Ideas for the Breakfast Setup

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innatcrestedbutte

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I have been making some suggestions to management simple affordable ways to make the continential breakfast setup in this 18 room boutique hotel, and food offerings, more appealing. We serve cereal, hard boiled eggs, single serve yogurt, jam in little packages, bagels and bread for toast. I have suggested getting bulk cans of jam and putting them in mason jars to look kinda homey, yogurt in a serving bowl with a spoon, better bread and bagels (from a local bakery), and homemade granola. A fruit tray instead of just whole fruit in a bowl and one small bowl of berries which we put out. I would like to switch from the small packages to bulk items to save on plastic garbage, to make the setup and food more appealing, homey and higher end.
Any more ideas suggestions or comments are greatly appreciated!
 
Altho I see your poin,t what I am concerned with, as a guest and as an owner, are the double dippers. The folks who stick their spoon into the jam, taste it and then say, 'yup, that's the one,' and their nasty germs go back into the jam pot to get a full serving.
So, maybe what you want is to make the layout more appealing. Flowers. Nice serving pieces. Cute holders for the things you already have going.
Better bread and bagels, yes! Homemade granola sounds good, too.
But, for 18 rooms, there is no way you can monitor the disgusting things guests do with food.
We put jam out in small ceramic bowls, but when I clear the tables that leftover jam is in the trash. And lots of guests never touch it. They want it, ask for it, but never use it.
Try a more appealing set up first.
 
Altho I see your poin,t what I am concerned with, as a guest and as an owner, are the double dippers. The folks who stick their spoon into the jam, taste it and then say, 'yup, that's the one,' and their nasty germs go back into the jam pot to get a full serving.
So, maybe what you want is to make the layout more appealing. Flowers. Nice serving pieces. Cute holders for the things you already have going.
Better bread and bagels, yes! Homemade granola sounds good, too.
But, for 18 rooms, there is no way you can monitor the disgusting things guests do with food.
We put jam out in small ceramic bowls, but when I clear the tables that leftover jam is in the trash. And lots of guests never touch it. They want it, ask for it, but never use it.
Try a more appealing set up first..
Thank you for your suggestions!
 
Altho I see your poin,t what I am concerned with, as a guest and as an owner, are the double dippers. The folks who stick their spoon into the jam, taste it and then say, 'yup, that's the one,' and their nasty germs go back into the jam pot to get a full serving.
So, maybe what you want is to make the layout more appealing. Flowers. Nice serving pieces. Cute holders for the things you already have going.
Better bread and bagels, yes! Homemade granola sounds good, too.
But, for 18 rooms, there is no way you can monitor the disgusting things guests do with food.
We put jam out in small ceramic bowls, but when I clear the tables that leftover jam is in the trash. And lots of guests never touch it. They want it, ask for it, but never use it.
Try a more appealing set up first..
Thank you for your suggestions!
.
At a recent B&B conference, one of the executive chefs spoke to this issue. One of the ways they make the presentation of items prettier is to use single serving containers (small dishes, martini glasses, that kind of thing) for fruit cups, fruit and yogurt parfaits, granola or oatmeal with fruit toppings. It will cause more waste unless you have a way to keep some of the items cold. Someone here, maybe BeachHouse, has posted some things to do along those lines. You could search the forum.
 
Hello Inn at CB, elegance and functionality would be a key player at your place I would say.
The issue with bulk anything is you have to make it serve "as single serve" or you have to toss it all out each day. So for that issue, the waste is a give and take. I totally understand your concerns of course and agree!
Whole fruit in a bowl can definitely be improved upon! Staging the breakfast area would go a long way. Your site shows the room but not the breakfast layout. If you want, and can, snap a few photos and share with us and maybe some things will jump out, without reinventing the wheel but some simple ways to enhance your breakfast area. There are some here who serve continental for larger inns.
Now as for homemade granolas, open yogurts in a bowl, and such. I will ask what are your health dept regs? Is there a reason they are just placed out in the serving containers to help yourself? Welcome to the forum. :)
 
