Ordering lunch for an office can feel like a balancing act. You want everyone to have enough to eat, including colleagues with dietary requirements, without finishing the afternoon with trays of untouched food.
The answer is rarely to add extra portions of everything. A more reliable approach is to understand who will be eating, how lunch fits into the day and how the menu will be served.
When planning corporate lunches in Mayfair, a clear brief helps your caterer recommend sensible quantities. At Chrissy’s Kitchen, our seasonal catering and regular lunch deliveries provide opportunities to build variety around your team’s preferences while making more considered ordering decisions.
Start With the People Who Will Actually Be Eating
The office headcount is not always the lunch headcount. Some colleagues may be working remotely, attending external meetings or leaving before food arrives. Visiting clients and colleagues from other offices can push attendance in the opposite direction.
Before placing an order, ask for confirmation from the people expected to eat. Set an internal response deadline ahead of your caterer’s final amendment deadline, leaving time to check any uncertainties.
For recurring lunches, avoid automatically reordering last week’s quantity. Attendance can change significantly between days, particularly in offices with flexible working arrangements.
A simple record of confirmed diners, dietary requirements and expected guests gives you a much stronger starting point than an estimate based on desk numbers.
Explain What Role Lunch Plays in the Day
Not every corporate lunch needs the same quantity or format.
A working lunch between meetings has different requirements from a relaxed team gathering. Guests attending a full-day workshop may rely on the food provided, while attendees at a short lunchtime presentation may have already made other arrangements.
Tell your caterer whether lunch is the main meal, a light refreshment or one part of a wider programme. Mention any breakfast, snacks or afternoon refreshments being served too.
For corporate lunches in Mayfair, timing matters as much as the guest count. If people will eat across several sittings, explain this when discussing the menu and serving arrangements. It helps establish how food should be presented and managed throughout the lunch period.
Ask How Many People Each Dish Is Intended to Serve
A platter count means little without knowing its intended serving size. Likewise, ordering several dishes for the same number of people can unintentionally create too much food if each dish is treated as a complete meal.
Ask your caterer how the proposed menu works as a whole. Does the suggested quantity include a main dish and accompanying sides? Are the salads substantial dishes or smaller accompaniments? How does adding another option affect the recommended quantities?
This is particularly useful when ordering a varied spread. More choice does not necessarily require more food overall; it may mean distributing the total quantity differently.
At Chrissy’s Kitchen, our seasonally changing menus offer variety for corporate gatherings and office lunches. Sharing a clear headcount and explaining the occasion helps us discuss a suitable selection for your group.
Include Dietary Requirements in the Main Headcount
Dietary meals should be accounted for within your confirmed attendance, rather than automatically added on top.
For example, if 30 people are eating and six require a particular menu option, the starting point remains 30 diners. Your caterer can then advise how to divide the food appropriately.
Collect requirements clearly and distinguish between allergies, intolerances and preferences. Pass this information to the catering team and agree how meals will be identified and served. Avoid assuming that a dish is suitable from its name or appearance.
Also consider whether certain dishes will appeal to the wider group. A plant-based option may be popular with people who have not requested a plant-based meal. Discuss quantities and serving arrangements so those who specifically need an option can access their lunch.
Choose a Serving Format That Fits Your Office
Shared dishes and individual portions each offer practical advantages. The best choice depends on your space, schedule and the way people will eat.
Individual portions can make allocation straightforward when attendance is confirmed. Shared food can offer flexibility and encourage colleagues to try different dishes, but it requires suitable serving space and a clear understanding of quantities.
Consider the practical details before deciding:
Will everyone eat at the same time?
Is there enough space to lay out the food?
Who will receive the delivery and organise lunch?
Are suitable serving utensils and tableware available?
How will meals for specific dietary requirements be identified?
A suitable format can make the food easier to distribute and help you understand what has actually been eaten.
Use a Measured Buffer for Uncertain Attendance
Ordering a little extra may be sensible when attendance is genuinely uncertain. However, adding a generous margin to every dish can quickly turn a small precaution into substantial overordering.
Explain the uncertainty to your caterer. There is a difference between two possible additional guests and an event where nobody has confirmed attendance.
Ask about the deadline for changing quantities and whether the menu can accommodate a modest adjustment. Confirm what is possible before relying on a last-minute increase.
For regular corporate lunches in Mayfair, record how often unexpected guests actually attend. Over time, that information can help you make a more realistic allowance.
Learn From What Comes Back Untouched
Leftovers are useful feedback, but they need some interpretation. An untouched dish does not always mean people disliked it. It may have been placed out of sight, served late or accompanied by too many similar options.
After lunch, note which dishes were popular and which remained largely uneaten. Check whether attendance matched your estimate and ask for brief feedback from the team.
Keep the record simple. A few observations about attendance, quantities and preferences are usually more useful than a lengthy survey.
Chrissy’s Kitchen offers weekly changing menus for regular lunch clients. Sharing feedback can help inform future orders while keeping the menu varied. The aim is to understand your team’s appetite without repeating exactly the same lunch every week.
Plan for Surplus Before It Happens
Reducing waste starts with ordering, but it also depends on what happens after delivery.
Agree who will oversee the food and ask your caterer for relevant storage, serving and handling instructions. Do not assume that everything left at the end of lunch can be kept or redistributed; suitability depends on the food and how it has been handled.
Where surplus occurs regularly, adjust the next order rather than relying on colleagues to take the excess home. Better quantities address the issue earlier.
Make Your Next Office Lunch Easier to Order
The most useful catering brief combines a confirmed headcount, clear dietary information, a realistic schedule and feedback from previous lunches. Together, these details help reduce uncertainty while keeping everyone’s meal properly considered.
At Chrissy’s Kitchen, our approach centres on seasonal food and conscious catering. Whether you are organising a client meeting, a team gathering or regular corporate lunches in Mayfair, speak to our team about your numbers, preferences and plans. We can help you explore a menu that suits the occasion, giving your guests a lunch to enjoy and your office a more informed approach to ordering.