Cómo elegir el BANQUETE de tu boda (y no morir en el intento) — Transcript

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1. 0:01The countdown to your event has begun,
2. 0:03and you still haven't decided on the
3. 0:05best banquet service for you, or how to
4. 0:06best serve your guests. Traditional
5. 0:09service, alternative service. Today, in
6. 0:12a space with the award-winning Federico
7. 0:14, Chef Federico López, we are going to
8. 0:16cover these and many other critical
9. 0:18points. Join us.
10. 0:23Federico. Well, it would take us the
11. 0:25whole program to list all his
12. 0:26credentials. He has 30 years of
13. 0:28experience. He started his career in
14. 0:30Mexico City at one of the best catering
15. 0:32companies that has existed and still
16. 0:35exists, and he has been in the
17. 0:36southeast for 15 years now. We have had
18. 0:39the privilege of having him for 15
19. 0:41years, and well, he has every title I
20. 0:43can imagine, right? What can you
21. 0:46suggest to our viewers, to our
22. 0:48followers, about new trends, or
23. 0:50breaking away from the traditional
24. 0:52banquet, or what are you incorporating
25. 0:54that is new? Look, I definitely think
26. 0:58the banquet industry has changed a lot
27. 1:01in the last 10 years; traditionally,
28. 1:04people always wanted a three-course
29. 1:06menu, right? A cold appetizer, a, let's
30. 1:10say, a cream soup—the famous cream, I
31. 1:13think that one, forgive me, I think
32. 1:15it's cheese or mushroom, the famous
33. 1:18cream, I think......which is really
34. 1:21just a béchamel base with different
35. 1:24products, but people didn't make it the
36. 1:26right way, or a surf and turf, right? A
37. 1:29steak with shrimp and things like that.
38. 1:32The wedding cake, and we practically
39. 1:35had a wedding menu, right? Today it has
40. 1:39changed; today we have experiences,
41. 1:42today clients are much more "foodie,"
42. 1:44they are much more international, they
43. 1:47know much more about gastronomic trends
44. 1:49, they follow people who own
45. 1:51restaurants or know about food, they go
46. 1:54out to eat at restaurants. First stage:
47. 1:58first, we are going to talk about the
48. 2:00concept. We are going to talk about
49. 2:02what the client wants to represent at
50. 2:04their wedding. Whether it's—let's
51. 2:07talk right now about the Yucatan
52. 2:08Peninsula. Many people come to the
53. 2:11destination and want to try some of the
54. 2:13Mayan flavors, want to try some local
55. 2:16ingredients, regional trends, and that
56. 2:18is a first premise, but then comes the
57. 2:20client who doesn't like to experiment
58. 2:23much and wants safer, more relaxed
59. 2:25dishes. And they also lean toward these
60. 2:29internationally trending menus. And
61. 2:31finally, what you are asking me, right?
62. 2:34We have the celiacs, or vegans, or
63. 2:36vegetarians, or those with dietary
64. 2:38restrictions. What will happen there is
65. 2:41that I always recommend that they
66. 2:43structure a menu first.
67. 2:44Okay? Point number one, please.
68. 2:47Menu, a five-course menu, four-course,
69. 2:50seven-course, food stations, whatever
70. 2:52they want for their menu. And then once
71. 2:57we have the final menu, we then extract
72. 3:00some dishes that can be vegetarian,
73. 3:02that can be vegan, or have certain
74. 3:04restrictions. I mean, an experienced
75. 3:09caterer or chef has to have the ability
76. 3:12to provide a mimicked menu, a menu—
77. 3:15let me give you an example, a roasted
78. 3:18tomato cream soup. Usually it has a
79. 3:21touch of cream, so you make the other
80. 3:23roasted tomato cream soup without dairy
81. 3:26cream,
82. 3:26you add a vegan cream, or you add water
83. 3:29, or broth, or any other product that
84. 3:32doesn't need a dairy component, right?
