After a lovely and festive Christmas break, our Events Team were all ready for 2017! Our first event of the year was at Rhodes House catering for the Scholar’s Retreat from the 13th-15th January. Second year Scholars were invited to enjoy a relaxing Weekend retreat at the grand Rhodes House located in central Oxford. Our chefs and staff catered throughout Friday, Saturday and Sunday offering Breakfast, Mid-Morning Break, Lunch, Mid-Afternoon Break and Dinner choices for the guests to enjoy.
Each morning the guests enjoyed a breakfast of their choice which included a Full English Breakfast (Breakfast Sausages, Mushrooms, Grilled Tomatoes, Eggs, Baked Beans and Buttered Toast); Croissants; Jams, Yoghurt, Granola & Fruit and a Basket of Fresh Fruit. To drink guests had the choice of freshly brewed Tea created by Bluebird Tea Co., a cup of Coffee made by Monsoon Estates and a glass of Fresh Juice. All the breakfast selection was laid out on one long table which allowed the Scholars to select a portion size of their choice and go up for more if they wanted to. This was followed by an introductory talk for the Scholars, after which we provided a Mid-Morning Break of Teas and Coffee along with a Selection of Biscuits.
On Friday we served the Scholars a delicious lunch of either Chicken Baps or Grilled Mature Cheese & Red Onion Toasties & Chips. Both meals were served in Bio-Degradable Boxes which allowed everyone to move around and wander around the grounds if they desired. Shortly after lunch, guests could pick from the Fresh Pastries and Cakes in addition to a cup of either Tea or Coffee for the Mid-Afternoon Break. The focus for Dinner on Friday night was Bowl Food which came in the form of Pan Fried Cod, Fondant Potato, Butter Sauce; 10 Hour Slow Cooked Blade of Beef, Mash Potato & Bacon Jus and Buttered Egg Noodles, Jerusalem Artichokes, Wild Mushrooms & Saffron. To top off the evening, our chefs prepared a variety of Desserts for the Scholars of Fourless Chocolate Torte, Treacle Tart and Winter Berry Cheesecake.
Saturday morning followed the same Breakfast menu as Friday offering a number of various breakfast options which was followed by the Mid-Morning Break offering Teas, Coffee and a Selection of Biscuits. Later on in the evening our chefs created Non-Vegetarian and Vegetarian Sharing Boards for Dinner. The Non-Vegetarian Sharing Board consisted of Pre-Portioned Roasted Lemon & Thyme Buttered Chicken, Spinach & Watercress Salad, Tomato & Shallot Compote, Herb New Potatoes. For those who decided on the vegetarian option, they enjoyed Green Beans & Coconut Thai Green Curry & Bulgar Wheat. For dessert our chefs made three different desserts of Blueberry & Vanilla Panna Cotta Crunch, Lemon Tart and Banoffee Pie. Guests were seated in the Milner Hall on round tables which allowed to socialise amongst the opulent surroundings.
On Sunday, as this was the last day of the retreat, Ross & Ross Food only catered for Breakfast and Mid-Morning Break allowing the Scholars to travel back to their homes. As we did with previous days, we served a Full English Breakfast along with Croissants, Granola and Fruit to ensure the guests were fed to go about the rest of their day.
This was a special event to get involved in and it was an honour to do it for such appreciative guests at such a breathtaking venue. We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone at Rhodes House for letting us cater for this event, and also to all our waiting staff who did such a great job over the weekend.