What a French « pot de départ » is
In a French office, leaving drinks are called a pot de départ, and they follow a ritual. They last an hour and a half, rarely more. They start at 5.30 pm or 6 pm, once the last calls are done, and end when the first people leave for their train. In that time, colleagues need to eat standing, glass in hand, without plates or cutlery: that is exactly the cocktail format, and it is why the charcuterie board bought in the morning always ends up half eaten.
Welcome drinks (pot d'arrivée) and end-of-assignment drinks follow the same logic, with one difference: the guests are less well known, so their dietary requirements are too. Planning plenty of vegetarian pieces and at least one pork-free option avoids embarrassment.
The detail that changes everything: who handles the set-up. With a delivery ready to serve, disposable tableware included, the person organising puts the trays on a table and opens the bottles. Nothing else.
What to order by headcount
For 15 to 20 colleagues: the express after-work cocktail, 11 pieces per person (7 savoury, 4 sweet, with club sandwiches, chicken wraps, warm mini quiches and samosas), at €20.30 per guest. For 10 people, the €203 total stays below the €300 minimum order: from 15 guests, you are there.
For 20 to 40 colleagues: the classic bistro cocktail, 12 pieces including miniature croque-monsieur and rillettes on country bread, at €23.90 per guest, or in winter the hot cocktail, 13 pieces mostly hot with mini soups in glasses, at €25.90. For a team where you know everyone stays, the signature dinner-style cocktail rises to 17 pieces at €32.90.
For very short drinks or a tight budget, a sweet break does the job: sweet petits fours at €4.90 per guest as an option on a menu, or a petits fours break for 50. Sweet only suits 4 pm drinks, not 6 pm drinks.
| Colleagues | Menu | Pieces per guest | Indicative total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Express after-work cocktail | 11 | €304.50 |
| 20 | Classic bistro cocktail | 12 | €478 |
| 30 | Signature dinner-style cocktail | 17 | €987 |
Choose the menu, give the time and the floor: the drinks arrive ready to serve, all that remains is to open the bottles.
Order an after-work cocktail →The drinks
Count two glasses per person over an hour and a half. Soft drinks are €3 per guest, freshly pressed juices €2.50. The glass of champagne, at €8.90 per guest, is the classic option for leaving drinks; one bottle serves six glasses, and planning one glass for two thirds of the guests is enough, because not everyone drinks.
There is no service: bottles are delivered closed, with cups. If the drinks take place in a room without a fridge, the cooling package (ice, buckets and insulated tubs) at €69 per 50 guests keeps the drinks cold to the end.
Notice and delivery time
Catalogue cocktail menus are ordered 24 hours ahead: drinks on Thursday at 6 pm are ordered on Wednesday before 6 pm. Above 100 guests, 48 hours. Delivery is timed one hour before the start: hot pieces arrive ready for the oven or a warming tray, cold pieces stay chilled in their packaging until opening.
When ordering, give the floor, the name of the person receiving and, in a tower or a guarded building, the access procedure. Leaving drinks start on time; a delivery waiting at the security desk does not.
The classic mistakes
Ordering for the department's headcount when half the floor will drop by: for a well-liked colleague, count the team plus a third. Forgetting vegetarians: at least a quarter of the pieces should be. Planning sweet only: at 6 pm, people are hungry. Buying drinks separately and forgetting the cups: disposable tableware is included in the menu, cups too when the drinks are ordered with it.
Last mistake, the most frequent: starting the same morning. Leaving drinks are known at least a week ahead; ordered the day before, they arrive on time, ready to serve, and all that remains is to put them on the table.