Your complete guide to retreat catering

Early! As soon as you’ve got a rough retreat date in mind, touch base with a couple of your preferred caterers as well to check their availability. Sometimes, NJ can be booked up six months in advance, so it’s never to early to make those enquiries.

1. Do you cater for allergies and dietary restrictions?

2. Who’s responsible for cleans up after meals?

3. Can you provide sample menus or are you happy for us to work with you on a menu we want?

4. What is included in the per-head price?

5. When do you need final numbers by?

6. Have you got any references from past retreat leaders?

Curraweena House kitchen has enough space to bring your group of up to 18 together for a meal. Our large dining table seats 12 and we have an outdoor table on the adjoining deck that can be bought into the kitchen easily when it’s too cold to leave the French doors open. When the weather is warm, you can leave the French doors open and create one long table extending to the deck.

For the purpose of budgeting for your retreat, we recommend that you make an allowance of $105 per person per night for catering. This includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, tea, coffee and snacks.  Please check with your caterer.

Do you have a specific cuisine or type of food in mind? For example, you may be happy to be hands off and leave the menu to the caterer, who’ll plan meals according to the best local produce available at the time of your retreat. Or, you might need to plan a specific menu if guests are coming with dietary concerns and want a caterer who’ll work with you on a specific menu you can share with guests. Check the caterer’s website and socials to get a sense of what kind of food they do, how they work and read reviews. A quick phone call to ask questions can also help you get a sense of whether they’re a good fit for your retreat.

Retreat catering can add up, especially if you want the caterer to supply breakfasts, lunches, dinners and afternoon tea options! One way to reduce your catering bill is to handle brekkie yourself. You can stock the fridge at Curraweena with delicious foodstuffs from the hamlet near the property - fresh bread and croissants, cheeses, yoghurts and fruits make it easy for your guests to have a forage first thing and make their own brekkie. Often this works if guests are getting up at different times. Then, the caterer can simply provide lunch and dinner. Other ways to cut down include asking the caterer to provide a meat-free menu - adding meat generally bumps up the daily fee per person.

Timing is often a big concern for retreat leaders who have a set program that can be thrown out when meals run late. It’s best to chat to your caterer about this before booking and perhaps share a run sheet of your retreat program, so everyone’s on the same page and you can confirm they will have meals ready at the times you specify, if that’s super important.

It depends; caterers may offer both options. If a caterer cooks a buffet-style meal for lunch or dinner on site, they’ll usually set it up so guests can serve themselves from the various dishes. If meals are pre-cooked, you’ll need to factor in time to heat up dishes and do any extra prep, lay the table and set up yourself for guests. Chat to a caterer or two to determine what might work for you.

Our large kitchen is great for catering to a crowd, with a huge oven and spacious island bench perfect for serving up. You’ll find platters, plates, cutlery, serving bowls and glassware to host a group of up to 18 guests. Plus, the kitchen is fully stocked with seasonings (salt, pepper, herbs and spices), a select of tea, coffee and sugar (including ground coffee for the percolator), condiments (olive oil, balsamic vinegar, white vinegar). In the fridge you’ll find soy milk, oat milk and almond milk.