Domino’s Pizza is dishing out dinner to deserving families in the lead up to Christmas.

“The Christmas period is a stressful time for many people and this year the impact of the recession may make it even harder for some New Zealanders.  We want to help take the pressure off Kiwi families by providing dinner on Domino’s, delivered right to the door,” says Ryan Bohm, general manager, Domino’s Pizza New Zealand.

Pre-dinner canapés or a cocktail party – when it comes to serving mini morsels there are a lot of things to consider. At the same time, trying to keep ahead of your opposition in trends and styling takes considerable effort. According to Steve Barton, executive chef at Ellerslie Events Centre, the most important factor is to know your clientele.

To the delight of food lovers everywhere, a wide variety of authentic ethnic cuisines have now become available in New Zealand. From Thai, Chinese, Malaysian and Japanese cuisines, to even Korean and Indian foods – the varieties are endless. Today supermarket chains and distributors have aisles dedicated to a wide range of authentic ethnic flavours in the form of prepackaged meals, prepared sauces and ground spices; and restaurants specialising in Asian cuisine have become popular choices amongst New Zealanders.

Mudbrick caters for weddings with the same elegance it applies to fine dining. The upmarket vineyard and restaurant, located on Waiheke Island, 35 minutes by ferry from Auckland city, offers a personalised experience in an authentic, relaxed and stunningly beautiful environment.

Scented flowers, white linen with orchids placed delicately on starched napkins. A gentle breeze softens the air through the marquee stretched out across the lawn. The garden in splendor graces the historic nature of Highwic House in the Auckland suburb of Newmarket.
Champagne flutes are being filled as the final touches are put in place for the arrival of the bride and groom and their guests.

At the Mudbrick vineyard and restaurant, there is a real commitment to going green. Geographically isolated on Waiheke Island, the restaurant has adopted a natural, cost-effective and easy-to-use method to manage its commercial kitchen waste: the Bokashi composting system.
“We’ve been using this system for two years now and it works very well,” says Mark Robinson, Mudbrick head gardener.

UK: Although contract caterers are by no means immune to the looming recession, with client pressure to cut costs and food inflation very much on the agenda, the sector perversely finds itself, in many ways, well-placed.

Madonna is strictly macrobiotic, with a penchant for traditional Japanese food. Rihanna likes her fish steamed and rice boiled, but scoffs hot wings in her dressing room; one of the Eagles eats only canned food on tour. One Auckland chef, who has cooked on their tours, says he would stand side-by-side in the kitchen with Madonna's personal chef, astonished at her very specific demands.

It was a still summer’s evening, though officially the end of spring (November 29), a perfect evening for a significant moment to make history. So significant that the day the website went live to promote this auspicious event, the tickets sold out within hours - all 2000 of them.

Lunchtime at Lollipops Educare in Botany Town Centre is a very well-organised affair. And when Catering Plus called in, there were lots of very happy smiles as the children were enjoying their all-time lunch favourite – tuna pasta salad.