Altho I see your poin,t what I am concerned with, as a guest and as an owner, are the double dippers. The folks who stick their spoon into the jam, taste it and then say, 'yup, that's the one,' and their nasty germs go back into the jam pot to get a full serving.
So, maybe what you want is to make the layout more appealing. Flowers. Nice serving pieces. Cute holders for the things you already have going.
Better bread and bagels, yes! Homemade granola sounds good, too.
But, for 18 rooms, there is no way you can monitor the disgusting things guests do with food.
We put jam out in small ceramic bowls, but when I clear the tables that leftover jam is in the trash. And lots of guests never touch it. They want it, ask for it, but never use it.
Try a more appealing set up first..
Thank you for your suggestions!
.
At a recent B&B conference, one of the executive chefs spoke to this issue. One of the ways they make the presentation of items prettier is to use single serving containers (small dishes, martini glasses, that kind of thing) for fruit cups, fruit and yogurt parfaits, granola or oatmeal with fruit toppings. It will cause more waste unless you have a way to keep some of the items cold. Someone here, maybe BeachHouse, has posted some things to do along those lines. You could search the forum.
.
Those single serving pieces are everywhere now and they look so sharp! The ceramic serving spoons, mini martinis, all of them look like fun.
We got 5 oz serving bowls for fruit parfaits and they look yummy when served.
 
Altho I see your poin,t what I am concerned with, as a guest and as an owner, are the double dippers. The folks who stick their spoon into the jam, taste it and then say, 'yup, that's the one,' and their nasty germs go back into the jam pot to get a full serving.
So, maybe what you want is to make the layout more appealing. Flowers. Nice serving pieces. Cute holders for the things you already have going.
Better bread and bagels, yes! Homemade granola sounds good, too.
But, for 18 rooms, there is no way you can monitor the disgusting things guests do with food.
We put jam out in small ceramic bowls, but when I clear the tables that leftover jam is in the trash. And lots of guests never touch it. They want it, ask for it, but never use it.
Try a more appealing set up first..
Thank you for your suggestions!
.
At a recent B&B conference, one of the executive chefs spoke to this issue. One of the ways they make the presentation of items prettier is to use single serving containers (small dishes, martini glasses, that kind of thing) for fruit cups, fruit and yogurt parfaits, granola or oatmeal with fruit toppings. It will cause more waste unless you have a way to keep some of the items cold. Someone here, maybe BeachHouse, has posted some things to do along those lines. You could search the forum.
.
Those single serving pieces are everywhere now and they look so sharp! The ceramic serving spoons, mini martinis, all of them look like fun.
We got 5 oz serving bowls for fruit parfaits and they look yummy when served.
.
Madeleine said:
Those single serving pieces are everywhere now and they look so sharp! The ceramic serving spoons, mini martinis, all of them look like fun.
We got 5 oz serving bowls for fruit parfaits and they look yummy when served.
I remember the Christmas party in Dec they had the catering staff serve baked smashed potatoes or sweet potatoes in a martini glass, what a royal pain in the patooti to eat. It was exasperating.
By the time to server put on the toppings we liked, it was also barely warm. Some things do not bid well in a single serve, just gimmee the dang tators awready!
 
innatcrestedbutte said:
I have been making some suggestions to management simple affordable ways to make the continential breakfast setup in this 18 room boutique hotel, and food offerings, more appealing. We serve cereal, hard boiled eggs, single serve yogurt, jam in little packages, bagels and bread for toast. I have suggested getting bulk cans of jam and putting them in mason jars to look kinda homey, yogurt in a serving bowl with a spoon, better bread and bagels (from a local bakery), and homemade granola. A fruit tray instead of just whole fruit in a bowl and one small bowl of berries which we put out. I would like to switch from the small packages to bulk items to save on plastic garbage, to make the setup and food more appealing, homey and higher end.
Any more ideas suggestions or comments are greatly appreciated!
We serve a similar buffet but with a freshly baked coffee cake or muffins.
With the toasting bread, we offer jelly, peanut butter, cream cheese and butter in pretty bowls. (But we only have 6 rooms.) They are usually not touched and we throw them away.
With yogurt in a cup, we offer bowls filled with chopped nuts, raisins, coconut and granola as well as chopped strawberries and blueberries. On Sundays I make parfaits with vanilla yogurt, cut fruit and honey and encourage guests to top with the toppings we offer.
Our cereal is in pretty containers. We offer bulk cereals - Fiber One Protein, Raisin Bran and Granola. We also offer small snack pack boxes of sweet cereals and assorted granola bars.
On some days, we will put out toaster waffles and assorted syrups.
The best thing you can do to make it look fancier is to use very nice dishes and serveware. No paper plates, no plastic platters. The good stuff.
 
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