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Catering primer: tips and hints for your occasion

A small example of what Urban Deli can bring to your catered event.

Be it big or small, when you have your event catered you want it to go smoothly. That is part of the point, isn’t it? You want your guests to enjoy themselves, to enjoy good food, and free yourself to attend to all the other matters that need your attention to make sure it is all smooth sailing.

So we’ve put together a little catering primer. It provides both tips and suggestions on how to ensure your event is everything you want it to be. (You can download it here: Catering Tips and Hints.)

At the Urban Deli we offer a variety of catering options. They can range from standard “off the menu” caterings for various gatherings, such as boardrooms or open houses (to name two), or we can tailor to your individual needs for weddings, anniversaries, graduations, or intimate social gatherings with friends and family. We can help you with almost any event. Just give is a call at 652-3354 or send us an email.

At the Urban Deli we offer a variety of catering options and we can help you with almost any event.

We’re also easily adaptable and can help you design your memorable occasion.

Regardless of the type of function or the style, there are a few not-so-obvious points to consider when planning a catered event. They can help you achieve a successful catered occasion that meets, even exceeds, your expectations.

We have nine items to keep in mind:

  1. Manage Expectations
  2. Know Your Guests
  3. Know Your Guest Preferences
  4. Provide Menu Choices
  5. Incorporate Seasonal and Fresh Items
  6. Select a Menu that Fits the Event Schedule
  7. Anticipate Special Needs
  8. Allow for a Comfortable Room Setup
  9. Create Ethnic or Regional Menus

To learn more, download our Catering Tips and Hints (.pdf file).

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Some very belated congratulations

Good grief! Talk about late out of the gate … We’ve been so busy lately in the restaurant and with catering, we’ve fallen way behind on our site. That would be fine, such things happen when you’re a relatively small operation and there loads of things needing your attention, but we’ve neglected some people that should have been given a tip of the hat and a, “Well done!”

We’re referring to this year’s The Saltys, Saint John’s first ever social media awards. It was thrilling for us because we found ourselves nominated in one of the categories. It was completely unexpected and we we’re thrilled. We didn’t grab the top honour but, as they say at the Oscars, we got a real charge out of the nomination and felt privileged to me in the running.

We want to send a big congratulations out to this year’s winners:

Mel won in the category we found ourselves in and we think it was well-deserved. The big night was held at SJAH, just down the street from us. Fran made it to the big night but Bill was stuck up in Frederiction. (They’re the two helping out with our social media efforts.)

Once again, “Bravo!” to all the winners and nominees. This is meant to be an annual event, so we’re looking forward to next year’s awards and hope this thing just grows and grows (kind of like social media itself).

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Lunch and dinner – Happy Valentine’s Day!

We have our Valentine’s dinner set for this evening, but today for lunch we’re featuring:

  • Pasta Dish … a creamy pesto pasta with sauteed portabello mushrooms, roasted reds and spinach; finished with fresh Parmesan cheese
  • Burger … Bacon and cheddar burger – comes with a side choice

Of course, this evening’s dinner is for the romantically inclined, or even those who just like an excuse to be with each other.

It’s our Valentine’s dinner. Have a look at the menu (.pdf format). We think you’ll like it! You can reserve by simply giving us a call at 652-3354.

And hat’s off to our friends at happinez! Via Uptown Saint John on Facebook, we found out the Ottawa Citizen has picked them as one of the 18 best places to kiss in Canada. (We knew something was going on in those quiet corners.)

Have a great day everyone and we hope to see you this evening!

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Our Valentine’s Day menu

Even when we’re busiest, we like to think there’s something romantic about the Deli. It’s in the way we approach food (always with love) and something in the decor.

And there’s something contagious about romance, so we’re hoping you’ll join us Monday evening for our Valentine’s Day dinner.

Here’s our menu (a .pdf file). It involves a couple of yummy appetizers, a choice of savoury entrees and a dessert to die for. (Can you say chocolate molten cake with chocolate drizzle, fresh whipped cream and a strawberry?)

