That a grazing table will end up looking a bit shit?

[Lollypollydolly]

Looking for catering for a party, will be children and adults and all I keep being offered are grazing tables/platters. Having not experienced one first hand I'm worried that though it will start looking beautiful once the guests start digging in it will look a mess and maybe bit unsanitary?

YABU - they look fab and stay looking fabulous (if a little disheveled by the end of the party)

YANBU - Wasteful fad crawling with germs, find an old style caterer.

Covid wouldn't worry me at all, as it's no worse than a traditional buffet on plates etc and I don't think the risk is as serious as breathing the same air.

It's the mess, the deteriorating attractiveness of it as things get eaten and the utter ridiculousness of it that annoys me.

They look like pigs troughs very quickly.

Yabu. They look revolting and are completely unhygienic (in these times - will anyone want to touch food that's been mauled by everyone ahead of them??)
I wouldn't touch one with a ten foot pole.

For a little gathering or family party it would be great but not for something large scale.

They’re horrible.

Another stupid fad, like serving food on bits of slate or drinks in jam jars. You don't have to buy into this kind of stuff.

I hate them! They do look beautiful but once people start shovelling things around they just look rank.

I wouldn't have fancied a grazing table before the pandemic, but now with everyone being heightened to how viruses are transmitted, it makes me feel a bit eugh.

...and just image if your cat jumped up on the table.

(even worse if you have a monkey)

easy for guests to pick and nibble at food.

Just googled what one was, and this was the description not envy

I think they’re disgusting: they look like an animal trough with everything thrown in together. It’s unhygienic from a food safety point of view as well as adding in human germs. Vile conspicuous consumption, with masses of waste where dry things meet wet and soggy mess ensues. PLATES, people, PLATES! We’ve been using them for millennia for a reason.

Traditional buffet with someone to serve everyone individually - covid friendly, no-one ends up with the last dried up egg butty and a pickled onion because the people ahead of them have piled their plates too high - win/win

What a bloody stupid thing to say @Wroxie , I'm sure there are people from most nationalities who don't know how to act or behave
Your point would have been better argued without the British comment , totally unnecessary IMO

I’m pretty lax about hygiene but even I would prefer separate foods on separate plates/bowls.

Also I think it’s really restrictive on what food you can have. You can’t have anything that’s at all runny or with a dressing. It all has to be “dry” so it can sit straight on the table.

Grim

They're vile

Grazing tables need a server or two assigned to them for them to keep looking great. At Indian and Romany weddings it’s usually the equivalent to male ushers that get volunteered up for the task. Give them strict instructions to keep everything looking clean.

Could you have little boxed up items, so people just remove an item and only touch their bit?
I saw one where meat was laid into a small glass and looked like flowers.

@Wroxie

And also has everyone really not realised that covid isn't spread through surfaces it's spread through the air. So you're 100 times more likely to catch it sitting across from someone eating from the plate you've been served as you are from using the same cheese knife as the person before you.

Pretty sure you can catch it if some dirty bastard coughs into his hand and then manhandles the food.

I don't see why it's less hygienic than individual plates for each dish. So long as either way people use utensils to serve anything where you might touch others' food. And wet foods you can have in a bowl separated. You make the bowl a feature in terms of how it fits into the overall spread.
Having said that I think a board rather than a whole table works better. If feeding tons of people I'd still do a normal buffet with a couple of beautiful mixed cheese boards with chutney in ramekins, grapes strewn around etc.

Is "grazing table" the new wanky word for "buffets"?

Utterly grim.

@AlbertBridge

Is "grazing table" the new wanky word for "buffets"?

buffets without serving plates / dishes! It's gross on a number of levels.

@AlbertBridge

Is "grazing table" the new wanky word for "buffets"?

No. It’s not wanky. Quite the opposite in fact.

A buffet is fine. Having all your food smushed together is horrible and tacky.

They’re never anything other than 100% fucking disgusting