Food for Thought; Jeff Thomas Catering

Every Friday, we have decided to post a "Food for Thought' segment, where we introduce a local caterer or baker asking them to share their story and some wedding insights to our readers. Our last "FFT" post we let Daveed's NEXT Restaurant & Catering have the mic as they provided us with a brief description of their company. This week we decided to take the same approach and gave Jeff Thomas Catering a chance to provide  us with a little snippet of why Jeff Thomas is the Man! Take a look to see what Jeff Thomas Catering had to say about their extraordinary catering company!

"Enjoying 29 years of service to the Greater Cincinnati Area, we pride ourselves with the knowledge of world cuisine and the ability to customize menus to fit our client’s needs.  Whether it is 'farm to table' with fresh local ingredients to international flair, we rise to the occasion with innovative presentation and execution.
 We acquire this knowledge by 'forcing' Jeff to travel the world experiencing world cuisine from Indian, to Vietnamese, to Thai, to the Rjjstafel of Amsterdam.  Food is our passion. Creating memorable occasions for our clients is our mission.

Under the guidance of Chef Steve Waddell, Steve is assisted by two Sous Chefs, Scotty’s forte being world cuisine including world street food and Ali, a practicing Vegan, brings vegetarian and Vegan to a whole new level.  Our Pastry Chef, Megan joins us from the The Hamptons in New York and knows world pastries from her east coast experiences.

While a Jeff Thomas Catering experience is not inexpensive, we strive to bring as much creativity to our client’s experience as the budget will allow.  Sometimes this may be achieved by our very competitive floral and rental pricing.  As you know, it’s all about the bottom line in getting the experience you want and deserve. Being able to assist in these areas many times helps our clients upgrade the culinary experience to their desirable taste level. "

Now we're starting to talk wedding! Keep reading to find out what types of services Jeff Thomas Catering provides to brides when planning their perfect day.

 

"When planning the perfect wedding, we look at many aspects and consider your day a theatrical production.  We assist and advise with the floor plan, the timeline, other vendor recommendations and more.  But most importantly, we strive to set your wedding apart from all the others you are experiencing with creative menu items and presentation."

What types of "creative menu items" is the Jeff Thomas team talking about, however?

"If we were to site a few of our favorite’s ideas and signatures, one would be our salad wrapped in grilled zucchini and layered.  This architectural visual maintains the chill of the salad and holds the dressing in the condiments so the lettuce does not wilt.  It is also a much better visual to come to the table with a pre-plated salad than a typical banquet salad.  For fall and winter weddings we often suggest a cornbread crusted soup like roasted corn chowder served with a side salad. We bake the bowls and seal the top with cornbread keeping them piping hot at the table for a good 45 minutes. And once again, your guests come to the table with a surprise.  It’s just something different from all the rest!

Probably our favorite main course is a dinner prepared in parchment paper.  Cooking with parchment seals the juices and locks in the flavor.  Everyone gets a hot meal and fast!  We once served a party of 900 this main course in 19 minutes! The show of this execution is all on the front of house and a thrill to watch.

Very few of our weddings use buffet style any more.  It’s primarily seated or stations. If stations, is your preference, we have recreated the execution of this concept.  Early years of stations saw salads station, pasta or mashed potato bars and carving. Yawn! Yawn!  Now, our staff works from back stations and pre-plate mini meals on cocktail plates or martini glasses.  Often there is also a wine, beer or cocktail pairing at the station.  It’s much more sophisticated and you spend more time at your table than at the station as we can plate the meals on behalf of your guests.

Whether seated, buffet or stations, we suggest a pre-set salad and/or soup.  This allows time for all of the necessary ceremonial components to unfold.  During this course, we suggest everything happen from the bridal intro, to the blessing, father of the bride welcome and depending on the size, the toast.  All of this should happen before the main course or station’s open.

Also, when possible, we like to serve the cake as a course by painting a full size plates with crème Anglaise and raspberry hearts and with seasonal fruit garnish. Again, this is just something different than every other reception you attend.  It feels more like a special dessert instead of 'here’s your cake.'

Another thing to keep in mind is once the cake is cut and the first dance sequence unfolds, we are servicing your guests with cake and coffee service. At this point, many of your guests have started to celebrate…. by dancing of course!  We offer a complementary coffee station with whipped cream, shaved chocolate and caramel sauce.  In the spring and summer we also offer iced Caramel latte.  In the autumn, we switch to an offering of hot cider."

These types of services allows the bride to turn her wedding day into an out-of-the-ordinary, unique, classic wedding experience. Jeff Thomas Catering provides services you didn't even know a catering company could offer! Not only do we, at The Center, appreciate all the hard work they put in with brides, they also are accustomed to flipping our space from a ceremony to a reception area in minutes!

 "The Center is one of our more favorite venues.  We are quite used to 'flipping' the reception room from ceremony to dinner.  The open cocktail reception area makes it easy for both guests and staff as we recreate the room for a whole new experience.  They also spoil us with a very equipped kitchen facility that ensures hot meals for all guests.  Just remember that at The Center, you don’t have to settle for typical wedding food. A memorable experience is part of the package."

Thanks for all the info, Jeff Thomas Catering! We always enjoy working with this wonderful company and staff!

To learn more about Jeff Thomas Catering and the services they offer, contact them at events@jeffthomascatering.com or call them at 859-291-0286.