Hiring a caterer or a private chef is a trust decision made mostly on a website and one conversation. These are the questions that separate a good experience from a disappointing one, and how Claire’s Kitchen answers each of them.
1. Is the menu custom, or am I choosing from a list?
A fixed list is fine for a sandwich platter. For a dinner, a week of family meals or a launch, you want a menu written for the occasion. At Claire’s Kitchen every menu is custom, for every service.
2. How do you handle allergies and dietary requirements?
The answer should be “we build the menu around them”, not “we can do a separate plate”. Requirements are collected at the quote stage and the menu comes out of them, with dishes labelled.
3. Who is actually cooking?
Ask. Claire Armstrong cooks the food, with nearly twenty years across professional kitchens and food companies behind it. Small batches, never mass-produced.
4. Drop-off or on-site, and what does each include?
Drop-off arrives ready to serve. On-site means set-up, presentation and service, and for private dinners, cooking in your kitchen and cleaning up. Be clear which you are buying.
5. What lead time do you need?
Advance notice is recommended, more for events and more still for holidays. A caterer who can take a large event for tomorrow is either extraordinary or under-booked.
6. Is there a minimum?
Minimums may apply depending on the service; the honest answer is that it is discussed in the quote before anything is committed, not discovered afterwards.
7. How is pricing worked out?
By service, headcount and menu, confirmed in writing. If a quote arrives without those three things attached, ask again.
8. What happens if the numbers change?
They always do. A good caterer plans for a headcount that moves and tells you when it needs to be final.
Request a quote and ask any of these. You will get a written reply, not a sales call.
