It may seem pretty obvious Chef Wes Stepp of the Red Sky Cafe is the best choice to cater your party. He’s a successful restaurant owner, and makes excellent food for any occasion. And when you need someone to cater your wedding, typically you just want to make sure the food is good, and in your budget. Here is something you might not think about but should. How much experience does your caterer have, and is he adaptable?

Chef Wes has been in the food industry since he was thirteen. He started as a busboy, and worked his way up the ladder to where he is now, while earning a college degree in psychology.  He loves his profession and is grateful to have had the opportunity to be where he is now.

But more pertinent to this conversation is how Chef Wes views catering. He feels caterers must be like the Marine Corps of the food industry, able to adapt and overcome. As he puts it, when you are on a catering job, your no longer in your home turf. Your the away team. If something goes wrong, you need to be able to deal with it in a calm and controlled manner. Only experience can teach you the tricks you need to know.

At a recent wedding Chef Wes catered, the ovens at the house would not work. There was quite a bit of food to cook, and no way to cook it. After a few minutes of thought, Chef Wes put the two grills outside to work cooking pasta. Everything turned out fine. Later on, when everyone was eating, it looked like some of the food was about to run out, due to extra people coming to the wedding. Chef Wes was able to rearrange the meal, so there actually ended up being leftovers.

These are just a small example of the kinds of problems caterers run into everyday. Chef Wes is never flustered, he just solves the problem. And this isn’t just for caterers. It applies equally to everyone at a wedding. The pictures on this page are all courtesy of Mary Basnight, an Outer Banks wedding photographer. She has to be experienced as well; she can’t stop a wedding because her camera breaks. She needs to have backups and emergency plans, which she certainly does.

So if your having a party catered, ask them about their experience, then ask them how they handle emergencies and to give real life examples. You don’t want your party ruined because the caterer can’t cook pasta on a grill.