Alfonso's Catering & Craft Services

06/24/2026

Planning production catering in NYC can feel so overwhelming. It is about making the right steps in the right order. In this blog post, you will learn all about production catering in NYC for large-scale events and corporate dining.

Getting Started with Local Knowledge in NYC

The first approach is what is called boots on the ground. It is actually a pretty good idea, but it is also very expensive and super time-consuming. Unless there are months to plan and a really big budget, this probably is not realistic for a first event.

The second is leveraging other people's knowledge. This means talking to a colleague who has planned events in NYC or connecting with someone from the company who lives there.

Production Catering in NYC

This works great, but there is usually one catch. Their experience needs to be recent and relevant. A friend who visited NYC for vacation cannot really tell how to plan a production catering event there.

06/11/2026

Planning a special meal at home seems to be an easy task until the pressure builds. This mostly happens when your guests are arriving in a few hours, and you don't know what to do. Menu decisions, ingredient preparation, timing, and presentation, everything becomes difficult.

On the other hand, most people in Rahway, NJ, who want to impress their loved ones end up spending the whole day in the kitchen. If you are in any situation like this, you must hire private chef services in Rahway, NJ.

Private chef services allow you to enjoy the occasion and eat delicious food at the same time without any hassle. You can hire a chef for all types of occasions, such as anniversary dinners, birthday parties, or family get-togethers.

In this guide, we will explore the personal chef hiring, their services, and more.

What Are Private Chef Services?

Private Chef Services

Private chefs are professionally trained culinary experts whom we hire to cook at our home, venue, or at another location.

Private chef services in Rahway offer custom menus, fresh cooking, elegant plating, and full cleanup for anniversaries and special events.

05/28/2026

A sweet 16 party is a very commonly celebrated party, and most teenagers desperately wait for their 16th birthday to throw this party. After all, they are becoming adults, and they have the full right to celebrate it.

It is common to have an extravagant sweet 16 party, and more than the kids, parents are even more excited for it. And like any other party, food is, of course, the fuel for the party. Of course, you never want to disappoint adolescents.

One thing that is most challenging here is that teenage taste buds are relatively different from those of adults. So you have to focus a lot on the best food to prepare for a sweet 16.

So in this blog, we have come up with the best foods to serve these growing kids that they can enjoy and remember.

Sweet 16 Catering Ideas

Best Foods For A Sweet 16

1. Mini Burgers

When the party is for kids or adolescents, burgers are the safest choice because hardly any kids don't like them.

Sweet 16 party foods include mini burgers, chicken skewers, mini quiches, meatballs, mini pizza, cupcakes, candy, and cookies.

05/19/2026

It is a daunting task to decide on which food choice is perfect for a graduation party for hungry teens. Teens often come with their own choices when it comes to food, and catering to so many teens at once becomes the challenge.

In this blog, we have come up with a lot of doable recommendations for a graduation catering menu for hungry teens. With so many options, we bet you would definitely find the ones your guests are going to like.

Graduation Party Food Catering Ideas

If you want to throw the best graduation party, you can go for a themed party. You can arrange a BBQ event by the pool and serve BBQ food items. Also, you can have an Italian-themed party with Italian food such as pasta, pizza, or whatever your friends love.

Graduation Party Catering

For desserts, you can arrange a dessert station based on your theme. Another amazing option is to arrange a theme-based brunch.

In this blog, we have shared a few options for a graduation catering menu for hungry teens. Read on to throw the best party.

04/30/2026

If you are planning an event in NJ that requires a food truck, you must know the cost before finalizing anything. In this blog post, we will share the expected food truck catering costs in New Jersey and what you should expect to pay.

Food Truck Catering Costs in NJ

The majority of food truck minimums range from $500 to $1,000, which often includes the following:

- The number of visitors multiplied by the cost of food per serving

- Time spent on labor and preparation

- Travel and setup costs

- Costs of personnel and equipment

Due to demand and overtime, premium occasions like holidays, New Year's Eve, and busy summer weekends may result in increased prices.

