Excerpt from article in the December 2011 issue of Avid Golfer Magazine:

Sampling the product and trusting the pros are key when choosing an outside caterer.  Todd David knows his way around a grill. It’s been like that for as long as he can remember.  So rather than sharing this grilling hobby with his closest friends in his backyard, David decided to make his lip smackin’ barbecue available for everyone to enjoy … especially on the links.  David is the brainchild behind Cattleack Barbeque, which he started in 2007. Cattleack has catered such golf events as the Emmitt Smith Celebrity Invitational and John Daly/Tony Romo’s VIP Party. David discusses what tournament organizers should look for in caterers, especially those that specialize in barbecue.

When someone is interested in using a caterer for their event, is it a good idea for them to taste-test the food?
Absolutely. The foods can be so unique, and when you have a golf tournament you have to take into consideration that you’re outdoors and that there’s a timeframe. Plus, food coming out of an oven or smoker can be a lot different than food out for two hours or so.

What makes you all stand out from other barbecue caterers?
There’s an old saying in business when there are conflicts that it’s business and don’t take it personal. In our case, it’s all personal. That’s the biggest thing that sets us apart. We also can work with event planners to make it a golf tournament and a barbecue instead of a golf tournament serving barbecue. We can make that part of the tournament an event.

Cattleack also has come up with a creative way to make the barbecue transportable and not as messy. Golfers hate having messy hands when they are about to hit a shot.
Our food is user-friendly. If you go with a neighborhood franchise caterer, chances are you have to pick from their menu. It may be good, but you’re going to get some stock food with bread and buns. With us, we can get creative with our food and give it that personal touch that makes it unique. For golf events, that means putting ribs or sausage on a stick, and beans in a cup. That way you can take the food on the go and not have to worry about getting your hands too messy or slowing up play.

Pace of play is a big issue when food is presented on the course.
It is. We know that if we are going to be at a hole there will be a backup. So we put out tables and chairs so the players can sit down and eat if they want to. The biggest thing you want is for no one to wait in line. That will really bog down an event and you don’t want the caterer to be a pace-of-play problem.

Do caterers make a mistake by having food only at one station?
Absolutely. For shotgun tournaments, there should be a food station on every nine holes. You should make sure no one has to go a long time without getting food, even if it’s a meal and a snack. That way, if someone missed the main meal at the beginning and they weren’t going to hit it until the end, then halfway through they were getting enough to hold them over.

Is it the worst feeling when a caterer runs out of food?
It doesn’t have to be so long as it’s either a minor item that’s gone or that the food is gone at the very end of an event. The second big mistake tournament organizers make is when they try to dictate the quantities they want to purchase. That’s how you run out of food.

Is there a set formula for this in terms of head count?
There’s an easy solution – leave it up to the experts. Tell us how many people you want to feed and let us, the experts, decide on how much food to bring. A neighborhood franchiser is so focused on the bottom line that they have a formula for how much food they are taking. A specific caterer should ask the right questions to suggest the right items and amount to you. That caterer’s name also is on the line at your event, so they should want it to be successful.

When tournament planners and caterers meet, what is the biggest mistake a planner makes?
Trying to make the menu. For example, many ask for chicken, which is great off the grill or off the smoker but not good an hour or two later. Same with macaroni and cheese – a great item when it’s first made but you can’t get a spoon through it three hours later.

Compare and contrast having an indoor catering event versus an outdoor event.
For an outdoor event, we bring out the smoker and let it smoke, which will spread the aroma all over the golf course. That environment upgrades the golf event; you can’t do that with an indoor-catered lunch or dinner. The biggest caution with an outdoor event is food temperature. Most events occur when it’s warm out, and food at the wrong temperature can be very dangerous. An indoor event has more flexibility to do more items, so it has to be a different menu. Yes, they’re both catering and they’re both feeding people, but they’re two totally different situations and you have to adapt to them.

Let us know the next time you fire up the grill.
Feeding people and having them enjoy our food is a lot of fun.