Catering for outdoor events in Ottawa: what holds up
Ottawa summers are short and people make the most of them. From June through September, a significant portion of what leaves The Daily Slice is headed to a backyard, a park, or a rooftop. After eight years of packing platters for outdoor events, we have a clear picture of what works and what doesn't.
The heat problem
Ottawa in July and August can hit 30 degrees Celsius, and food sitting on a table in direct sun degrades faster than most people plan for. Cured meats are more forgiving than people expect because the salt and curing process gives them some resilience. Soft cheeses are less forgiving: a triple-cream brie left in the sun for an hour becomes a puddle.
Our standard advice for outdoor summer events: keep the board in the shade, plan to serve it within 90 minutes of it coming out of the cooler, and if the event is running long, hold back half the cheese and bring it out in a second round.
What travels best
Grain salads are the most reliable outdoor food we make. The roasted beet and farro, the white bean dip, the marinated zucchini: all of these hold their texture and flavour for three hours at room temperature. Dressed green salads do not. We stopped offering them for outdoor catering after the second summer because they were always wilted by the time people got to them.
Sandwiches travel well if they're packed correctly. We keep the wet ingredients separate from the bread for catering orders and include a small card explaining how to assemble them on arrival. It takes thirty seconds and makes a real difference.
Planning your order
For a garden party of 15 to 20 people where the food is the main event, a typical order from us would be: one large charcuterie and cheese board, two catering sandwich platters (10 sandwiches each), and two grain salad trays. That's a reliable amount for a two-hour event where people are grazing rather than sitting down to a meal.
We ask for 48 hours notice for most orders and 72 hours for groups over 30. Local delivery within Ottawa is available for a flat $20 fee. Get in touch at hello@thedailyslice-20105.com to start a catering conversation.
The best outdoor events we've catered have one thing in common: the host ordered a little more than they thought they needed. It's always better to have leftovers than to run out at 3pm.