Gathering is what we do as people and how we thrive as hospitality professionals. Our love of gathering makes the festive period this year so difficult. At Craster, we have always understood our value not as makers of food and beverage serveware, but as enablers of gathering. From conference and event tables to beautiful, modular systems for agile food and drink display, our role is to make your rituals refined, to assist in communing and to spur a sense of belonging where our products are used. 

A COVID-Aware Festive Gathering Dining Guide

In November 2019, we curated a festive buffet look that captured products and food served by some of our closest partners at their winter events: seasonal fruits piled high in our Black Ceramic Bowls; a rich spiced chocolate cake perched on our Tilt Large Round Walnut Plinth; and red wine poached pears showcased in the Tilt Glass Jar. This lush spread was photographed on a moody Rise Buffet Table in signature black marble. 

In the spirit of enabling gatherings to take place where possible this festive season, we reimagine our November 2019 festive look with new products for 2020, with an emphasis on hygiene executed along the industry trends of single serve portions, satellite buffet stations for physical distancing and covered buffet service. 

Create Grand Experiences through Intimacy

To encourage a sense of belonging with familiar centrepieces of cuisine display in large banqueting spaces, we suggest turning your festive buffet into a grab-and-go station with single-serve portions. Familiar cuisine presented in unique ways will put guests at ease but retain the novelty of the festive season.

Feature a series of festive brass pots for guests to collect nibbles with minimal contact. Use the Walnut Mini Glass Jars with their accompanying lids as splendid single-portion containers. Alternatively, transition to a COVID-aware service that focuses on intimacy. Covered buffet solutions offer an agile way to protect cuisine in your existing buffetware. The Shaker Lidded Bread Box offers a dynamic covered service and is perfect for carrying fruit, nuts and breads while protecting them from sneezes and coughs. Showcase decadent cakes by covering with a Glass Cloche, which fits perfectly onto the Tilt Large Round Walnut Plinth we featured in the 2019 shoot. Where showstopper sharing dishes like the red wine poached pears are served, opt to serve them in the Tilt Glass Jar with its Walnut Lid.

Conquer Congregating Restrictions with Private Dining at Scale

Some of us around the world will enter the festive season with specific regulations that forbid household mixing or limiting capacity indoors. To reduce congestion around single-serve stations, turn the festive buffet look into a private dining experience by choreographing a series of satellite stations.

For every household or table, plan a trolley topped with gastronomy showcased in the products from our festive 2019 look. With private satellite stations, it is easy to tailor menus for household tastes and quickly replenish hot or chilled foods with the Craster heating and cooling products.

What It Means to Gather Now

Ritual gatherings are the agents of commemoration; they are spiritual metaphors in action. Our rituals have developed at points of transition between people, between places, between spiritual conditions and they, in turn, mark how we as people make the unknown accessible.

The challenges faced by the hospitality industry in 2020 have been immense, but our community’s resilience is unparalleled. As the loci of gatherings, our cause is more important than ever in this time of diminishing opportunity to mark important moments. 

We hope to support our partners and colleagues where possible with consultations on safe gatherings. For any questions or aspirations for the festive period, please get in touch.

From all of us at Craster, we wish you a warm and connected festive season.