Big Time Catering Help Needed

[MattK]

Started by Flight Star on June 3, 2005:

I need catering for Krakow and Tel Aviv..I may have to go with commercial airline catering due to the number of passengers. Then I will need catering in Damascus and Tripoli for a small contingent... Any clues.


Reply From vingwing:
(6/4/05 4:22 pm)
Re: Big Time Catering Help Needed

You are about to really earn your paycheck. I used to fly a G-IV regularly into LLBG Tel Aviv and used my handler Michael Sonego of Bedek Aviation Group to help order catering from the El Al kitchens. If you are VERY SPECIFIC in your order for long haul First Class type catering, you will get acceptably okay catering. Not great, but acceptable. Be sure to place your order in writing via fax, and call to confirm receipt of your order. Then call again the day before and the morning of your departure to reconfirm everything. I had earlier tried to use catering from my hotels, but had difficulty hauling it from the hotel to the airport, through security and onto the aircraft.

I haven't catered out of Krakow, Damascus or Tripoli, but would recommend that you try to use your hotel instead of airline catering. The airline caterer at these three airports will have little or no experience in long haul First Class catering.

This is a very interesting part of the world to travel in. Take lots of pictures and enjoy yourself.


Reply From Hallie H97:
(6/5/05 2:42 pm)
Re: Flight Star

Hi Flight Star,

Check out this link. Before I go on a trip I always make out menus and lists for the catering and anything else that the passengers, the crew or myself may possibly need. I then translate them into whatever language I will need. (I even make flash cards, sounds silly, but it's a big help when abroad).

I hope this helps.

Good luck, have fun and be safe.

Hallie

P.S.

The link is:
www.freetranslation.paralink.com/#

Sorry about that!

:) Hallie

[carolyn]

Hi,

This reply may be a bit late, but hopefully may be helpful to some.....recently we had a trip pass through Krakow. Catering through the handler was not quite up to par. Definitely not to the standard that you would prefer on a private corporate aircraft. Our crew used the Sheraton Hotel as a back-up and they were pleasantly surprised....much, much better. (However, I must say that the handler in Krakow was able to obtain Opus One....)

On another note, I know that there have been a lot of questions about catering through Asia, South Africa and other more remote parts of the world. Just a suggestion, but what we have found is that frequently, if you call ahead, most hotels will email you their menus (if not already on their website) so you can offer a nice hand written card with options or the menu itself on card stock onboard the aircraft to the passengers. Then they can choose what they'd like for the next leg of your trip and you know that you can obtain safe catering and not be in a bind trying to find something that isn't available. We've used this method for about two years--(knowing that they'd never put our crews in a hotel where the food wasn't safe...and the catering would be of the best standards for the passengers). Just remember to bring in ziploc bags, tins and foil and meet directly with the Lead Chef straight away. Works well and often saves on the amount of food you have to front-load.

Additionally, another great website for translating menus is http://babelfish.altavista.com/ All you have to do is type in the item you want to translate and then choose the language you want to translate to and hit "click"...and it's done.

Hope this information is useful. Fly safe out there.

Carolyn

[islandtraveler]

Carolyn,

Thanks for the link to the translator site. I plan to use it! :)

~Islandtraveler