Tasting
Updated August 2026
A tasting is a scheduled sample meal a caterer prepares so a prospective client can try dishes from a proposed menu before committing to it. It is most common in wedding and large-event work, where the menu is chosen months ahead.
Also called: menu tasting, sample dinner.
Why it matters to a small caterer
A tasting is a full production run for a table of two to six. Sourcing small quantities of premium ingredients, a prep block, a cook, plating, service, and the hours around it are all real, and the ingredient cost is usually the smallest part. Caterers who describe a tasting as "just a few plates" are counting the food and not the day.
That is why the policy matters more than the menu. Common practice among small operations is to charge for the tasting and credit the fee against the booking if the client signs, cap the number of guests who attend, and hold tastings only after a date is provisionally held or a deposit is down. All three exist to keep the kitchen from cooking sample dinners for people who were never going to book.
Make it a selling event, not an audition
Serve the dishes the way they will actually be served, on the service style the client is considering, with the same portion sizes. Bring the proposal to the table, walk the timeline, and leave with a decision or a clear next step. A tasting that ends in a vague promise to think about it, with no date attached, has usually been run as an audition rather than as a close.
Limit the menu. Three or four dishes cooked properly persuade better than eight cooked in a rush, and they cost you a fraction of the day.
Where this shows up
Put the terms to work on a real quote
CaterKit costs every dish from your own ingredients, prices the quote at your margin, and sends it as a page the client can accept on their phone.