Food Truck Catering in NJ

How Many People Can a Food Truck Serve?

Depending on the menu and preparation time, a single food truck may serve between 60 and 100 customers each hour.

Consider renting several trucks for events with more than 250–300 attendees to guarantee quick service and a diverse menu.

NJ food truck catering costs $500-$1,000 minimum, serving 60-100 guests per hour. Weddings, corporate events, and parties included.

04/27/2026

Most NJ businesses struggle when choosing catering menus for their teams, especially with diverse backgrounds and preferences.

This challenge often comes from relying on limited or generic options, which can lead to low engagement and fail to impress clients or employees.

You can choose an NJ corporate catering service offering interactive food stations like tacos, pasta, sushi, and DIY bars, along with healthy options such as poke bowls, grain bowls, salad bars, and plant-based meals.

At the same time, you can go through this guide, which highlights the most attractive and interactive corporate catering menu ideas to help you make the right choice.

Corporate Catering Ideas For NJ Businesses

Interactive Corporate Catering Menu Ideas That Boost Engagement

Interactive corporate catering menu ideas include taco, pasta, and sushi stations, along with DIY food bars and live or multi-chef experiences.

NJ corporate catering offers taco, pasta, sushi stations, DIY bars, boxed lunches, and healthy bowls for meetings and events.

04/01/2026

Most New Jersey couples make the mistake of treating catering as a "Phase 2" task in their wedding planning. The New York and New Jersey wedding market is one of the most competitive in the country, so waiting until your venue and photographer are locked in before calling a caterer means settling for your third or fourth choice.

New Jersey sits in the middle of a "wedding corridor" between NYC and Philly, and our local venues, from Bergen County estates to Monmouth County beachfronts, fill up faster than almost anywhere else in the country. The catering companies that deliver consistent quality at high-volume venues book their calendars twelve to eighteen months in advance for peak season dates. This guide gives NJ couples a realistic booking timeline, explains what happens at each stage, and highlights the decisions that cannot be delayed without consequences.

New Jersey couples should book wedding catering 12-18 months early for peak season dates. Learn the complete booking timeline.

04/01/2026

Feeding a film crew is different from catering a corporate lunch or a wedding reception. Production catering works under a different set of rules, where meal timing is dictated by the shooting schedule, headcounts change daily, dietary needs have a wide range, and a late meal can cost a production thousands of dollars in idle crew time.

Catering companies that serve New York film and television productions understand that efficiency is not a preference on set, it is a contractual requirement. This guide covers how production catering works, what makes it operationally different from standard catering, and what film crews actually need from a catering partner to keep a shoot running on schedule. Alfonso's Catering has earned a solid reputation by understanding the demands and requirements of production work.

What Is Production Catering?

Hire Us To Cater Your Production!

Production catering for New York film crews requires timing precision, flexible headcounts, and union compliance. Learn how it works.

02/27/2026

Planning a wedding in New York City and trying to decide between plated dinner and buffet service. Your venue coordinator has an opinion. Your caterer has a different opinion. Your mother has a third opinion. You're stuck making a choice that affects your budget, timeline, and how the whole reception flows.

Neither option is universally better. It depends on your venue, guest count, budget, and what kind of atmosphere you want.

Alfonso Catering has done hundreds of weddings across NYC venues. We've seen both plated and buffet service work beautifully. We've also seen both fail miserably when matched incorrectly with the venue or wedding style.

Here's what actually matters when choosing between plated and buffet for your NYC wedding.

Pated vs Buffet Wedding Services In NYC

Space Is the First Problem

NYC venues are notoriously tight on space. Ballrooms that hold 150 people for a seated dinner have maybe 1,200 square feet total.

Choosing between plated and buffet service for your NYC wedding? Learn which works better based on venue space and guest count.