Fresh, local, in-season ingredients are the core of our cuisine. But at Culinary Crafts, we’ve taken fresh to a new level by perfecting the art of à la minute catering. À la minute catering means that we prepare our food on the spot, moments before it hits the plate. No matter where your event is (in a back yard, on top of a mountain, or in the middle of nowhere) we bring the kitchen with us so that every dish is cooked, assembled, and served at its peak.
Literally, the French term à la minute means “at the minute.”
In a restaurant, it means chefs cooking, assembling, plating, and serving dishes as guests order them rather than having them sitting in a fridge somewhere waiting to be reheated.
In catering, à la minute means preparing or finishing food at the moment it is needed, rather than cooking it far in advance and holding it for service.
The goal is to get food from the kitchen to the diners while it’s at its freshest, hottest, crispest, and most delicious. That’s a challenge that any professional kitchen faces. It’s even more of a challenge when you have to take your kitchen with you.
Most caterers do not prepare their food à la minute. They make it in their kitchens and then put it in hot or cold containers to transport it to the venue. The problem is, many foods simply don't reach their full potential when they're cooked hours ahead and held. Crisp foods start to go soft. Meats get overcooked and dry. Pasta turns sticky. Vegetables go limp. Sliced foods dry out. Sauces separate, and seafood…don’t even get us started!
There’s no way around it; if you want food at its freshest, you simply have to make it fresh on the spot.
À la minute catering not only delivers the freshest possible food, it comes with other benefits too. Preparing a meal fresh onsite creates a more engaging experience for guests who can see and smell their food being prepared. Plus, chefs can fulfil personal requests and accommodate food sensitivities.
Not quite. The two concepts overlap, but they emphasize different things.
Made-to-order means food is prepared specifically in response to an individual guest’s order. À la minute focuses on when the food is prepared: as close to serving time as possible.
For example, a steak cooked after a guest orders it is both made to order and à la minute. But a chef might also prepare a platter of freshly seared scallops à la minute for a group of guests without taking individual orders.
In other words, made to order is about who requested the food; à la minute is about when it’s cooked.
Not necessarily. À la minute cooking doesn't mean every ingredient is starting from scratch when guests arrive. Professional catering requires careful preparation beforehand.
Our chefs may wash, chop, marinate, portion, season, or do certain other preparations in advance to facilitate quick service on the day of the event. But then, at the event, we do the cooking, finishing, and everything else that benefits from happening at the last minute.
That's how we combine the efficiency of professional catering with the freshness of a great restaurant.
Absolutely. We’ve been doing it for decades.
À la minute catering doesn't require a traditional restaurant kitchen. Culinary Crafts can bring the equipment, culinary team, and expertise necessary to prepare and finish exquisite restaurant-quality food on site at weddings, corporate events, private parties, outdoor celebrations, and other unique venues.
The kitchen doesn't have to be where the event is. We can bring the kitchen to you.
It’s high dining delivered straight to the plate, anytime, anywhere.
27x winner Utah’s Best of State
24x Best of State Caterer
3x Best of the Best / Hospitality
1x Entrepreneur of the Year