A Restaurant or Caterer's Year: What to Do Each Month
A restaurant or caterer lives by the seasons: office parties, Valentine's Day, sugar shacks, weddings, patios. Here is a full year, month by month, with what is worth preparing and what Kai, the Orvel AI assistant, can prepare for you. Kai drafts and follows up; you approve every send.
January and February: Valentine's Day and the January lull
February 14 is a night of strong demand in the dining room, while January is often quieter. The useful action: open Valentine's Day reservations early and offer group suppers in January to fill the slower evenings.
Kai can prepare the reservation-opening messages and answer common questions (menu, hours, parking). For the evening of February 14, it respects your capacity and your booking rules. It is also a good time to reread your deposit or cancellation policy so that it is clearly announced at booking.
- Open Valentine's Day reservations early.
- Offer group suppers for the quieter January evenings.
- Check that the cancellation policy appears at booking.
March and April: sugar shacks and Easter
The maple sugar season and the Easter break bring group and family meals. The action: follow up with last year's groups and open family reservations.
Kai finds last year's files, prepares the follow-up and reminds you that a commercial send is only allowed if the customer's consent is valid. Family reservations are confirmed by text, which does not require prior consent for the confirmation itself.
May and June: the start of wedding season
Weddings, graduations and end-of-school-year parties arrive together. The action: follow up on unsigned wedding quotes and plan the final headcount confirmations.
This is when the execution sheet (menu, time, location, headcount, declared allergies, on-site contact) proves its worth. Kai prepares the sheets from the files, asks for the final headcount and any allergies to note about a week ahead, and hands them to you for validation. It always states that the kitchen cannot guarantee the absence of an allergen.
July and August: patios, weddings and summer events
Catering demand is strong for weddings, festivals and outdoor gatherings. The action: complete execution sheets and a review request after every event.
With a busy calendar, details get lost quickly: delivery time, location, on-site contact. A current file for each event reduces mistakes. The Google review request goes out after the event, to every customer, with no gift or discount in exchange; you approve the message. Kai also drafts a reply to each review, which you approve before it is published.
September: offices go back to work
Companies resume their team lunches and plan the end of the year. The action: offer recurring office-meal and team-lunch packages.
September overlaps the end of summer and the start of holiday planning. Use it to update your packages and prices before requests arrive. A clear recurring package is easier to offer than a quote rebuilt every time.
October and November: office holiday parties
Companies book their year-end meals and cocktails early in the fall, and the best December dates go first. The action: a campaign to last year's office customers with holiday packages and the dates still open.
Kai prepares the follow-up message, along the lines of 'holiday dates are filling up, would you like a proposal for this year?'. Because it is a promotion, it only sends to customers whose consent is recorded in the file, with your business identified and an unsubscribe link.
December: the holiday peak
December concentrates events, group bookings and the risk of no-shows. The action: confirmation reminders and a deposit or cancellation policy displayed at booking.
Kai sends reminders by text, follows up on quotes left unanswered and releases dates that are no longer wanted. Also set aside a few minutes to look back: which packages worked best, which requests waited too long for a reply. These observations guide the preparation of the following year.
A restaurant year is prepared a month ahead: each season has its action, and Kai drafts the messages so nothing gets lost. You keep control of every send.
General information, not legal advice. Check with your professional order or the official source.
Questions
When should I follow up with last year's customers?
Before the dates fill up: October and November for office parties, March and April for sugar-shack groups. The follow-up is a promotion, so it requires valid consent in the file.
Can Kai handle the December peak on its own?
Kai prepares the reminders, confirmations and follow-ups, but your team decides, approves and handles complaints and allergen questions.
Why ask for a review after every event?
Google reviews influence how people choose a restaurant. The request goes out after the event, to everyone, with no reward; you approve every message and every reply.
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