The kitchen today, like every event, no matter the venue, is as makeshift as a school bake sale, a series of folding tables covered with white tablecloths and fashioned for elegance in preparing and serving the day's menu. Food is like fashion, with trends and fads. The same is true for catering.
We sat down with the incredible founders and chefs of Juli Y Juan's Kitchen on how to best prepare and hire expert caterers to create a successful event that stays in your guests' memories for years to come.
What is your biggest piece of advice to someone looking to hire a caterer?
We believe that the best practices when thinking of hiring a caterer are to do a self-evaluation and have very clear what message you want your guests to experience. On a scale to 1 to 10, how important is food quality for you? Is there a specific theme? Is time a very sensitive subject? These are just a few of the questions you should ask yourself before finding the right caterer.
There are caterers that range from a very simple delivery to a more artistic creative and entertaining performance. Five years ago when we started, most of what we were seeing out there was very simple catering. Today, Juli and I have been trying to offer more to our clients; we are trying to fuse our cultural background from Latin America into Colorado's culture of food and catering practices. So far, it has been a magnificent experiment, and we believe we are getting a great response from our foodies that have hired us and from the industry itself. We always kindly ask our clients to trust us. With our clients' support, we can deliver an amazing experience with delicious food and a great performance. We encourage you to hire caterers who are taking care of food quality, nature, the community and are service enthusiasts.
Your dishes are always plated beautifully and you always look as if you are having so much fun. It's inspiring to see people with such a passion. What can a potential client expect when they hire Juli Y Juan's Kitchen?
Juan: For us, every event is unique, and we focus on clients who are looking for a quality-creative performance. Most of our clients are wedding couples, and we love that we can share the magic of believing and expressing love. We also have corporate and private clients who are learning to enjoy the performance of creating an event and how their guests react when quality, fun, creative food is delivered to them. Everyone can expect us to create personalized menus, to co-create their food experience, and to deliver a fun performance during their event. We are not just a food company; we are reaching into people's creative souls and helping them deliver their food vision and their dream! It is a pleasure to see our clients' energy change when they understand that we are sincerely here to help. Their heart opens, and we can really dream together. We take care of all the logistics of assembling the space, delivering and leaving everything better than how we found it.
Chimichurri
Serves 10
Ingredients
12 cloves garlic, roasted
1 cup Italian parsley
1 cup cilantro
1 cup sweet basil
4 pieces anchovies
1 1/2 cups olive oil
1/4–1/2 cup red wine vinegar
Pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Method
Step 1: Chop all the herbs, small but not a puree.
Step 2: Puree anchovies.
Step 3: Into the same bowl, add roasted garlic, anchovies puree and a pinch of red pepper flakes (optional).
Step 4: Add the vinegar and olive oil. The sauce is chunky and coarse; it should not be liquid. The vinegar and oil depend fully on your palate.
Step 5: Season with salt and pepper and serve. Usually, the chimichurri tastes much better as it ages, so if you are using it for a roast, make it a couple of days ahead and it will be perfect!
Save in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 month.
