SELEM V: Food Thread

[Stuka]

"Food for thought"...

No doubt that the last couple of years, we have dined extremely well during SELEM due to the intense efforts of some dedicated SELEM attendees.
The negative side of that, unfortunately, is that with the large number of people in attendance, the dining becomes an event in and of itself, and the team providing the food & preparations has VERY little time to enjoy what SELEM is really meant to be about (massive quantities of laser showdom!! )

With this in mind, I'll drop an early suggestion that we "simplify" this year, and rely either on the good ol' local pizza / sandwich delivery services, or perhaps look into a local, reasonably-priced caterer that could support the event with simple meals (show up, setup, feed us, and clean up, requiring minimal support from SELEM attendees). The whole idea is that everyone can have the maximum time to participate in SELEM events, and not feel obligated to prep, feed, and clean up after the masses.

Open to discussion...

[Bradfo69]

Being a caterer, food for large crowds is relatively simple (for me) and I was interested in exploring what I might be able to do to help this year. Although one of the challenges I observed last year is where to actually be able to heat/cook at the theater and if there is any refrigeration space. Can anyone enlighten me as to whether there is any type of kitchen access in the area? I'm guessing the infamous barbeque in the past was lovingly tended to on grills/smokers that people brought with them. If not, then I agree with relying on local venues for food.

For the foodies in the group, one of the most phenominal restaurants in the country is within about an hours drive and, as this is my only vacation this year (actually my only consecutive days off too) , I may plan to treat myself to a run to Asheville for dinner at some point and would be happy to take a car/van load. Zambras.... un-frickin believable dining experience. I know that's not the point of the weekend and it is a few hours out of your lasing time but, it's a dinner experience you would remember fondly to your grave. Jus' sayin...

[mophead]

Being a caterer, food for large crowds is relatively simple (for me) and I was interested in exploring what I might be able to do to help this year. Although one of the challenges I observed last year is where to actually be able to heat/cook at the theater and if there is any refrigeration space. Can anyone enlighten me as to whether there is any type of kitchen access in the area?.

I can tell you all about it......

There is a small kitchen with a household size 'fridge and stove. If you want to cook selem be sure to bring *everything* one might need to cater. There isn't anything there useful in terms of serving (except what we have left in the past) which is never there the next year. All the cabinets are key-locked and who really knows what they contain.

In the past, we've smoked the pork at home, put it into coolers, pulled and reheated as needed at the venue. Last year we cooked a whole case of butts and they were still proper temp. 36hrs later. Doing it the way we have been doing it takes a full day+ in prep back home to lessen the time on site.

Mystrys and I are only looking at one day at selem at this point, if even that. If it is larger than last year; it's impossible for us. We hate it because we enjoy feeding a crowd.

A decent caterer to cook/clean at a per head per meal basis, built into the cost of attendance, would be the best option..... *or* every person for themselves. I don't see a middle ground there. To hard to keep track of who's who.


And yeah.....Zambras.... un-frickin believable dining experience. If we're in Newton this year, we'll be at Zambras at least once.

Brad, feel free to pm me (or Len) if you'd like more info

[buffo]

I've been meaning to talk about food at SELEM for a while now. I think the event has grown too large for us to continue trying to self-cater the food to everyone.

Don't get me wrong: I've really enjoyed the food at past events. But I think we've been taking advantage of the people who have been providing the food. They're stuck in the kitchen for nearly the entire weekend, which means they miss out on the shows, the geeking and tweaking, the presentations, and most importantly: THE FUN!

Case in point: last year was Len's first LEM, and yet I didn't get a chance to talk to him until Sunday afternoon, because he was so busy in the kitchen with Doug and his wife. (Now that I think about it, there were a few others in there with them last year, but I can't remember who they were.) All of those people missed out on a lot of what was happening at SELEM, and I feel bad about that. The reason you come to SELEM is to watch laser shows and geek out with other laserists. But it's hard to do that if you're stuck in the kitchen all weekend...

Alternatives would be to let everyone handle meals on their own, or to have a commercial catering company come in and feed us. Personally, I don't like the catering option, because it adds a *lot* of complexity and cost. Even at $10 per plate (which is cheap), we're talking 3 full days, which is 6 meals. That would more than double the registration fee. Then we've got all the organization involved, and a very rigid schedule to keep.

That's why this year I'd like to leave meals up to the individual. I can build some breaks into the upstairs presentation schedule so folks can go get lunch and dinner each day. And if you really want to stay at the auditorium, we can always order pizza and have it delivered. (Or send someone to Burger King to bring back a bag of burgers...) That way we could continue to run shows if people wanted to.

That's my thoughts on the matter anyway - what do you guys think?

Adam

[allthatwhichis]

That's why this year I'd like to leave meals up to the individual. I can build some breaks into the upstairs presentation schedule so folks can go get lunch and dinner each day. And if you really want to stay at the auditorium, we can always order pizza and have it delivered. (Or send someone to Burger King to bring back a bag of burgers...) That way we could continue to run shows if people wanted to.

That's my thoughts on the matter anyway - what do you guys think?

Adam

Beautiful idea!

[mophead]

I think as long as dinner/supper breaks are scheduled where no one misses anything; every man for himself is the best option. I agree that having the event catered and included in the entry fee would be a mess. There wouldn't be a way to please everyone and like i said before.... It would be hard to keep track of who's who.

Honestly, as much as I enjoy feeding folks, i'm looking forward to my first SELEM even if me and myst only get one day.

[JohnYayas]

I think as long as dinner/supper breaks are scheduled where no one misses anything; every man for himself is the best option.

I agree. Keep it simple.

[Stuka]

I agree. Keep it simple.

I concur as well.

I think we would definitely want to program in some meal breaks in the schedule.
(at least an hour for lunch, a bit longer for dinner if the "formal" schedule goes into the evening).

Maybe Reggie could recon and find out which restaurants / fast food joints could offer a quick turn-around for a bunch of hungry laserists?

[Displaser]

There's a Lenny's Subs in Hickory that caters and/or could provide sandwich platters. I think they offer something like a box lunch - sandwich, chips, cookie...nice alternative to "fast food".

[lulighttec]

Might be a good idea to look at a sub shop that can do the party sized sandwiches, you know, the really long ones? That might be a good option for one day... My thinking is there probably are more of us that are going to want to stay at the venue. IIRC I forgot to eat a few meals last year, because I was busy tinkering, so someone volunteering to pick something up we've prearranged and chipped in for might be a good idea. I know I probably won't want to have to leave and go find food.


-Newlin