Catering
The free summit options trade consultants, together with Alexis Ortiz, senior catering supervisor at Naya, and Margaret Monahan, of Vertex Hospitality Group, providing a complete take a look at the evolving world of restaurant catering.
Photograph: Hook & Reel
June 23, 2025 by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com
For restaurant operators navigating the aggressive culinary panorama, catering typically represents a big, but typically missed, income stream. This Wednesday, nevertheless, the Catering Management Summit, at Emmy Squared Pizza in Midtown West, guarantees to be a pivotal occasion, providing invaluable insights into remodeling catering from a easy add-on to a strong brand-building engine.
Attendees will hear from trade consultants, together with Alexis Ortiz, senior catering supervisor at Naya, and Margaret Monahan, of Vertex Hospitality Group, who will provide a complete take a look at the evolving world of restaurant catering.
“What I’ve seen is that friends need simplicity,” Ortiz mentioned in an e mail interview with FastCasual. “They do not essentially wish to scroll by way of a cumbersome menu — they only need just a few clear, straightforward choices to position their order with out overthinking it. Too many decisions might be overwhelming.”
This perception suggests a vital shift for operators: much less is commonly extra on the subject of catering menus, specializing in curated, high-impact choices that cut back friction for the shopper.
Past the menu, Ortiz underscored the often-underestimated energy of branding and presentation.
“It isn’t nearly serving meals — it is about ensuring each visitor within the room is aware of who the meals is from,” she mentioned. “That visibility would not simply generate future catering orders — it additionally drives new friends into the shop.”
For attendees, this highlights the significance of each element, from packaging to supply, in reinforcing model identification and driving foot visitors.
The way forward for catering, in accordance with Ortiz, additionally lies in seamless know-how, which is why Naya is investing in software program to streamline the ordering course of, permitting friends to position catering orders instantly by way of their app.
“It is all about eradicating friction and making the expertise as seamless and handy as doable,” she mentioned.
Scaling hospitality, reinventing the expertise
Monahan, who oversees catering for Vertex Hospitality Group’s three manufacturers: Hook & Reel, Ugly Dumpling and KPOT, will focus on how catering ought to by no means be a one-size-fits-all resolution, however moderately a strategic extension of every model’s core identification.
Catering has lengthy been a staple for For Hook & Reel, for instance, whereas Ugly Dumpling is new to the sport.
“Hook & Reel is constructed on Southern hospitality and shared meals, so catering lets us scale that have whereas staying true to our identification,” Monahan mentioned in an e mail interview. “They’ve discovered success optimizing efforts on platforms like EZCater, which she describes as “an amazing platform for us because it permits us to faucet right into a captive viewers trying particularly for catering.”
Ugly Dumpling, however, affords a definite various to conventional catering fare.
“We love that it permits us to deliver a various, genuine, and elevated possibility past conventional sandwiches and salads,” Monahan mentioned. Impressed by Shanghai road meals, Ugly Dumpling’s catering brings a “vibrant vitality and shareable nature” to workplaces and occasions, demonstrating how catering can introduce new, thrilling culinary experiences.
Maybe probably the most difficult, but modern, catering enterprise for Vertex, nevertheless, has been with KPOT, an interactive, all-you-can-eat, cook-at-your-table idea.
“Recreating the KPOT expertise with out the desk grill was no straightforward feat,” Monahan mentioned. “It took testing, tweaking, and complete rethinking of our format. Our resolution was to introduce chef-prepared bento packing containers that includes our most liked dishes, cooked by our cooks, able to eat and filled with the flavors KPOT followers know us for.”
Finally, Ortiz hopes attendees will go away the summit with a profound understanding that catering isn’t just a one-time transaction, however a strong, long-term model contact level.
“It could form how a visitor thinks about your model long-term,” she mentioned.
The summit goals to foster an surroundings of shared studying with operators exchanging finest practices on “what’s working, how they’re constructing success and to develop and evolve as an trade.”
Occasion particulars
Date: June 25, 2025
Time: 2-5 p.m.
Location: Emmy Squared Pizza, Midtown West, New York Metropolis, 200 W sixtieth St.
Host: Lunchbox
The occasion is free to attend for restaurant executives, however area is proscribed. To order a seat, click on right here.
About Cherryh Cansler
