Food and Beverage Menu

Introduction

Food and beverage menu refers to a booklet or  brochure that contains the name of all foods and drinks found in hotels and restaurants this document also contains prices per item sold thee in. they can also be used at home when an individual is planning to host friends for a party event. It is an important tool that enables the host to come up with the right foods to include in the menu after carefully analyzing the likes and dislikes of invited guests. This paper is an analysis of menu used by an individual at his graduation party event. It contains the types of food, salads, drinks and appetizers that can be served to make the party a success.

Review of recent development

4.1       The hospitality industry is a sector that deals with various events and activities. The activities range from parties, catering services for weddings, conferences, and school and college fairs among others. The sector also act as a reliable place to turn to when an individual has a party or intends to hold a function in which food and beverages will be served. Such an individual must possess event management skills and knowledge so that he or she is able to cater for the invited guest appropriately. The event managers, who may also be the host of the function, must be able to understand his guest while trying to come up with the menu. Before the host can prepare the menu, he or she needs to come up with the list of the invited guest. The host should analyze the guest list to find out the likes, dislikes of the visitors. The analysis also helps the host to know the guests who have food related diseases such as diabetes, strict vegetarians, and those who suffer from various allergies of some foods.

The knowledge of such factors will help the host in coming up with the appropriate menu for every invited guest (Knowles, 2012). The menu should be made to fit the interest of all the invited guest, for instance there should be foods and beverages that are fit to be consumed by diabetic, hypertensive people and even those who consider themselves as strict vegetarian or those who have allergies to things like proteins or dairy products. the menu drawn for any occasion must ensure that all the ages of the guest are considered, for example, the host must include food fit for children and adults without discriminating any age. The manager must also ensure that the menu is within his or her budgeted amount of money.

The event manager of a hospitality event such as  a party need to seek help from other hospitality segment such as catering especially in the event the manager does not know how to prepare food individually. In such cases, the manager should either hire caterers to prepare the meals from the host’s premises or provide readymade food that will serve the same intended purpose. If the host decides to cook or prepare the food on his or her own without buying, the team must be able to come up with the right menu, they must know the ingredients to use for every type of guest. For example it is not logical to offer food that has excess sugar to a hypertensive person or offering sugary food a diabetic individual. The event manger must ensure that they provide accommodation to gust when need be.

The foods served must entice the appetite of both the young and the old. The food provided must be of high quality must be very healthy to consume. It is usually easy for party planners to come up with foods that are very fatty, too sweet, or contains lots of salt. The manager must ensure that the food prepared is safe, secure and does not pose any threat to the human body. The food must be healthy and must contain the right amounts of nutrients per serving (Bhg.com, 2014). If possible, he even managers must ensure that the menu contains food that is rich in balanced diet. Thus the food must contain proteins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats in small quantities.

The planed menu

At the end of this even the host expect to receive 50 adults and 10 children making him to have a total of visitors. The menu should look like the one below

Appetizers could contain easy party dips such as

Feta, honey, and date spread (Pinterest, 2014)

Molasses lime meat balls

Cracked black pepper and rosemary focaccia

Two-tomato bruschetta

Black-eyed pea spread

Pimiento cheese poppers (bhg.com, 2014)

Edamame hummus

Artichoke-feta tortilla wraps

The main dishes include

Chicken wings

Fried meat

Baked beans (Pelt, 1995, 65)

Vegetables

Brown rice

White rice

Pashed potatoes

Cheese burger

Desserts

Spinach soup

Yam soup

Cakes

Candies

Salads and dressing include chopped vegetables like spinach, celery, cabbages, mixed with mayonnaise or custard and fruit salad. Beverages in the party should include green tea, fresh fruit juice, sodas, sugar free sodas, milk, and beer (bhg.com, 2014)

The menu above contain healthy foods that can be consumed by those who are diabetic, it also has sweetened foods that have honey that can be eaten by children since children like sweet foods especially in appetizers (Coughlin, 2010, 103). Vegetables are very healthy for people of all ages hence including them in the menu proved important in order to have a balanced diet. Cakes and candies at the party are limited and expected to be tested since they are rich in sugars and high fats. Those who have health issues like diabetes should refrain from eating such food types with high amounts of sugar they should instead indulge in other things like pea and yam soups which are very healthy.

