Bringing AI to the party

We kicked off the year with a relaxed and productive working lunch bringing the team together for a fun brainstorming session to set the tone for the week and the quarter ahead To make things easier we decided to try out an online catering platform that delivers food and takes care of the setup With the conference room all booked for the date we placed our order on their platform newcaterninjacom last weekReshmi Murg tikka and Honey siracha chicken wingsThere were several options to choose from depending on the number of guestsmdashNinjabox bulk food delivery Ninja Buffet for 10 guests Ninja Classic for 50 guests and Gourmet offering specially curated premium menus for the Indian palate Once we selected the city and the occasion there were multiple preexisting packages of different cuisines like North Indian mains containing six mains and one dessert priced at Rs 4899 for 10 guests Evesnacks menu containing four starters three mains and one dessert priced at Rs 4999 for 10 guests PanAsian menu four starters three mains and one dessert priced at Rs 5499 etc Since the preexisting packages werenrsquot suited to our needs we customised a menu from scratch to determine the number of each itemmdashstarters main courses and dessertAwadhi Murg masala and Paneer Butter masalaOnce that was done we selected the number of guests and the date and time of delivery The websitersquos AI algorithm curated the quantities based on the number of guests and the variety of the menu Next the CaterNinja executive contacted us over WhatsApp to confirm the order and align the delivery A captain who is also our point of contact kept us updated about the timelines on the day of our meetingMoong dal halwa boondi raita and papadThe team led by Jayanti Bhutedia the captain arrived promptly equipped with all the essentials including ecofriendly disposable plates and cutlery tissues cardboard boxes a table and a portable refrigerator Adhering to hygiene standards with gloves and masks they efficiently set up a wellorganised NinjaLive pizza station and mocktail counter We chose customised toppings from neatly arranged containers and had our pizza hot from the supercompact ovenFreshly made mojito in helpyourself dispensersThey also have a live momo and pasta station for parties and a live tandoor for starters which is ideal for evening soirees These live services are available for smaller numbers of 1520 people and for a larger audience too Also from a price point of view most live services are available at decent prices For example the live pizza service price is almost similar to pizza delivery rates from commercial brands So why get pizza delivered for a party when you can get it piping hot and made live in front of youNext the food was set up in containers sectioned in cardboard boxes for easy handling Starters included malai achari broccoli peri peri paneer tikka reshmi murgh tikka and honey sriracha chicken wings The broccoli and murgh tikka were instant favourites There was paneer butter masala Awadhi murgh masala dal bukhara laccha wheat paratha jeera rice and boondi raita for the main course Accompaniments were sirka pyaaz papad and green chutney In hindsight we felt we made safe choices so as not to get disappointed but it would have been intriguing if we could have been a bit experimental too with sliders and spring rolls or spaghetti bolognese and basil butter garlic noodles The moong dal halwa for dessert was a big hit with our teamAfter a fantastic lunch and a great brainstorming session we left the conference room to return to our desks The team started packing up About 20 minutes later the captain sent us a photo of the conference roommdashit looked spick and span like no one had been thereAt NinjaLive live pizzamaking counter we customised our toppings watch them bake in a supercompact oven and enjoyed pipinghot slicesmdashan upgrade from delivery perfect for partiesCaterNinjarsquos services are available in Mumbai Bangalore Hyderabad Delhi Thane Pune Chennai Gurugram Noida and Ghaziabad Would we consider them for our next meeting or gettogether at home The answer is going to be yes What we hoped for was to see the use of AI in the kitchen too perhaps at the backend for menu optimisation or a login feature where your personalised recommendations are stored and while preparing food in bulk to understand quality and quantities to avoid food wastage at the source kitchen