewise, by making reservations in advance, you can better estimate the products you need.
If you host your à la carte barbecue daily or several times a week in parallel with your regular daily business, you should consider how you can manage both with minimal extra effort. Staggering the serving times can help. However, if you want to introduce barbecue at your restaurant for the first time, you can start test runs once a month or as part of private circles in the beginning.
Preparation
During preparation, it is important to clarify the questions of what type of barbecue to work with and what to barbecue. The topic of barbecue has gotten more and more popular in recent years and became a lifestyle. This makes the selection of the right catering barbecue all the more complex. Sausages, steaks, fish or seafood – depending on what grilled specialties you want to serve to your guests, you can choose between a classic charcoal or gas barbecue, electric barbecue, combined barbecue or smoker.
When choosing your barbecue dishes, keep in mind that consumer expectations with regard to high-quality meat are on the rise. Special cuts, sustainability in raising the animals and ingenious preparation methods are becoming increasingly important. However, barbecue has long ceased to be a synonym for meat alone. Those who also offer barbecued fish, vegetables and other options appeal to a broader clientele.
Go for quality over quantity and maintain a certain event character this way. Take it slow and start with a manageable, yet diverse barbecue menu that offers vegetarian or vegan alternatives in addition to meat and fish dishes. Barbecued vegetables such as potatoes, corn on the cob or peppers are suitable as side dishes. BBQ desserts like grilled fruit or marshmallows for kids will round off your offerings.
To avoid unnecessarily long waiting times for your guests, it is advisable to pre-barbecue the sausages or vegetables. Likewise, think about matching tableware and decorations. Here, you should definitely avoid disposable products and choose sustainable versions. For BBQ events, a rustic look feels very authentic. By the way, you do not have to buy all the barbecue equipment – many suppliers rent out the relevant items.
Barbecue staff
In terms of staff, barbecue in gastronomy is really unique. Good planning and preparation are therefore a must. You should plan on having enough staff for barbecue and service. It is especially important to clarify in advance whether activities in the normal kitchen will be scaled down and this staff can be scheduled for the BBQ or whether additional capacity is needed.
Barbecuing in gastronomy requires expertise and additional qualifications. Therefore, consider whether your kitchen and service team is fit for BBQ events or if additional training and instruction need to be provided. Likewise, you should clarify with your team in advance what the level of service will be. Will all guests be fully served at their seats or will they line up for food? Will used tableware be cleared and provided new for guests or will there be dish stations? Also, try to ensure shortest possible walking paths for your staff and shortest possible waiting times for your guests.
Barbecue trends
If you want to surprise your guests with novel barbecue creations, stand out from competitors and offer a change from home barbecue, consider introducing some international and seasonal barbecue trends. A few inspirations:
- American BBQ
- Argentinian asado
- Korean BBQ
- fresh fish and seafood
- fall and winter barbecue plates
