Freshen Up Your Office Holiday Party with These Catering Food Ideas
It’s that time of year again when it’s time to kick back and relax with your work buddies. The holidays are just about here, which means it’s time to plan your office holiday party.
Every year, companies, big and small, reward their employees for a year of hard work by hosting a catered office holiday party. The traditional get-together is held at a restaurant or event hall, and includes the typical catered selections for food and drink.
If your company has been hosting the same old party for several years now, isn’t it about time to freshen it up?
Food is often the main show of any event, especially a catered office holiday party. By providing unique food items and a few surprises here and there on the traditional buffet-style meal, you’ll be leaving a lasting impression on the minds of your hard-working employees.
Here are some ideas on how to transform your corporate holiday party this year.
Create a Pairing Menu
Most corporate holiday parties serve appetizers and beer and wine selections. But this part of the holiday party usually sticks to the traditional — either passed hors d’oeuvres or lined up on a table, with beverages available at a walk-up bar.
If you want to elevate your appetizer selection into a truly unique cocktail hour, try offering a pairing menu where small samples of food are paired with small samples of wine. Your employees will feel like they’re at a vineyard instead of a ho-hum office party.
The great part about this pairing is that you can match casual food with good wine to keep the spirit light. Some examples include pairing small cups of rosemary garlic French fries or crispy homemade potato chips and a dipping sauce with sparkling wine. Zucchini Fries with parmesan go well with Pinot Grigio. Caesar salad in parmesan crisp cups works well with Chardonnay. Even pizza wedges taste better with a sampling of an Italian red.
For beer lovers, you can offer a crab appetizer with a porter, a barbecue selection with a stout or brown ale, and even buffalo wings with a wheat beer or light lager.
Opt for Tapas Instead of Full Meals
When you cater an office holiday party, it’s is all about having co-workers come together in a casual setting to mingle with each other. It’s a great way for employees who don’t often interact to get to know each other on a personal level. The cocktail hour is often a great opportunity for people to do this, but then it can come to a screeching halt once the main course is served.
To keep the mingling going this year, you could skip the sit-down meal portion and opt instead for a full tapas menu for the entire night. Doing so would stick to the theme of small plates from the appetizer portion of the meal, and also give your employees a chance to taste a variety of foods throughout the night.
Another plus to a full tapas menu is it allows people to eat at their own pace throughout the night, and keep it light. It’s the exact opposite feeling most people get following a big holiday meal.
Your corporate holiday party’s tapas menu could stick to a traditional Spanish theme if you wish. Menu items might include garlic shrimp in a spicy but light broth, patatas bravas (fried fingerling potatoes) with a dipping sauce, beef empanadas, Spanish crab cakes and flank steak with goat cheese on toast wedges.
If you don’t want to stick to a Spanish theme, it’s easy to have your NY catering company prepare a tapas menu of more traditional American comfort foods such as meatballs, filet mignon skewers, meatloaf and turkey.
Theme Your Desserts for the Holiday Season
The menu for your catered office holiday party has shied away from traditional winter holiday flavors thus far, but no longer! A great way to sweeten the evening is to provide your employees with a dessert and coffee bar that truly embraces the holiday spirit.
From peppermint whoopie pies to chocolate bark to traditional holiday sugar cookies cut into shapes such as snowmen, stars and bells, it’s time to pull out all the holiday stops.
For the dessert portion of the night, work with your NY catering company to integrate all the flavors of the holiday season. This should include warming flavors and spices such as chocolate, nuts, cinnamon, nutmeg and maybe even a little cayenne pepper for a strategic spicy kick.
Don’t stop the holiday theme at just the dessert foods, though. Go the extra mile by setting up a full-service coffee bar, where baristas can serve your employees not only coffee but also espressos, cappuccinos and holiday-inspired eggnog lattes.
You can even offer a small selection of after-dinner cordials and spirits to spike up those coffee beverages. For a final twist, you can offer a warm apple cider concoction that can be served with or without alcohol. Not only will it be a delicious end to the meal, but it’ll fill the room with wonderful holiday aromas.
Have a NY Catering Company Prepare the Perfect Catered Office Holiday Party
Corporate holiday parties are a tradition at most companies, big and small, throughout the country. They don’t have to be the same drab get-together with boring and bland food and drinks, though. You can freshen up the night by offering unique foods and themes prepared by an excellent NY catering company.
Paul Evans Catering, a premier New York caterer serving Manhattan to Montauk, can help you create an impressive selection of food and drink for your catered office holiday party.
Paul Evans Catering has locations in Long Island, The Hamptons and Manhattan, and can help you choose among endless menu options to help you curate the perfect items for your holiday party. Visit their website or call Paul Evans Catering today. Long Island (516) 889-4101, Hamptons (631) 288-5992, Manhattan (212) 321-1822.
