Need help to plan brunch for 90 people

It sounds like they have helpers (and hopefully their kitchens, too). Asking each of them to bring a fruit salad or pastry tray might help cut down on the storage/prep burden.
Another idea on the eggs is muffin pan frittatas--get a bunch of disposable muffin trays, cupcake liners (for easier release) and go to town. Saves having to portion out larger frittatas. Another good room-temp thing is bread casserole/strata, which can be done sweet or savory.

The original post does not describe this event as a potluck. In fact there is unhelpfully almost no detail at all apart from the number of guests (90), a hazy timeframe for the event (3 weeks hence) and about 12 "helpers".

Again, not many will stay long if all the food is cold/room temperature. If you want to end a party, the first thing to do is to run out of ice. The second thing to do is to say there's no hot food.

702551 -

Among the many good points you bring up is the difficulty of preparing and safely storing food for 90 people in home kitchens (or serving in one home kitchen, if needed).

There was a movement/trend popular a few years ago of home cooks banding together to rent and use commercial kitchens to batch cook for their families.

Maybe Dr Babs and her group of volunteers could do something similar a day or two before the event, store the food in the commercial kitchen, then transport it to a home venue - if that’s where it’s taking place.

And/ie consider renting a caterer’s kitchen and/or serving venue - for space, preparation, storage and maybe serving.

Sure she and her volunteers could rent a commercial kitchen for a day. That might help, it might not. People need to know how to work in a commercial kitchen, they aren't the same as a home kitchen.

However the lack of real information is the problem here. We have a group of 90 people of unknown makeup arriving at an unknown time on an unknown day at an unknown venue with unknown resources.

First of all, who are these people and what are their demographics? Old retirees and empty nesters? Lots of kids?

What time and day? That will answer a lot about what sort of appetite they might have walking through the door, what they would hope to eat/drink, how long they might stay.

Exhibit A: football tailgate. 1pm kickoff: buy lots of Bloody Mary mix. 4pm kickoff: maybe a bottle or two. 7pm kickoff: maybe no one will ask.

Something about breakfast tacos is mentioned. Is this the first meal of the day? Did they just get out of a memorial service with growling stomachs?

The venue determines a large part of the event menu. Even in the larger houses I've lived in, I don't think I could seat more than 12 people even if I could handle cooking for 16. Is everyone walking around with a small plate and drink? That basically eliminates a lot of sloppier/fussier food offerings.

The fact that it's 90 people makes me wonder if this is even a residence? How many of you live in a place that can handle 90 people through the front door (after they've found parking in the neighborhood)?

I'm definitely not saying it can't be done but many of the decisions will be dictated by the venue itself and what sort of facilities it has.

Strata this, sheet pan that. Great, veggie prep takes a *lot* of time. 60 minute bake time? Great, make sure you can toss something else into the oven at the same time. For sure, no full size sheet pan is going to fit in my fridge.

Remember that 12 helpers for a 90-guest event isn't 12 people in the kitchen (they wouldn't even fit in mine). Some can help cook, some will be serving, inevitably someone will be minding over the drinks, some will be picking up empty plate and cups. And yes, there will be someone on garbage can/bathroom duty. Hell I've been to plenty of potlucks where some people need help putting their shared dish on the serving table.

Is there running water? Electricity? I've worked potluck football tailgates without either (public bathroom with small sinks about 200 yards away).

What would happen if it starts raining?

Lots of questions and almost zero background so far.

A lot of answers should actually come from the people who are working the event after they've seen the venue. That's why catering companies do site inspections and walkthroughs during the early planning phases.

Wow, I really appreciate all of you for your generosity in thinking about and posting about this.

The brunch is an end of life celebration for a wonderful man who died in October. His wife is the host. The venue is a large party event space that has a kitchen and dining room for service. There’s also a large outdoor space. I have not seen it. I’m not even clear if there are enough tables for service or for people to sit. It’s all very vague, and there isn’t much I can do about that.

There will be no alcohol, and the food will mostly be served at room temperature.

What I realized was that my friend (the host) wanted this to be as similar as possible to the kind of party she and her husband hosted over the years. The overwhelm came when I realized that it was at least twice as many people as she has hosted before, she is having 6 houseguests before and after, and she was planning to make all the food herself (because that’s what they used to do). We have a great friend group, and several people suggested to her that it would be better if she let us help her. She asked me to coordinate it. I posted on hotline in a fit of anxiety about how we were going to keep 200 breakfast tacos warm. What I decided to do was ask her what she was planning to serve, and she showed me the list of recipes she was planning to make herself. I suggested that we narrow it down to three recipes that she felt represented her and her husband that could safely be served at room temperature. She chose a hash brown casserole, a sausage strata, and a raspberry coffee cake. I put those recipes out to the cooks in the group, and asked them to choose what they’d make. We will also have fruit, crudités and ranch dressing, bagels and cream cheese, assorted breads and pastries, cookies, and brownies. And we're going to order some platters of sandwiches and wraps. Plus there will be coffee, juice, water, iced tea. I may have left something out, but we worked through it.

We're all just there to support her and to be able to spend a day talking about this man whom we all loved. I’m sure it will be a wonderful event.

Thank you all again for so generously offering your time, thoughtfulness and expertise. Thinking through your ideas and questions has really helped me so much.

At long last, a post with useful and relevant data that was left out of the original inquiry.

And as I predicted all the important answers came from the people who will be working the event. After all they are the ones who can best judge their own capabilities, access to resources and budgets.

It made zero sense as an event in a regular sized residence based on the number of expected guests.

As you know, she will be expected to be play host to the various guests and may not have much free time to work in the kitchen during the event.

And since it is not her home it may be better to keep event guests away from the kitchen; it will be an impersonal place and the likely conversations will probably be a distraction to the kitchen workers.

I hope the event goes smoothly. Best of luck.

Apologies for the original post. I can see where it was confusing.

Dr Babs -
Reminds me of that old anagram of Panama Canal - a man, a plan, a canal.
Glad you have a man (to remember and honor), a plan, a party,
Nancy

Thanks, Wendy

Another easy breakfast we do for crowds on the holidays is a yogurt bar: basically just fruit, plain Greek yogurt, and whatever cereal/granola/nuts we have around. This could be a good low-prep supplement to whatever else you're doing!
And, a benefit to frittatas is that they are great at room temp (the sheet pan pancakes will still be good after cooling, too). If you have vegans/non-egg-eaters, you can make a tofu frittata (https://jessicainthekitchen.com/vegan-frittata-on-a-sheet-pan/#recipe).
Finally, you're a great friend for volunteering for this, and I'm sure your friend really appreciates you.

Thank you, Emmie

Thanks, Nicole. I think we're abandoning that plan because there’s no way to keep everything warm, but I appreciate your and Nancy’s responses.

Nancy, thank you so much for your generous response.