How does a restaurant grow into a tour catering business?
A restaurant grows into a tour catering business when a single job is done so well that the client asks for more. Jeroen de Pauw of Canapé Apéro cooked one Michelin-level lunch for a music video shoot and was then asked to join the artist on tour for a year. Tour catering, in other words, starts with one job that beats what the client is used to, not with a business plan.
What turns a single job into the start of a tour?
Three factors made the difference in the Canapé Apéro story. The first was a level of quality the client didn't expect: concert catering was rarely that good. The second was a direct request from the client to keep going. The third was a client willing to invest in equipment together, backed by a fixed one-year agreement.
Why did Michelin-level cooking work on location?
The crew had never seen catering of that quality at a concert. That gap between what they were used to and what they got led straight to a follow-up booking.
What if you lack the equipment and experience?
De Pauw had no equipment and no touring experience. The artist co-invested in exchange for a one-year partnership, so the risk was shared.
How does an opportunity like this arise without a plan?
It started with a single phone call about a music video being shot in his own neighbourhood. Local visibility and reputation decide who gets the call when a client needs someone fast.
They had never seen catering at a concert that was of such a high standard.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need your own equipment to go on tour as a caterer?
Not necessarily upfront. In the case of Canapé Apéro, the chef had no equipment and no touring experience. The artist co-invested, tied to a one-year partnership. An arrangement like that lowers the barrier for a chef with kitchen experience but no mobile setup. Agreeing on a fixed term gives both parties certainty about the payback period.
Why do chefs from Michelin-starred restaurants stand out in event catering?
Event catering, especially at concerts, is often a level below what a starred kitchen delivers. A chef who brings their own Michelin-restaurant cooking style immediately exceeds the expectations of crew and artists. In practice, that gap in expectations turns a one-off job into a repeat booking or a longer partnership.
How do clients find a caterer for a one-off production?
Often locally and through their network. In this example, a music video was being shot in the neighbourhood where the chef lived, and the request came through a phone call. Production teams look for someone nearby, fast. For a restaurant, that means: if you're easy to find locally and have strong reviews, you're more likely to get the call for jobs like these.
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Video transcript
It's not really that I planned to do it. Something came very organically. Like, I was working in a Michelin-star restaurant and I would like to do something else.
And it was really, there was someone who called me. It was a Belgian famous singer and he made a kind of video clip in the neighborhood where I was living. So they asked me, can you cook for us?
Can you make lunch for us? But I always, I was used to working in Michelin restaurant stars, uh, restaurants. So I had my own, uh, my own style of cooking.
So I did the same for this day to cook for the artist there, and they was really impressed because they never seen a catering on, uh, on a concert that was so high level. But so they said, yeah, it's really great, why don't you come with us to go on tour? And, but I never did it before, so I had not the material, not the experience, had nothing.
But the artist in Belgium, she said, yeah, I will invest in it with you, and then you can come with us for 1 year.