85. 3:37Today many of our clients, well,
86. 3:38Mexican food is already world-renowned
87. 3:40thanks to you all, but today it is
88. 3:42valid to serve tacos at a wedding; I
89. 3:44mean, before it was clichéd, we talked
90. 3:46about quesadillas, but today the truth
91. 3:48is that with all this
92. 3:51I think that from a chef's point of
93. 3:54view, a bean has the same value as a
94. 3:57beef fillet,
95. 3:58okay? I mean, both are products, both
96. 4:01are quality products, both have their
97. 4:03trends, and well, what we want is to
98. 4:06generate a balanced menu. Yes, there
99. 4:10can be tacos. Maybe you serve them as a
100. 4:14small appetizer after the cocktail,
101. 4:16after the ceremony, to kill a bit of
102. 4:18hunger; or you put them in a late-night
103. 4:20snack, you put them in a happening, a
104. 4:23moment when you are in the middle of
105. 4:25the party and you crave a snack or
106. 4:27something you want to eat.
107. 4:30So, it is allowed. What is also
108. 4:33important is to have a rhythm,
109. 4:36right? Weddings have to have a rhythm,
110. 4:39don't they? We understand that.
111. 4:41There is a beginning and an end.
112. 4:43Obviously, at the beginning there is a
113. 4:44lot of attention. The center of
114. 4:47attention right now is on the bride, it
115. 4:49is on the ceremony. People don't want
116. 4:52to get stained, they don't want to eat
117. 4:54things that make a mess, things that
118. 4:56are easy to eat, things that are
119. 4:57somehow quick, but that also satisfy
120. 4:59their hunger. As the wedding goes on,
121. 5:03obviously the period of the formal
122. 5:06dinner or the formal meal event comes,
123. 5:09and it's there where you are
124. 5:11representing your gratitude to your
125. 5:14diners, to your guests, right? That's
126. 5:17why a good meat, a good fish, a
127. 5:20selection of dishes, having options,
128. 5:22having alternatives, maybe some good
129. 5:24desserts. And after dessert comes what
130. 5:28we caterers or wedding planners call
131. 5:30happenings,
132. 5:31okay? And happenings can be anything
133. 5:35from corn cups, shaved ice, popsicles,
134. 5:38ice cream, sorbets, to full food
135. 5:40stations where you're preparing more
136. 5:43food and creating different experiences
137. 5:46,
138. 5:48continuous and non-repetitive; in other
139. 5:51words, you shouldn't be repeating the
140. 5:54same food. I mean, if you had shrimp as
141. 5:57an appetizer or a main course, you’re
142. 5:59not going to serve shrimp tacos later.
143. 6:02But you do have to create a rhythm and,
144. 6:05above all, a level that is, as they say
145. 6:07, crescendo, right? Growing.
146. 6:09Keep taking care of your guests, right?
147. 6:11Which is the key to success, isn't it?
148. 6:13We are also seeing trends now like
149. 6:15family style, where all the food is
150. 6:18placed in the center of it all, right?
151. 6:21Yes, it’s been around for a couple of
152. 6:23years, it started being implemented
153. 6:25about 5 years ago, maybe 2 years that
154. 6:27it's been requested regularly, and
155. 6:29today almost everyone wants family
156. 6:30style. What’s happening? New couples
157. 6:34are more relaxed couples,
158. 6:38they are less formal couples, where
159. 6:40they invite more of their friends,
160. 6:43their loved ones, their families. There
161. 6:46isn't so much protocol,
162. 6:48there isn't so much social status,
163. 6:53I mean, so what Family Style does is it
164. 6:55allows for more conviviality, more
165. 6:58interaction, lets you talk more about
166. 7:00what's on the table, and there's more
167. 7:03variety of food, and by having more
168. 7:05variety, we also have more options to
169. 7:07satisfy our guests. I recommend Family
170. 7:12Style for appetizers, for snacks, and
171. 7:15for starters. I don’t recommend it
172. 7:17for the main course. The main course
173. 7:20has to be and still is like the star of
174. 7:23the wedding. It is the dish that
175. 7:26necessarily needs
176. 7:29to cover the greatest number of diners
177. 7:31and, above all, it is the one that
178. 7:34gives value to the menu. I mean, if you
179. 7:37serve a product, I don't know, it could
180. 7:39be beans with pork, but the beans with
181. 7:42pork have to be delicious, because
182. 7:44that’s what they’ll judge to decide
183. 7:47if the food was good or bad. You can
184. 7:51have great canapés, great starters,
185. 7:53great first courses, but if the main
186. 7:55dish isn’t very good, well, people
187. 7:57will say, "we didn't eat that well."
