WHEN THE STARS COME OUT ... FOR BREAKFAST

A One Minute interview with...


BARB FOSTER
OWNER: SIMPLY DIVINE CATERING

If the hipness factor of an eating place is judged by the number of movie actors and celebrities who frequent it, then Barb Foster's catering truck must be the hottest dining spot in town. She doesn't mind the crazy hours, hard work and cramped working conditions that must be endured to make sure the heart throbs, super heroes and wretched villains she feeds every day get their wheat grass shots and whole grain bagels. That's all just part of running a successful business. But don't ask her to sort anyone's M&M's by colour. She has a sense of humour but she's long past being star struck.

What is your biggest challenge?
Getting up at 2 a.m. and going to bed when everyone else is getting ready to go out for the evening. Another challenge is trying to keep everyone happy, five days a week, sometimes for several months if we’re working on a series. Then there’s the “Fuck you Friday� where you lose your weekend because you start work at noon on Friday and get home in the wee hours of Saturday morning.


You’re actually living that Monty Python joke: “We had to get up and go to work before we went to bed.�
Yeah, it takes some getting used to; the caterers are always the first to arrive on the film set and sometimes the last to leave.


What’s the weirdest request?
One woman ordered burned toast every morning. She scraped off and saved the burned part and threw the bread away – she told me the carbon whitened her teeth but I don’t think it was working.


What are the stars asking for – any trends?
Everyone is moving toward whole foods – more grains and beans and oatmeal for breakfast. Cast and crew, including the teamsters, are making healthier choices than they did a decade ago. They are big on egg white omelets (often with cheese), grilled skinless chicken breast and lots of brown rice.

Some want caterers to help them stay on a diet so we always have options (along with the usual three entrée selections) such as steamed veggies and brown rice, but as soon as we turn our backs, they’re at the dessert table scarfing down chocolate cake. Or at breakfast, the vegetarians ask for a bowl of oatmeal and furtively sneak a few rashers of bacon from the chafing dish when we’re not looking.


How much of the meal has to be vegetarian?
Twenty-five percent of our menu is vegetarian but only about 5 percent of the crew is really vegetarian – the ones who don’t order bacon on the side.


How many cooks can fit into one catering truck?
We usually have three cooks on a truck and not including the support van, we work in about 160 square feet.


How do you manage?
The key to working in a small space is organization and personal hygiene, especially when we have to work with each other for 12-16 hours a day.


How many people do you serve each day from one truck?
An average crew size is about 120 and we serve cast and crew breakfast and lunch. But they often add-on extra people at the last minute – a little stressful when the closest store is a two-hour drive away.


How much interaction does the crew have with the stars?
We don’t party anymore, but we see them every day -- everybody has to eat and most line up at the catering truck, even the stars, although sometimes a star will bring along their own chefs. For example, Wesley Snipes brought an entire brigade – we never had to serve him. But most stars are down to earth. Luckily for us, we’ve worked on friendly shows.


Is there anyone you’d never work with again?
Yes and they will remain nameless. Some directors and actors may be difficult but they don’t usually affect us. Catering is a service-industry and not part of the filmmaking process, although we are an integral part of production.


Why aren’t there more restaurant chefs working in film catering?
They have to check their ego at the door – they aren’t here to educate people’s taste buds. Most people want plain and simple food, comfy home-cooked meals; nobody wants to eat at the same restaurant every day. And gourmet skills may apply to about 15% of the crew – some people we serve don’t know much about food and some of them don’t know what endangered species means – they still request mahi-mahi.


What is the best part of your job?
Showing up somewhere new each day and a whole lot of freedom – there’s more creativity because the menu changes daily. And running into people I haven’t worked with for a long time, sometimes years. Last week I served a script supervisor I hadn’t seen since working on “Bounty Hunters� 13 years ago. For the most part, I love my job."

Written by Jane Mundy
Photos of Barb Foster by Dean Sanderson