What can I tell you about what it’s like being a hog roast caterer around Havering? Well, it’s varied, for a start. Everything from birthdays to weddings, to retirement parties, I’ve done them. And then there’s all the miscellaneous celebrations that aren’t the traditional milestones in life: getting a dream job, the success of an online publication, starting a new business venture – I’ve catered for all of them. And the events that we hire to are if anything even more varied – a band’s debut album or first important gig, the anniversary of a fitness studio or an art club. It’s an enjoyable job and you get to meet all sorts of people. I’ve even made it ‘behind the scenes’ at a local media outlet (which was interesting) and hired machines to the local council (a bit less interesting).
Today we were catering for a party in a hotel in Havering. A nutritionist was celebrating the 5 year anniversary of her online health food store. She had recently expanded into ethical clothing, which she told me means clothing sourced from labourers who are paid well; sort of like fair trade but for clothes. So, there we were, chatting away with the balloons having just been hung and the roast turning slowly in the hog roast machine. It looked scrumptious. I sometimes have the urge to eat the roasts because they look so good. They taste good, too.
Our customer explained that she had never expected the business to be that successful.
“I was working full time,” she explained, “I did the business in the evenings. It was sort of a hobby, because I used to do kickboxing with him-“ –she indicated her partner, who was a SEO consultant – “but when he broke his leg I had to go myself and it didn’t feel the same. So really the site was born out of boredom.”
An amazing story, I was thinking. Then the guests started to arrive, and we were greeting them. I showed them to their seats. I poured rose wine and red wine for a while. I actually quite enjoy serving drinks; it takes me back to my student days. I used to work behind a bar, pouring and mixing drinks all day long. It was a good job.
But hog roast catering with hog roast Havering is much better – it gets me out and about, and at the end of the day what I’m about is pleasing people. Delivering great customer service and great hog roasts. We do sometimes get returning customers, and I’d bet that’s the reason why. You can have one without the other, but whether it’s good service but bad food or good food but bad service, it’s always a bad experience. And usually I’ve found that the two tend to go together – with an inexperienced or lazy caterer, both the food and the service are bad.
Back to the catering job. We carved the roast and served it. I received compliments on how good it tasted. Which always makes me feel good. It was a fun night, and in the end that’s what I love; contributing to a great night out.
