There is an old saying, with trends and fads, restaurant food is like fashion. For catering, the same is true. It’s important to keep up to date with the latest trends in dining, whether you own a restaurant that provides catering services or is a full-time caterer.

Here are ten hot catering trends, some of which have been around for a long time, while others are pretty recent.

Buffet dining, dating back to the 1500s in France, is the best way to feed a large number of individuals at once. For big events like weddings, buffets are perfect. They can be cold or hot, casual or formal, and a buffet can be personalised to suit almost any budget.

For a large group, this pattern is suitable as well. As in a buffet, the menu is split between stations in the dining room or event hall instead of the food sitting on one long table. The stations are also composed of an array of appetisers and other finger foods. For a cocktail reception, where individuals mingle around casually, food stations are well suited.

Nothing brings oohs and ahhs like a chocolate flow, at parties, showers, and weddings, making a chocolate fountain a favourite. At a wide variety of rates, you can buy a fountain from commercial equipment distributors. Chocolate of high quality can be costly, but with lower-cost dipping goods, such as pretzels, fresh fruit, cookies, and marshmallows, you can offset the cost.

Family style features bowls and platters of food to be shared at each table, unlike individually plated meals, also known as English Service. Olive Garden developed its concept around dining in the family-style. Serving the style of the food family provides an aspect of familiarity that may lack broad functions.

In place of a typical rehearsal dinner, how about a wine tasting? Or, instead of a bridal shower, a beer dinner? For each course, these types of dinners offer a three-, four-, five- or more-course meal, matched with a wine or beer. Remember, it takes longer than a buffet or plated meal for these types of meals, attracting those who want a slow, leisurely dinner.

Artisan food refers to foods in small batches that are made. You can see “artisan” tossed around by several large restaurant chains, such as Panera Bread and even fast-food chains such as Wendy’s, since there is no restriction on the word, though. Like local or organic foods, it has become a good marketing word for “artisan” After all, compared to a plain old cheese-and-cracker platter, a “handcrafted sourdough baguette paired with an assortment of artisanal cheeses” sounds very decadent.In place of a typical rehearsal dinner, how about a wine tasting? Or, instead of a bridal shower, a beer dinner? For each course, these types of dinners offer a three-, four-, five- or more-course meal, matched with a wine or beer. Remember, it takes longer than a buffet or plated meal for these types of meals, attracting those who want a slow, leisurely dinner.

Local foods convey better taste and wellbeing and have strong marketing potential on menus. Local foods do present some problems, but in certain areas, fresh fruit and vegetables are not available all year round, making it impossible to have a fixed menu of local foods. This promotes, however, a revolving menu of specials, enabling chefs to flex their imaginative muscles.

Providing menus influenced by the multicultural fusion of street food is one of the hottest trends in catering. The more multicultural the menu, the better, from Mexican churros to Spanish tapas and Chinese dim sum.

If it’s a wheat deficiency or a deliberate decision, more people opt for gluten. Going gluten-free has many health benefits, and it also serves as an opportunity to experiment with many alternative ingredients for cooking, such as amaranth, cassava flour, and teff flour.

For catered parties, cupcakes, mini wedding cakes, and bite-sized desserts are all hot trends. You may buy delicate petit fours and other small desserts that are both good in quality and taste, even if you are not a baker. If you are looking for a catering service which is evolving with trends check out Tandoori Flames Catering Services.