When you lay out the banquet furniture, you're probably keen to make a good impression - and there are few audiences harder to please with a top-quality feast than a collection of the country's most successful restaurateurs.
That unenviable task fell to the National Restaurateurs Dinner in April, a collaborative effort between the Restaurant Association, the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts and the Academy of Food and Wine Service.
Each year, the dinner provides the industry with a chance to recognise the success achieved over the previous 12 months, and to look ahead to the future as well.
Robert Walton, president of the Restaurant Association, which is part of the British Hospitality Association, said: "Each year we are able to undertake the work we do to support the industry because of the charity of those who choose to attend, become patrons, sponsor and donate to this exciting event.
"Thanks to the help and generosity of our supporters, we are now able to continue to advance our industry for the better."
This was the 29th annual dinner - with the 30th anniversary already scheduled for April 4th 2017 - and over £100,000 was raised to be spent on educational programmes and awards ceremonies by the three organising bodies.
Observers of the event might be inspired to set out the banquet furniture for a feast of their own, which raises the question of what dishes you serve to the nation's most demanding restaurateurs.
In this case, the dinner opened with a champagne reception, before a team hand-picked by celebrity chef Brian Turner produced a number of dishes to the highest of standards.
They included several selected as favourites by the dining restaurateurs, including egg yolk and Jersey Royal ravioli, Wye Valley asparagus, sauce hollandaise and Cornish smoked brandade, hot smoked salmon pate and whisky jelly, and cod's roe dip.
Images of the event show the banqueting furniture being put to good use, with the chefs serving up over 100 identical dishes on long cloth-covered banquet tables.
Meanwhile, the banquet chairs can be seen stacked in the background ready to be set out for the diners - showing how stackable chairs can leave your team with room to work, before being quickly moved into position as your event's start time approaches.