Reston Raiders Catering Event in Reston, VA
Dixie Bones BBQ has had the pleasure of catering for the Reston Raiders ice hockey team’s annual event in Reston, VA for many years! This year we decided to do something a little different… VLOG it.
In 2017, I went on the event as a catering server & loved it. The energy & atmosphere were ripe for recording. When we were asked to do it again in 2018, I knew we had to VLOG it so everyone could see just how much fun it is.
There are so many great catering choices to choose from in the Reston/Northern Virginia area which is why we are ecstatic that the Reston Raiders team chooses us to cater their event every year.
See our video where we follow Tatchin – one of our catering servers – around. See the catering event from her point of view while she interacts with what’s going on around her.
In this post, we’ll breakdown our schedule over the course of the day. You can see how we time managed the Reston catering event & what interesting things happened while we were there!
1. Pre-Event Preparation
6:00AM | Dixie Bones cooks clock in & begin preparing catering food for the day’s event.
7:45 AM | Richard P. – Event Supervisor – arrives at Dixie Bones to begin event prep. He confirms that the cooks are preparing all the food that has been ordered.
8:15AM | Tatchin B. & Sandra R. – catering event servers – clock in & help Richard load up the truck with our catering equipment – things like: buffet tables, tablecloths, paper products, buffet pans, etc. They may also drink a cup of coffee to prepare for the fun day ahead of them.
8:30AM | Richard meets with the catering staff that day to brief them on the event & what he expects of them. On this particular event, he wanted the catering staff to make sure if any children need help getting food, we help immediately.
8:45AM | Tatchin sits down to VLOG & tells the audience her background.
9:00AM | The food is ready. It is put into temperature holding cambros & loaded onto the truck.
9:30AM | Catering services does one more final check to make sure the truck has everything & then we all leave.
2. On The Way!
9:45AM | The event location is about a 40 minute drive away & we have to arrive an hour & a half before the meal time (in this case, it’s Noon). This early arrival guarantees that we have plenty of time to set everything up. Tatchin drives separately from Richard & Sandra since there isn’t enough room in the truck.
10:00AM | The gloomy day forces Tatchin to play upbeat, dance music so that she won’t be dragged down by the weather.
3. Arrival
10:30AM | We all arrive. We meet with Steve Willey, head of the event, to see where we’re setting up & if they would like us to do anything different this year.
10:40AM – 11:40AM | We unload & set-up the buffet line.
4. Meal Time
11:50AM | Meal time is at Noon but some hungry folks come in early. Since we’re all set up, we let them go at it a little early!
12:10PM | Despite the gloominess, it still hasn’t started raining yet!
12:30PM | One of the hockey team’s coolers starts to leak out & someone comes to the rescue to mop up the mess.
1:00PM | It starts pouring rain…
1:30PM | The buffet line starts to slow down since most people have eaten & cleared out because of the rain. Tatchin takes a moment to explore & take pictures.
2:00PM | Meal time is over & everyone is full. We start to break down the buffet line & pack everything up.
5. Packing Up
2:10PM | We put all the leftover food in aluminum containers & leave them for Steve to do what he wishes with it. Since the food is prepaid, all leftover food belongs to the events people.
2:30PM | The truck is fully loaded. We collect payment from Steve & prepare to head out.
2:40PM | Tatchin has some last minute fun since the rain cleared everyone out (see the video to see what she did).
2:50PM | We all drive back to the restaurant.
3:00PM | Tatchin winds down by listening to sad music to go along with the rainy weather.
3:30PM | We arrive back at the restaurant to unload all our catering supplies & clean the truck.
Conclusion,
This Reston event went off without a hitch! Other than a leaky cooler & a little boy falling on the ice rink, we saw nothing but smiles!
Catering is such a routine thing here at Dixie Bones that our staff knows how to make it easy & fun – no matter what.
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