Maybe you’ll be headed to see the Goo Goo Dolls and want something loving and romantic beforehand, or maybe you’re just planning on a starry-eyed evening with someone special. We’re pretty sure we’ll fit the bill.

So, please join us for our Valentine’s dinner. It will be our pleasure to serve you. We’re always big on romance!

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Another wonderful Friday

You know what’s great about a Friday? It’s Friday! We’re moving into the weekend!

We’ve a couple of off the cuff reminders … Lunch is on and its tasty, but we’re also open until 9:00pm today so if you’re going to the Millrats game, why not start it off at the Deli for dinner? We have a melt in your mouth Reuben Sandwich with corned beef, swiss cheese, & sauerkraut, bacon & onion topping on marble rye bread.

And staying with the mouth watering theme … our ham & Swiss cheese is piled high on our sour dough bread … all worth the walk!

We’re also open tomorrow for our usual Saturday breakfast, 9:00am to noon. It makes for a very nice way of getting your Saturday started.

And finally, don’t forget to cast your vote for The Saltys, Saint John’s first social media awards. They’re a way to celebrate our city’s social media community. There are four categories, and Urban Deli is nominated in one of them, Best Use of Social Media in a Campaign.

Voting closes at noon Wednesday, February 16. Winners will be announced at a very fun night planned for the 17th at the Saint John Ale House. So vote soon!

And have a fabulous weekend! We hope to see you!

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Over the moon with our social media nomination

Saint John has its first ever social media awards, The Saltys – a celebration of the Saint John Social Media Community. It’s set for February 17 just down the road from us at the Saint John Ale House. And guess what? Urban Deli is a nominee! We’re over the moon!

We’re nominated in the category “Best Use of Social Media in a Campaign” for customer engagement. Actually, it’s really our customers who should be getting the tip of the hat. You guys have been fabulous on our blog, Facebook page and on Twitter. And you’ve kept us on our toes!

We’re not always as on top of things as we would like. Being a small operation, our main focus is the kitchen and the restaurant, so we can’t always be engaging people online to the extent we would like to. So for the record, we would like to say a big “Thank you!” to everyone for the RTs and wonderful comments we’ve seen in our feeds.

Huge congratulations as well to all the nominees in all the categories. Looking at the list is a bit like looking at a list of friends. We’re pretty sure we know everyone there.

Urban Deli has been using social media for some time now. We started on Twitter in March of 2009 – that’s almost two years ago – and started our Facebook page not long after. It was lot of figuring out how to use this social media thing (we bumbled a lot with the Facebook part initially) but it became very clear, very soon that social media was about one thing: people.

So it really is a lot like being in the restaurant where we get to interact with our customers face to face. With social media, we do the same thing, just not face to face.

Once again, we’re very excited that Saint John now has its own social media awards — The Saltys — and even more excited to see we’ve been nominated.

By the way, the online voting is now on. Cast your vote while you can and we hope to see all of you February 17 for the big party!

Thank you again Saint John!

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Lunchtime! Here’s what’s on deck

Urban Deli's meatloaf very popular "comfort food," the meatloaf sandwich.

We’re moving closer to the lunching hour so we thought we’d better let you in on what the features are today. They would be:

1) Chicken Schnitzel Sandwich with side choice – Delicious!

2) Quiche is our Deli version of a Greek Quiche topped with our own Cheese Sauce

3) Deli Meatloaf Sandwich with side choice – In our top five sellers in 2010

4) Creamy Pesto Pasta – Roasted Red Peppers, Portabello Mushrooms & Spinach in a creamy pesto sauce & topped with fresh Parmesan cheese

By the way, if you get so busy you can’t see a way to come in and sit down for lunch, just give us a call at 652-3354 and come by to pick up your order. It’s pretty easy.

Hope you’re day is going great!

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