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Shade's Live Action Role Playing (LARP) List: Forums
My fiance and I are going to open up a "traveling tavern". A LARP baised catering business. We are only waiting on a place to for our home base of operations that is close to some of the best LARPing in the United States. We are thinking of basing ourselves out of New York so we are in the middle of the large New England area. What are some of your suggestions and if we move to the area, would your local LARP be interested in our services? We are currently in Central Missouri and have little in the way of LARP business. Again, where would you suggest?
That's what we thought. We love traveling and LARPing, and my fiance loves to cook. I have always relished the idea of running my own business, so, we came up with this idea. We one day hope to open out own fantasy-themed resturant.
Dudes! That's a great idea. Good luck, and I hope you have loads of success with that.
I just got into all the foam weapon fun recently, so I don't even know the best places around me. But I'll look out for your business, and when you start, try and take a road trip up with some people to go to a larping event with you dudes.
Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 1:08 am Post subject: Re: LARP Catering
Quote:
My fiance and I are going to open up a "traveling tavern". A LARP baised catering business. We are only waiting on a place to for our home base of operations that is close to some of the best LARPing in the United States. We are thinking of basing ourselves out of New York so we are in the middle of the large New England area. What are some of your suggestions and if we move to the area, would your local LARP be interested in our services? We are currently in Central Missouri and have little in the way of LARP business. Again, where would you suggest?
This sounds like a pretty spiffy idea. I hope you make it work out; it'd be amazing to see it take off and inspire others to try it in various regions.
I offer my humble ideas and suggestions, none of which are anything more than theorycrafting and brainstorming at this time:
1. Many LARPs run a tavern that serves modern foods like hamburgers and hot dogs. Sadly, this junk food tends to wear down our players and staff alike, making the game slow and boring.
So if I were to angle for something that stands out and gets money, go for actual wholesome foods. Shishkabob meat is relatively easy to fix, and if you have a good source for the meat, you won't pay that much. Something as simple as a bowl of red potatoes and chunks of cooked meat of some kind are much, much better for us than junk food.
2. Make it easy to transport. Shishkabob with meat and small potatoes are amazingly nice at a live-combat LARP; leave just enough room to grasp it firmly with a hand, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of the husky fighter-types aren't gnawing on it with one hand while parrying some hapless goblin's attack with a weapon in the other hand.
Bread bowls are a great thing here, if you bake them in advance so that they are hardened to hold stew and similar stuff. They can eat the stew and then the bread if they are still hungry. Small bread bowls are ideal for this; you don't want them filling up too much or they'll slow down in the field.
One thing I miss a whole lot from the local Celtic festival in my area are miniature meat pies. Oh, my, they were so delicious. They were made about 4-5 inches in diameter, and were priced about like a hamburger (though so much tastier).
3. The other advantage to wholesome foods is that it is actually more likely to help the game "feel" like medieval fantasy. A turkey leg allows that player with a barbarian character to really get into things. That samurai character might like having a rice ball as a snack rather than a bag of chips.
4. Find recipes that make lots of food cheaply and with minimal effort. Stews, pot roasts, corned beef and cabbage, kabobs, etc. Slow cookers and grills are your friends.
5. This may seem an odd idea, but to get an idea of what may be good ideas, visit a modern county fair and check out the food vendors there, who also have to do "on the go" vending. You can compare prices and quality and if you work for a few, you may learn where to get the food itself to cook.
6. Assuming you are using one of the transportable vendor kitchens (like those used in the aforementioned modern fairs), you should put some effort into appearance. My recommendation for a fairly universal theme that won't be too out of place in most any fantasy game would be an easily folded-up thatch roof (doesn't have to be real thatch, just something that looks like that which you can set up quick and easy), and possibly some kind of wood-like substance for the outside, to make it look like a cabin or cart.
If you make your own stand, and don't want it to look like a wooden cart/cabin, there is a very interesting alternative: use stone-fleck spray from a craft store to make it look like a small stone building.
7. You may want to look up the usual foods eaten at certain times of the day in archaic times and offer those foods at those times yourself. Have pre-made menus you can hang on the outside of the cart so folks know when you are serving certain things.
8. Drinks can get in on the act, too. Fruit juices can simulate wines of various kinds. IBC Root Beer has long been a favorite at SOLAR; the bottles look like old-school beer bottles, and they're easy to manage with twist-off caps. Tea and coffee would not be unheard of to use. If you wanted to be really creative, develop a recipe for a few energy drinks of different colors to sell as "tonics" and such.
9. Utensils and stuff don't have to be plain ol' plastic, either. Party supply stores have an amazing variety of good, metallic-colored utensils, plates, and cups you can use for things that need it. Just be aware they can be more costly than regular plastic stuff, and charge accordingly so you don't loose money.
You can also encourage people to bring their own bowls, plates, and mugs for you to fill up. In fact, some LARPs may have other vendors selling such things already, or you might find a way to buy them wholesale and then sell them yourself.
10. If people want something like a pre-packaged snack, you could try something unique: make a "trail ration" like from classic D&D. Use a dehydrator to make dried meats and fruits, then wrap those up with hard cheese and some kind of bread (ryebread, melba toast, even tack if you find a recipe for it) and make a little bundle with it using butcher paper.
That's all I can think of for now. Hope it helps...
New England would be a great choice. Boston, Conneticut, New Jersey all have several larps. It all depends on what your radius of operation will be. There are plenty to choose from though.
Atlanta has a growing number of larps and several stable ones. Which will put you within 6 hours of games in South Carolina and Tennessee.
There are some other places on the east coast, but I don't know if they will have enough larps to support your business.
Joined: Aug 24, 2002 Posts: 740 Location: New England
Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 10:10 am Post subject:
[quote="Duby"]New England would be a great choice. Boston, Conneticut, New Jersey all have several larps. It all depends on what your radius of operation will be. There are plenty to choose from though.
Atlanta has a growing number of larps and several stable ones. Which will put you within 6 hours of games in South Carolina and Tennessee.
There are some other places on the east coast, but I don't know if they will have enough larps to support your business.[/quote]
Agreed the New England area would be perfect for this kind of operation. _________________ Just when you thought the worse was over. Here I am. :0)
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