Food by Dish believe great food is only part of the experience; how guests connect with it, and us, is what makes an event truly memorable.
This Christmas season we catered for over 5,600 guests across London. Our team served over 640 bottles of bubbly, circulated 16,900 bowl foods, provided 1,500 bottles of wine, 8,200 bottles of beer, and placed over 2,500 plates of our festive menu to seated guests.
We take a creative approach to menu development, ensuring that each dish aligns with our commitment to sustainability and seasonality. When crafting menus, we highlight dishes that showcase local and British produce, all sourced within a 30-mile radius of our HQ. These dishes are clearly marked encouraging clients to make more environmentally conscious choices. We also offer clients a sustainable canape menu where we use leftovers, or off cuts, to reduce wastage.
In addition to our commitment to sustainability, we also offer the flexibility to develop bespoke menus for client briefs at no extra charge. Our culinary creative chefs craft personalised menu concepts that perfectly match event themes and client preferences. For example, we created bespoke festive cocktails for a client at the Science Museum that worked fittingly with the surroundings and incorporated festive notes of cinnamon and cloves from a handmade infused vodka served in test tube glasses and dry ice. For Neon touch, we developed a menu based on the clients’ desire to have nods to Christmas, without being traditional. With pomegranate glazed lamb shoulder providing an alternative to turkey, black kale replacing brussel sprouts, and ginger in the mocktail provided guests with the essence of Christmas without the traditional display.
Our catering enhances guest experience by creating moments of connection, discovery, and delight — food becomes a central part of the celebration rather than just a backdrop.

At Dish, we follow a clear, structured process to ensure the highest standards across every event. This approach is built on thorough documentation, detailed briefings, and effective communication.
Once contracted, a dedicated Dish Event Manager becomes the main point of contact, gathering key information and producing a detailed event sheet covering client details, objectives, guest numbers, and venue requirements. In the lead up to the event, they hold regular client meetings and site visits to confirm final details, ensuring clarity and confidence ahead of delivery.
Internally, we have a weekly team meeting to run through all events taking place within the next two weeks ensuring clarity and alignment across departments. All documentation is saved in one area on the W:Drive to ensure a clear handover of communication takes place.
On the event day, staff arrive at least 30 minutes before load-in to take part in a full onsite briefing led by the Event Manager. This briefing reinforces all details of the event and provides an opportunity to address questions. A detailed menu briefing with a strong focus on allergen awareness is also conducted at this time.
We work closely with trusted staffing agencies and regularly engage experienced staff who consistently deliver the high standards expected at Food by Dish. We adhere to staffing ratios at all events and utilise wine waiters to enhance service delivery. As a result, guest interactions are elevated through our team’s positive approach, strong product knowledge, and willingness to assist, transforming service into a premium hospitality experience.
A minimum of two full-time Dish operations team members are present at every event, supported by senior kitchen leadership, with either the Executive Chef or Sous Chef in attendance to maintain professionalism and uphold our standards.
This structured approach ensures consistency, professionalism, and exceptional service at every event.

The standards we have set ensure we deliver exceptional food at an affordable luxury price point.
Quality
We work exclusively with suppliers who share our principles and uphold the highest standards. Dish conducts assessments of the environmental, sustainable, and ethical performance of our suppliers and supply chain, ensuring the quality of the product is never compromised.
This rigorous approach allows us to deliver outstanding results, even on highly bespoke briefs. For DTO, an international client requested a full halal, fine-dining, four-course menu to create a 360-degree royal experience within Kensington Palace. Drawing inspiration from historic royal wedding menus, our culinary team curated a British menu featuring lobster, salmon pearl, Highgrove lamb, and Baron Bigod custard tart. The brief was delivered seamlessly, exceeding client expectations.
Presentation
Included within our pricing, we provide premium cutlery, crockery, and glassware to ensure every event feels elegant, even when budgets are limited. For us, affordable luxury means never compromising on detail. Our experienced chef brigade brings creativity and expertise to every plate through visually striking starters, seasonal cocktails, and imaginative desserts.
Our Warehouse team also design and build bespoke canapé decking, food stations, and drink trays in-house. This allows us to create unique experiences while reducing external hire costs. In partnership with Rhino Bars, we own multiple bars exclusively for Food by Dish events, enabling impressive setups without additional cost to clients.
Memorable Experiences
Our festive menus are designed to stand out, offering creative alternatives to traditional Christmas dining. This season, we created a showstopping dessert station for a ‘snowball’ at Old Billingsgate. Inspired by a snow-covered landscape, the winter wonderland display featured faux snow, crisp white flowers, and natural wooden displays. Bespoke desserts such as coconut flaked cheesecake, gold-leaf chocolate pebbles, and apple and blackberry crumble created a lasting impression for guests.

Sustainability is a journey, not a tick-box exercise, and it sits at the forefront of all our decision-making. We hold ourselves to high standards and focus our efforts across key areas to ensure meaningful impact.
Menu Provenance
Our culinary team embraces a farm-to-fork philosophy, sourcing the majority of key ingredients from within the outskirts of London. This ensures that the main components of our dishes are sourced within 20 miles of our unit. We work with trusted partners, e.g. the Ethical Butcher, to reinforce our commitment to ethical and local sourcing.
Minimising Food Waste
Our highly skilled chefs are dedicated to reducing food waste at every stage of preparation. All parts of produce are used where possible, whether within dishes, staff meals, or repurposed into soups and broths. Careful portion control ensures accuracy while maintaining quality. Any surplus food from events is served to staff or redistributed through our partnership with City Harvest.
Service Practices
To reduce waste, we do not offer full-choice menus at events. We eliminate single-use plastics and require suppliers to use recyclable delivery materials. At events, fruit-infused tap water replaces bottled water, and food waste bins are provided to ensure composting and recycling are managed correctly.

Food by Dish stands out in the Christmas catering market because we combine imagination, professionalism, and scale with the warmth and care of a close-knit, family-run team. At the heart of everything we do is a genuine focus on our clients. We listen carefully, communicate clearly, and take pride in becoming a trusted extension of our clients’ teams, particularly during the high-pressure festive season.
What truly differentiates us is our people. From our chefs and event managers to our warehouse and service teams, we operate as one united, highly experienced family. This creates consistency, accountability, and an exceptional level of care that is felt across every event. Clients know that when they book Food by Dish, senior team members will be present, decisions will be made quickly, and standards will never slip, even at peak Christmas volumes.
Creativity is another defining strength. Christmas with Food by Dish is never formulaic. Our festive menus are imaginative, playful, and modern, offering alternatives to traditional formats while still capturing the spirit of the season. From theatrical food moments and bespoke bars to visually striking canapés and seasonal cocktails, we create experiences that feel exciting, memorable, and share-worthy.
We also stand apart through our ability to deliver “affordable luxury.” By owning our own bars, equipment, and bespoke event infrastructure, we provide premium presentation and wow-factor moments without inflating costs. This allows clients to achieve standout Christmas events that feel high-end yet accessible.
Above all, Food by Dish delivers Christmas events with professionalism, heart, and creativity. Our repeat clients, strong relationships, and consistent delivery during the busiest time of year are testament to why we deserve to win.