Catering

Food For Thought

Food For Thought Management Group was incorporated in September of 1983 and Nancy E. Sharp continues to lead the company today as Chairman. The Catering division was the initial successful venture brought to the Chicagoland marketplace. The success the Catering division experienced enabled Food For Thought to offer catering and daily cafe food service operations as an amenity to museums and professional tenant properties. Over the last twenty-five years, Food For Thought has built a multi-million dollar business providing first-class contemporary menus and exemplary service to the Chicagoland area.

Our existing contracts and relationships with non-profit and educational institutions are unparalleled among area caterers. The background of kitchen and management personnel includes graduates of the finest schools in the world with both domestic and international experience. This background and experience distinguishes its cuisine and service from the competition. Experience in operating restaurants coupled with twenty-five years of off-premise catering enable FFT to employ solid policies and procedures yielding an excellent result for each and every event we cater Food For Thought is widely recognized among the area’s elite off-premise catering and food service management companies.

Our commitment to excellent service, innovative cuisine, and contemporary presentation has won the admiration of both our clients and peers. This respect has earned Food For Thought placement on the preferred catering lists of most of Chicago’s premiere venues including the Field Museum, the Chicago History Museum, the Lincoln Park Zoo’s Café Brauer and the Chicago Cultural Center. Whether a black tie seated dinner reception at the Adler Planetarium, an intimate party at your home or a contemporary cocktail reception at one of Chicago’s many special event venues, Food For Thought provides Chicago’s most discerning palates with memorable dining experiences. We will provide you with a memory of a lifetime. Prepare for the experience...

Green Practices

Food For Thought hopes to partner with you on making your special day an elegant and eco-friendly celebration. Food For Thought’s efforts at conscious catering and responsible business practices bring heightened meaning to our motto: “Think Food.” Together, our organizations can create a reception that celebrates this focus with taste and sophistication.Whenever possible, our proposed menus make use of local and organic ingredients. Additionally, all seafood items follow the Central U.S. Guidelines recommended by the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Shedd Aquarium Right Bite Program. Our chefs’ attention to environmentally responsible products will complement the beautifully elegant presentation and superior flavors diners expect from Food For Thought’s kitchens. Our focus on protecting the environment mirrors the recent trend in eco-friendly business practices. In recent years, Food For Thought has made a conscious effort to make improvements wherever possible:

• Our corporate headquarters feature florescent light bulbs and programmable thermostats.

• Our offices are designed with lowered ceilings in some of our cubicle areas for increased energy efficiency.

• We offer a daily employee meal served family style with reusable china and silverware.

• Wasteful trips to the coffee shop are prevented by offering freshly brewed coffee in our lunchroom.

• A water purification system attached to our lunchroom faucet reduces the number of plastic water bottles used.

• We have converted our operations to CaterXpert, a web-based software that helps reduce the amount of paper printouts needed to communicate between departments.

• Fuel-consumption is inherent in catering but our switch to trucks that run on gas as opposed to diesel is an effort to make a more-responsible transportation choice.

• We have partnered with EcoLabs to ensure that our cleaning supplies are environmentally friendly and come in recycled packaging.

• Our food service management division offers our contract clients compostable paper products for their cafeterias and pantries.

Sample Menus and Packets

Wedding Menu
Corporate Menu