A handcrafted, locally sourced menu for your wedding? Ah, yes please! Today we’re chatting to Katie Clough of the fabulous Fourside Food Design + Events. They approach each event individually, providing a customised catering experience that is simply awesome. Fourside prides themselves on doing things differently and work with Melbourne’s top event experts, producers and suppliers to create unforgettable menus and events. We love that they truly know how important delicious food is to a wedding (as people ALWAYS remember what they ate!), and spoil their clients with choices to make sure they have the day of their dreams. Now it’s over to Katie to tell you more about her incredible business and everything it has to offer bridal couples!

How long have you been in the catering and event management game?
All our working lives! Between us we have decades of experience driven by a real love of food and commitment to service.

When did you set up Fourside Food Design + Events?
Almost two years ago!

What is the ethos behind your food design and catering?
We cater different, we do it awesome, and we love it…! We bring our personalities into what we do.  We are all super passionate about food and love helping our clients create something special to them.  There is no cookie cutter approach in the way we manage events. We know that our clients want their events to be unique and we have a fun way of harnessing our creativity and knowledge to make that happen, every time.

Images: Bianca Virtue

Why do you create each menu from scratch (and not offer set menus)?
Each of our clients is unique and each client will have their own vision for their event. We understand that these days everyone wants their celebration to be different and memorable. We live in Melbourne, after all! We are spoilt for choice and quality. People are more discerning; one size doesn’t fit all anymore. By creating our menus from scratch, we are working with our clients to personalise their whole experience and make their event special and unlike any other.

Constantly creating enables us to continue to push to new levels of inventiveness. This process inspires us and we get a real thrill out of coming up with new and unique menus and concepts for our clients.

Images: Courtesy of Fourside Food Design + Events

Do you pride yourself on collaborating with your suppliers to provide seasonal dishes that reflect the season and local landscape?
Absolutely! Our suppliers are our family; we have relationships going back 20 years. They understand how we work and what our clients need. We are very fortunate to have access to the very best seasonal produce that goes a long way in enabling us to consistently produce top-quality food.

How do couples plan their wedding menu – what are the steps and how do they decide between all the ideas you’ll offer them?
Before we offer any ideas we find out exactly who they are and build a relationship. A celebration is such a personal thing; we love it when our clients own their food choices and feel that the ideas and food and drink offerings going around on the night really represent them. There is so much scope – getting to know wedding couples first enables us to customise a menu and drinks list and make it all about them.

Do the team have some favourite dishes that are always popular with wedding guests?
Mine is white zucchini, stracciatella, citrus, charcoal salt, herbs and vinegar.

Justin’s is Wimmera duck confit, cabbage, pancetta and walnut granola, petit cress, vinaigrette.

Ryan’s is Petuna ocean trout, slightly cured, kipfler potato, dill flowers, puffed rice, citrus.

Images: Courtesy of Fourside Food Design + Events, Ksenia Belova Photography 

Are you able to accommodate dietary requirements?
Absolutely! Dietary requirements are a part of the catering landscape now.  We have so many options to accommodate everyone – it is easier than ever to create options to ticks all the boxes.

Do you cater at other venues throughout Victoria, or are you the exclusive caterer for any venue?
We work closely with lots of great venues around Victoria and are always looking for new and exciting spaces. Some of our favourite players include Glasshaus in Cremorne, Canvas House in South Melbourne, and obviously our headquarters [and other business] – 40rd Event Space.

We also love holding events at private properties and unusual spaces that we transform into a venue for the night!

Images: Courtesy of Fourside Food Design + Events, Ksenia Belova Photography 

Do you have a core team that caters to all venues? Is this important in terms of quality and service?
Yes – our favourite part of this job is managing the events on site.  We always have one of our owners running the event from start to finish on the night.  We like to be part of the action and involved in the fun and success of an event done well.  It’s what we are all about.

What can a couple expect from you and your team on the wedding day?
Exceptional service, incredible food and a lot of fun with our team. We don’t take life too seriously.  We work hard to put up excellent food and we are professionals. We know how to read a crowd and work a room and create an atmosphere of fun. Relaxed events are always the best – we are there to make sure things run smoothly with a few laughs along the way.

Thank you Katie for inviting us in to to the Fourside world! You are truly at the top of your game and we love (and appreciate) how you treat each bridal couple uniquely and work super hard to help pull off the wedding of their dreams. You’re so right, one size doesn’t fit all anymore and it’s fantastic that you can offer tailored menus and experiences. To find out more about these superstar caterers, head on over to the Fourside Food Design + Events website.

Headshot: Ksenia Belova Photography