188. 8:02So, I don’t like to take risks with
189. 8:03the main course; I like to play it safe
190. 8:05, I like to go with things that I know
191. 8:07the majority of my diners or my clients
192. 8:09like. Hey, in terms of experience or
193. 8:12this main course, which is what many
194. 8:15remember, what is the most disruptive
195. 8:17or different thing you've been asked to
196. 8:19do or have done?
197. 8:21Look, foreigners really value regional
198. 8:25food,
199. 8:26they really value beans with pork. I've
200. 8:29served beans with pork, very well
201. 8:31presented, with pork belly, or what
202. 8:34they call pork belly, which is a very
203. 8:37good cut of pork, or it can simply also
204. 8:39be a vegetarian or vegan version with
205. 8:42some vegetables. We have also made
206. 8:45dishes with squash, which is very
207. 8:47fashionable in the vegan world,
208. 8:49but for me, it has the same value, it's
209. 8:51not like one is more expensive or
210. 8:53cheaper, right? I mean, I have a tomato
211. 8:56cream soup that we add grasshoppers to,
212. 8:59okay? And so, during the menu tastings,
213. 9:01it's a joke whether the grasshoppers
214. 9:03will be visible or not, right? Because
215. 9:06maybe the bride and groom want that
216. 9:08little flavor that the characteristic
217. 9:10Oaxacan grasshopper gives, but they
218. 9:11don't want the little antennas showing
219. 9:13up on the spoon, right? So I say, don't
220. 9:16worry, what we're looking for is flavor
221. 9:17, right? They are ground up, and when
222. 9:20they taste it, it's the bride and
223. 9:22groom's joke on the guests. Did you
224. 9:24like the grasshoppers? So, there's some
225. 9:27banter in the menu too, right?
226. 9:30Yes, Fede, for a bride who is searching
227. 9:32, or a couple that is looking for a
228. 9:34caterer or a chef, what advice would
229. 9:35you give them? What questions should
230. 9:38they ask?
231. 9:40I think first, they should get to know
232. 9:42the chef and their background. There
233. 9:45are many. This is hard for me because I
234. 9:48started as a banquet chef at 22, and I
235. 9:50don't know how they trusted me with
236. 9:53such important weddings back then,
237. 9:55right? But I think today there are very
238. 9:58talented young chefs.
239. 9:59Okay.
240. 9:59But it's important that this talented
241. 10:02young chef also has the backing of a
242. 10:05company or a colleague or an operation
243. 10:08that will also protect the service. A
244. 10:12banquet in a ballroom or a garden or a
245. 10:15venue that has its own on-site kitchens
246. 10:17is very different.
247. 10:20From an off-site catering operation.
248. 10:23They are completely different.
249. 10:24And at the beach, let's not even talk
250. 10:25about it, right?
251. 10:25Or the jungle, right?
252. 10:26Yes. I mean, they are two completely
253. 10:29different operations. I think the first
254. 10:32thing is to know the expertise, to know
255. 10:34that they have the experience to do it,
256. 10:36the credentials.
257. 10:38The second option, if you don't have
258. 10:41the credentials but you have the flavor
259. 10:43, the ideal menu, and the taste, is to
260. 10:45form a partnership, a collaboration of
261. 10:48talents. Nowadays, many businesses
262. 10:52aren't run by just one person; they are
263. 10:55group-based, and everything is
264. 10:57generated at a group level. But it's
265. 11:02also important, from my point of view,
266. 11:05for that partner to listen to
267. 11:07experience as well, right?
268. 11:10I mean, I think today, with Pinterest,
269. 11:12Instagram, and a computer, you can see
270. 11:14what's happening at weddings around the
271. 11:17world, but often you don't know what's
272. 11:19behind that wedding, right? Like how
273. 11:22that wedding was put together or what
274. 11:24the budget for that wedding was, right?
275. 11:25Absolutely.