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19TH HOLE |
FOOD AND BEVERAGE | A simple boxed lunch holds the power to please everyone. Guests are happy to spend less time at the buffet and the food and labor budget will never look better. It's no wonder that today more golf event planners are boxing up meals instead of planning costly, time-intensive buffets and dinners. "We are seeing an increase in demand for our lunch boxes at golf events. Guests can take away a meal during a benefit and avoid time at a buffet. With these economic times, a lot of events are going away from the banquet after golf," says Kelly Mitchell, co-owner of Lunch Box Catering, a Buckeye, Ariz.-based catering company specializing in boxed meals.
"More people are scaling back on events and doing boxed lunches," agrees Grant Williams, assistant food and beverage manager at Seminole Golf Course in Tallahassee, Fla. The type of event and time schedule for activities drives the ability to provide boxed lunch meals, according to Williams. If it's a high-ticket event, guests may expect more than a boxed lunch on the run. But for many golf events incorporating boxed meals is a win-win strategy.
Beyond Boring
More than likely, your guests won't want to revisit their school days when they open a lunchbox to find dry slices of white bread with bologna. In order to beat the lunchbox blues, you've got to think upscale. The San Francisco-based Box Lunch Company specializes in lunchbox catering and appeals to customers with a dedication to fresh, high-quality ingredients that create a handcrafted experience. Look no farther than their roast beef panini with provolone sandwich for proof. Williams follows the same philosophy at Seminole Golf Course, adding, "We use upscale products in our boxed lunches. We use Boar's Head meats and we have a local bakery that gives us freshly baked breads."
Mitchell relies upon organic, fresh meats for her lunchbox sandwiches. "The current trend is a fresh, organic, healthy direction," says Mitchell, who reports that many guests at golf events are interested in a healthier lifestyle. Mitchell's menu superstars include turkey, herb, farm cheese, and heirloom tomato sandwich and tuna salad with grapes, apples and tarragon sandwich.
Upper crust sandwich fillings can include freshly shaved meats and poultry, smoked salmon, shrimp, crunchy chicken or tuna salads and local and imported gourmet cheeses. Offer artisanal breads including crusty breads, flat breads, baguettes and ciabatta. Flavorful spreads such as aioli, lemon-mayonnaise, herbed spread and hummus can also be a winning feature for an upscale sandwich. And add plenty of seasonal produce including tomatoes, field greens, microgreens, asparagus, avocado, scallions, red onions, peppers and herbs.
More than Sandwiches
Who says boxed lunch fare has to be limited to sandwiches? Caterers are exploring other handheld alternatives such as burritos, sushi, fruit and cheese platters, antipasto and wraps. Lorri's Lunch Box in Omaha, Neb., offers a catering lunchbox menu that includes a classic turkey Caesar wrap with turkey, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, olives, parmesan cheese, and Caesar dressing on a tomato basil tortilla. You can even take a cue from successful restaurants by tossing up entrée salads like grilled chicken Caesar, Cobb, Chinese chicken, chef's and garden salads.
"We will do anything for an event beyond our menu," says Williams, but he cautions against putting difficult to manage menu items into the box that can bog down an event if the meal is featured as an "eat-in-the-cart" repast. "You need to keep the flow of your event in mind. If it takes more time to eat something, guests may not be able to keep up with the schedule."
Creative Sides
The upscale trend also extends to thinking beyond a foil package of chips as a side dish. Mitchell adds baked sweet potato, pear and apple chips to her lunchboxes. Williams cooks up house-made, kettle-style potato chips as a side. Caterers are offering a variety of delicious side dishes including berry salads, pasta salads, fresh fruits, side green salads and antipasto.
Desserts can also be much more appealing than ordinary packaged treats. Mitchell bakes low-fat brownies and cookies for her lunchboxes. Wow them with homemade sweets that remind them of mom including carrot cake squares, banana bread, macaroons, snickerdoodles and chocolate chip cookies.
Boxing Up
Breakfast and Snacks
Depending on your timetable, the boxed lunch rules can apply to other meal times such as breakfast or snack time. Create an eye-opening breakfast with sandwiches starting with bagels, English muffins, croissants or biscuits filled with Canadian or applewood-smoked bacon, smoked salmon, cheese, herbs, avocado or tomatoes. Fill a breakfast box with home-baked coffee cake, muffins or cinnamon rolls and milk. Or serve a breakfast yogurt parfait layered with fruit and granola.
Creative snack boxes can include house-made nut and trail mixes, fruit, yogurt and freshly baked cookies or pastries. Lunch Box Catering offers a crunch and munch snack box, which includes popcorn, pretzels, homemade tavern mix, lemonade and bottled water.
Greening the Lunch Box
Lunchboxes can also provide a more sustainable take on buffets; a key trend in catering and customer desire. By following the principals of "reduce, reuse and recycle," the event planner can reduce their carbon footprint. A lunchbox can reduce over-consumption and food waste and include local, organic and minimally processed foods. Reusable or recyclable packaging and containers can also be relied upon.
According to Mitchell, Lunch Box Catering is following the green trend by using organic meats that are raised with care and local, seasonal organic produce. In addition, Lunch Box Catering uses minimal packaging, pre-measures portions for less food waste, serves apples in "the package nature provides," uses napkins made with from 100 percent recycled tissue, uses Bio Plus Earth food takeout containers and promotes online ordering for less paper waste.
If your golf event can accommodate the lunchbox philosophy, it certainly is worth trying. Just remember; your guests are no longer in grade school so do it right.
Sharon Palmer is a food and nutrition writer in Southern California. She last wrote about room setup in the fall 2008 issue. |
