Our aim is to create unforgettable memories for everyone through unique catering. Whether the events we cater for are in woodlands, yurts, tipis, marquees, barns or stately homes; everyone receives the Caviar & Chips experience of exceptional service and distinctive food.
With every client we start with a blank piece of paper. You can literally have whatever you want for your food and drink catering.
When you contacts us, we arrange a briefing so that we can learn lots about the ideas and plans you have for your day, as well as learn how you met, what food and drink you enjoyed growing up and any fond memories you may have that we can share through food and drink.
Our chefs then craft a menu which is the start of a long list based on your ideas and favourite dishes. Together we advise on service, format, timings and pricing so you get exactly what you want in the way that you want it for your big day.
After a few amends to the menu to refine the dishes and ingredients we work to a menu tasting. Going through this process of amendments and perfecting the menu we’re able to sense check that you are happy with the way your catering is being developed.
We recommend that you narrow down to a few different ideas, but if you can’t decide between a few, then we’ll just make them for your tasting so you can try everything before booking us. We don’t charge for our tastings and we deliver these in your home or your venue (COVID guidelines allowing) and they’re very much like a small dinner party….an experience in themselves. Our chef in your kitchen and host looking after guests that you can invite as we go through timings and details of your menu and your day.
When you then book us we work together on the lead up to your day. In the case of this year and the impact of COVID-19, we worked closely with clients and their venues to help every one of our clients reschedule their wedding day. We now have over 100 weddings confirmed for 2021 and we’re still receiving enquiries for 2022 and 2023.
The day before the wedding we set tables and kitchen (bringing a kitchen if needed) and ensure that you are happy with everything before your wedding day.
The things that make us different are several fold. The external and obvious points of difference include providing all food and drink catering in a truly bespoke way. You can have whatever you want, in whatever way you want it.
We don’t charge for our menu tastings and believe you should only pay for booking us once you’re completely happy with your menu after your menu tasting. The tasting is in the comfort of your home (or at the moment in the comfort of our private dining space in our pub while under government guidance on social distancing). The tastings are like dinner parties and we make them an experience in themselves, so you enjoy the whole wedding planning process, not just the day itself.
We are driven to buck the trend for what it’s like for people to navigate their way through the wedding and event planning. When working with Caviar & Chips, our clients needs are put first and we do all we can to deliver the perfect day they dream of, while making it easy, seamless and uncomplicated. Many prospective clients coming to us often feel baffled, lost and confused by the wedding sector and so we want to demystify that assumption.
With one of our values being collaborative, we work closely with wedding venues all over the UK. We work with over 70 venues around the country and are preferred suppliers with 20 venues and also have an exclusive residency with Walcot Hall in Shropshire. With all of our venues we work closely together to help their client experience be a great one. We help develop processes and systems and during the time of COVID-19 we have been sharing our plans and learnings from keeping clients and their guests safe with guidelines and measures that we have developed with colleges, universities and the AA rated trips.
We work hard behind the scenes to minimise the impact we have on our environment and the planet.
Everything that we can make from scratch we do – this gives us a far more superior product as our menus and ingredients are fresher and the flavours really come through in the end product. A good example are the stocks and sauces that we make each week. When we start preparing the menus, we begin with ingredients that can be used in as many aspects of the menu as possible. Using things like the vegetable cuttings and bones from the meat used to create delicious tasting stocks and sauces is a basic, but fundamental starting point for all of our chefs.
It also means we’re not buying pre-made ingredients so there are less journeys for the raw ingredients and also reduces the packaging needed or having to be dealt with. Furthermore our food doesn’t need to contain preservatives and chemical ingredients and so there are so many benefits to having your menu prepared by chefs who prepare and cook your food rather than just heat and serve. We use wooden boards made of Yew, Oak and Olive wood from trees that are sustained in coppices and sustainable woodlands and they look beautiful for canapé receptions or sharing board menus. We also recyclable boxes and wooden forks for street-food style menus and think about materials that are either recyclable or compostable.
We serve water in glass bottles and we don’t use single-use plastic bottles for waters on the tables or at the bar. There are so many surprising ways in which you can change the details of your menu to make it far more environmentally friendly and sustainable.
We also want to bring a different experience to young people looking for a career in the wedding and hospitality sector. We have created work placements, internships, projects and this year created new apprenticeships with a college to create employment and training opportunities.
We also work closely with charity partners such as WaterAid where we provide complimentary still and sparkling water but receive donations from our guests and clients to raise money for the charity. We have prepared meals for our community with COVID-19 support groups and helping to deliver hot meals to the most vulnerable in our communities.
We also follow our wellbeing strategy to ensure the physical and mental wellbeing of our teams is front and centre of what we do and how we do it. We look for ways to create positive environments, safe places, financial planning and advice, training and development opportunities and helping our people manage their work life balance so that it meets their needs and enables them to bring their best self to work.
We’re growing quickly and always looking for great people to work with us at Caviar & Chips.
We also have a beautiful 16th century pub in Warwickshire called the Virgins & Castle and an 18th century, boutique wedding venue in Shropshire called Stockton House where all of our teams are part of the wider Caviar & Chips family.
If you’d like to join our team, then send a cover letter and copy of your CV to our Chief Operations Officer, Julie Crump – julie@caviarandchips.co.uk