Keeping the foodservice team safe

“We spread out the lines to ensure no one was really close to each other and we made sure the food lines went quick,” Peterson says. “And working in shifts allowed us an extra layer of social distancing.”

A satisfied client

NuStar Energy was “singing the praise and extremely happy with the turnout, the food and the attention to detail,” Peterson says of the grab-and-go barbecue event.

This way to the barbecue

“Since the pandemic, we have had to rethink a lot of what we do and how people are going to see food and eat food going forward,” Peterson says.

Individual charcuterie boards

Giant, overflowing cheese and charcuterie boards had been trending before the pandemic hit, making them seem risky at best in present context. So Peterson got to work on “how to make them individual, since we have typically seen those in the past as a family setup, where everyone picked off of the board.” Eurest Site Manager Sue Simion came up with the idea for mini boards, so “the next trick was how do we fill up the board without filling up their bellies before they got to the other courses?” The answer is very thin cuts of meat and cheese and everything else cut up smaller. “With the right container, this could absolutely work for to-go setting,” Peterson adds, “and possibly even call it ‘NoshBoxes.’”

Overnight oats for breakfast events

Back to basics has had a new resonance during the pandemic in foodservice, and items like these healthy overnight oats with fresh fruit fit that idea to a T. “I think everyone needs more normalcy in their lives right now, so I think very traditional comfort foods are in order,” Peterson says. “Simple pies but executed perfectly…simple roasted turkeys and hams done just like how our parents and grandparents made.”