Events at Club Chelsea today unveiled how catering at conferences and events will look as the industry starts to look beyond lockdown, with the launch of new menus specially designed for socially distant events.
Catering at Stamford Bridge has been completely overhauled by our catering partner, Levy UK, in anticipation of reopening for physical events in the near future and the need to introduce new enhanced health and safety measures. The catering team has introduced protective measures such as ensuring employees will be wearing appropriate PPE, introduction of distancing measures both front and back of house, clear signage as well as a new queue management system.
Created by in-house chef Chris Garrett, all menu options have been designed with the safe production and delivery of food in mind. For example, customers will be able to enjoy meals that have been pre-wrapped, boxed or individually portioned. From hot lunches to dinners to break time snacks, how food is consumed at Stamford Bridge will look very different to ensure the safety of event clients and their guests. However, quality and great food will remain at the heart of the offer.
Simon Hunter, Head of Venue and Development at Chelsea Football Club said: “Our number one priority is the safety of our clients, their guests and our employees. As lockdown restrictions lift we are beginning to see enquiries pick up again, and although we can’t say when all our London event spaces will reopen yet, we are ready with the safest catering options possible. What is really positive is the quality of the food on our new menus is the same, or even better than pre-lockdown. It shows ‘new normal’ event catering can be as good as before. Just different.”
Buffets might be getting replaced for now, but there will be no compromise on the quality of fresh food. The double chocolate peanut brownie promises to be a hit on the new afternoon break menu. Delicious ‘grab & go’ salad boxes will be loved by healthy delegates, while hot boxed Italian lunch favourites are set to be snapped up by those who missed their annual jaunt to the Mediterranean this summer.
All food boxes will be made from recycled and recyclable materials, and staff will be on hand to minimise waste. Dedicated team members will operate tea and coffee machines while all surfaces will be disinfected regularly, and dining will be appropriately distanced in-line with government guidelines. The team will be keeping the measures under constant review, to ensure the catering at Stamford Bridge is able to deliver the exceptional quality of food that its customers are used to, with no compromise around safety.
Hunter added: “It is important to us and our clients that we are clear on best practice in terms of safety measures when our event spaces reopen. Expect to see a greater emphasis on tightly controlled personal service, and far less self-service for event attendees. For the industry to recover, we must all work together, for the benefit of our clients, employees and the UK economy. Long term we expect the events industry to emerge cleaner, greener, more collaborative, and more innovative from COVID-19.”
Chelsea Football Club hosted over 600 non match day events in 2019. These include GIANT Health Event 2019, Europe’s largest innovation in health tech conference, PHEX 2019, the UK’s leading exhibition for plumbing and heating professionals, and Sports Video Group’s FutureSPORT conference.
To enquire about event packages at Chelsea Football Club, please call +44 (0) 371 811 1955 or visit events.chelseafc.com