The menu includes chicken and beef as they are important sources of animal proteins, they can also be eaten by people of all ages. Milk is a good source of all food nutrients and is liked by all children, hence it is important to include milk in the menu so that any child who finds it hard to eat any of the provided meals may easily drink milk unless the child is allergic to dairy products (Edelstein, 2010, 34). Low sugar foods bought for the visitors were intended to be consumed by those who are diabetic and those who chose not eat foods that have high amounts of sugar in them. Fresh fruit juices are very good for every person attending the party and should be bought in large quantities compared to other beverages like soda and beer. This is because fresh juices are highly nutritious and very healthy.

4.2       In order to ensure that the foods served at the party are safe for consumption, most of them should have been bought a day earlier (Knowles, 2002, 76). For example, the host should ensure that all the meat products are bought just a day before the party and stored in the freezer to prevent them from spoiling. Vegetable can be bought in the morning of the party so that the host can serves fresh vegetables; the same idea applies for fruits used for making salads and fruit juices. The people involved in the preparation of the meals must observe high standards of hygiene while preparing the food. They need to wear protective clothes such as and was their hands all the times so that they end up presenting healthy and clean food to the guests and even to themselves (Hutter, 2011, 50).

After ensuring the high standards, safety and health of the food served at the party, the host must ensure that they uphold food security issues (Heaton, Stuman, & Ford, 2011, 11). They must ensure that no food goes to waste since food is a luxurious commodity and needs to be consumed well in order to reduce losses. For example, the people at the party must ensure that they serve the quantity of food that they can finish so that no amount of food is disposed because it has been touched by the other (Knowles, 2012, 105). Food security is an important aspect that must be considered by both home based party planners and those who work in the hospitality industries such as hotels. It is important for the people in this sector to ensure that very minimum amount of food are wasted. If possible they should aim at recycling left over foods while maintaining their hygiene and safety in order to reduce the amount of food that is wasted within the hospitality industry while there are people in the world who go without food on daily basis due to lack of food (Vivaldo, 2010, 39).

4.3       The factors that will determine the success of the main include the ability of the host to provide food desired by all the people invited (adults and children), the host should also consider the likes, dislikes, and allergies of some of the invited guest as well as consider those who have diseases such as diabetes so that he or she can carefully and effectively chose the food that will best suit each individual. The planner must also have an adequate budget and come up with the financial plan in advance before hosting the party. The event organizer must possess food and beverage menu planning skills, know effective food hygiene, safety and security in order to avoid cases of food poisoning. He or she must be surrounded by people who are well conversant with menu planning and hosting activities if need be.

Conclusion

Food and beverage menu planning is an important activity to undertake when planning to hold a party or an event. The host must know the invited guest well especially what they eat and what they consider undesirable. The host must ensure food safety, security, hygiene and ensure that the foods bought will not go to waste. The purchase of the products must be within the allocated budget and must ensure that it covers every part of a good menu.

References

Bhg.com, 2014. Easy and healthy appetizer recipes. Retrieved from http://www.bhg.com/recipes/party/appetizers/easy-heart-smart-appetizer-recipes/#page=18

Coughlin, S., 2010. The reluctant entertainer: every woman’s guide to simple and gracious hospitality. Grand Rapid, Michigan: Bethany House., p103

Edelstein, S., 2010. Food, cuisine, and cultural competency for culinary, hospitality, and nutrition professionals. Mississauga, Ontario: Jones & Bartlett Publishers, p34

Heaton, C., Stuman, M. & Ford, R., 2011. Managing quality service in hospitality: how organizations achieve excellence in the guest experience. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning, p11

Hutter, B., 2011. Managing food safety and hygiene: governance and regulation as risk management. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, p50

Knowles, T., 2002. Food safety in the hospitality industry. New York, NY: Routledge , p76

Knowles, T., 2012. Food safety in the hospitality industry. New York, NY: Routledge, p105

Pelt, N., 1995. Creative hospitality. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Pub Assoc, p65

Pinterest., 2014. Our most popular appetizers. Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/myrecipes/our-most-popular-appetizers/

Vivaldo, D., 2010. How to Start a Home-Based Catering Business. USA: Rowman & Littlefield, p39