Scaling Kitchen Teams for Large Receptions and Multi-Day Events with Expert Event Kitchen Staffing

Scaling a kitchen is more than just adding more chefs to the mix. It’s an intricate process that involves event kitchen staffing, predicting production volumes, coordinating across multiple departments, managing food safety and allergens, all while providing quality service and delicious dishes. With the right planning, team, and guidance, even the largest of events can run efficiently and deliver a first-class dining experience for every guest.

Why scaling matters for large receptions and events

Working large receptions and events can be unpredictable; guest numbers can suddenly multiply overnight, which is why you need to make sure your team is prepared no matter what. Introducing event kitchen staffing ensures that production, service speed, and food quality remain consistent, even under pressure. With enough chefs, kitchen assistants, and support staff in the right roles, you can maintain efficiency, meet tight service windows, and uphold the standards your clients expect.

How to calculate kitchen staff numbers for banquets 

Determining how many kitchen staff you’ll need is the starting point for any large-scale catering plan. 

A good baseline to follow is:

• 1 chef per 25 guests 
• 1 kitchen assistant per 50 guests 
• 1 kitchen porter per 100 guests 

Dedicated pastry or cold section teams for desserts and canapés

For example, if you have 100 guests, you would have 4 chefs, 2 assistants, and 1 kitchen porter. 

This is just a guideline, and other factors should be considered: 

• The complexity of the menu and the number of courses 
• On-site vs off-site kitchen setup
• The style of service, plated, buffet, or festival
• The duration of the event and the daily service turnover

Integrating agency chefs and back-of-house teams 

Adding temporary kitchen staff to your team should enhance the workflow and productivity as long as integration is done with care. Ensuring your BOH team and hired agency chefs work together to provide the highest quality service is vital. Our professional agency chefs are accustomed to high-pressure environments and are experienced in slotting into existing kitchen brigades to ensure seamless integration. 

It’s important to onboard agency chefs properly.

• Give thorough briefs, provide in-depth explanations of menus, service schedules, and allergen procedures.
• Assign clear roles and sections, and ensure your agency chefs understand their place in the kitchen. Good practice would be pairing your agency staff with permanent team members to ensure continuity.

Event production planning and mise en place timelines

For every event, the production schedule is vital to success; it’s important to build on a meticulous mise en place. The timeline of the prep planning will depend on the type of service, the size of the event, and the venue, but a typical large reception prep timeline may look like this:

• 3 days prior: starting production, receiving delivered ingredients, batch cooking sauces and desserts.
• 2 days prior: portioning your proteins and garnishes. 
• 1 day prior: cold plate assembly, buffet setup if applicable, equipment checks.
• Every day: the final cook, coordinating your service procedures, managing the plating line, and a team meeting to ensure all members of staff are informed and prepared. 

For events spanning over a full day or multiple dates, you’ll need staggered production cycles that map out storage, deliveries, and cleaning procedures, all working within the service times. 

Managing allergens and food safety at scale

No matter what the event, guest safety is always the top priority. When scaling kitchen operations, food safety can become more complex. A larger production often means more hands on deck, a range of different suppliers, and more opportunities for cross-contamination. With the correct procedures in place and strong compliance, managing allergens and food safety at scale can be simple.

• Maintain separate allergen prep zones and a raw food prep station
• Using industry-standard colour-coded utensils and containers to avoid confusion.
• Ensure all kitchen staff, including temporary chefs, are briefed on allergens and HACCP procedures. 
• Keep accurate labelling and tracking for prepped items.
• Ensure cleanliness throughout the kitchen.

Remember, when working at scale, clarity and communication save you costly mistakes and issues. Event managers should conduct pre-service safety briefings, ensuring all staff are compliant and understand all procedures. 

Coordinating kitchen, front of house, and bar teams

With big events, ensuring all your departments are working together is vital to success and seamless service. Your front-of-house and bar teams should be well aligned with the kitchen’s service flow, so your chefs can produce five-star dishes and your servers can give five-star service. 

• Make sure all departments have service timelines and running orders. 
• Regular pre-event briefings between the head chef, the event manager, and the FOH lead.
• Have a clear communication channel on the day. For big events, radios or runners are ideal.
• Hold a team meeting with all departments before the event and ensure every staff member understands their roles and responsibilities. 

As an event staffing agency, we understand that scaling kitchen teams for big events can be daunting, but it shouldn’t have to be. Our guide, coupled with our experienced catering staffing teams, ensures your event’s success and smooth service. Whether you’re looking for wedding catering staffing or multi-day event staffing, we have a solution for you. Contact us today to see how we can help with your kitchen scaling success.