Catering is a living, breathing system of communication, planning, and logistics. Everyone—from server to sales associate to operations manager—is responsible for these functions, in addition to their own responsibilities. Every department from culinary to administrative has its own unique lingo and modes of communication people use to convey important information to each other.
Every department develops its own vocabulary as it relates to its business. Let’s take for example, a menu item. It’s the sales team’s job to make a dish sound appealing to a client. They’re interested in the menu item’s composition and aesthetic value, so they speak in descriptive words that would attract a client. The kitchen does not describe a menu item using sales language. They see it as a list of ingredients or prep items. They talk in terms of size and production.
