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Career Caterers Banquets Big and Small Pursuit by Heidi Thomas Usually when the subject of catering comes up, one thinks of weddings or corporate Christmas parties. But the possibilities are endless. Having a romantic, intimate, catered dinner for two may be a sure-fire way to a “yes” answer to a proposal. Solving a murder mystery, a children’s tea party, a wedding under a tree, an espresso bar or a family dinner aboard a yacht are also some of the more unusual venues for caterers in Skagit Valley. Catering can run the gamut from small family dinners or birthday celebrations to picnics for hundreds, and the menus, prices, location and décor are limited only by budget and imagination. The Best Western CottonTree Inn and Convention Center in Mount Vernon has one of the larger in-house catering services in the area. It has six banquet rooms and can accommodate groups of up to 300 for weddings and receptions; corporate meetings or conventions; breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets; office parties; or elegant, sit-down dinners. Menus can vary from seafood to barbecue, from deli fare to Cajun and from Sechuan to vegetarian. Brenda Harter, CottonTree catering director for 12 years, sits down with her clients to determine their ideas and budget and then she and her staff can brainstorm from there. An in-house decorator can set up according to themes, including simple-but-elegant fresh flower arrangements, Italian, nautical, beach or garden looks. CottonTree Catering (848-7553) also offers full-service, off-premises catering and has done boat trips, golf tournaments, barbecues and wedding receptions, serving food from the catering menu or creating a special menu, according to the clients’ needs. The cost depends on the number of people, the food and the location, Harter explains. She has a staff of two full-time banquet employees, plus Market Place Bistro workers and an on-call staff of about 15. (See also article on page 30.)
City Bakery created niche Downtown Mount Vernon’s City Bakery (336-3001) has created a catering niche in serving food for staff meetings at offices. This eliminates the need to leave the premises and find a restaurant that can accommodate a larger group and it keeps the event affordable, points out owner Pat Grenfell. City Bakery can cater anything from small family dinners or funerals to large wedding receptions and sit-down dinners for 300. Grenfell has one to 10 employees to help her with various sizes of events. The locations during her 18 years in the business have included barbecues on the beach, a wedding around the edge of a pool where the bride and groom rode up on horseback, the Festival of Trees, Tulip Festival poster unveiling and business conferences in Seattle and Everett. She can offer full services — with dishes, tableware and linen rental, as well as setup, decorating and cleanup, or she can provide simple paperware products. Menu items vary from filled sandwich-filled mini-puffs to wedding cakes, according to clients’ desires and budgets. Joan VanderMeulen (416-0991) opened Java Jo’s Café 3 1/2 years ago and started out catering an espresso bar. Her business plan projected that she would begin catering after six months. “It worked,” she enthuses. “Right at that point, I got my first call to cater a boat party.” She had a contract with the owner of a boat in La Conner for a year and a half and then began expanding into weddings, corporate buffets, small family dinners, reunions or church picnics. “I can do anything from 20 to 400,” she declares, adding that she has also helped coordinate a harvest dinner for 1,500.
‘Everything homemade’ Her banquet coordinator is Kerrie Thomas and she has a staff of 15 on-call, depending on the size of the event. Her prices vary from $5-11 per person for luncheons to around $16 for dinners, based on number of people and kind of food, which can vary from Italian to salads. “ Everything is homemade,” she states. “I don’t sacrifice quality for price. I find the best providers and work within my clients’ budgets.” VanderMeulen also owned the “Grainery” Restaurant until recently, when she closed it to consolidate all her food preparation to one location. She is affiliated and incorporated with Whidbey Coffee Co., Caffe Moka and the Skagit Valley Hospital Espresso Bar. Gere-A-Deli (293-7383) in Anacortes also specializes in catering corporate lunches, which accounts for about 50 percent of owner Laurie Gere’s business. She can cater small events at the Deli, but most of it is done off-premises. She has catered at Beau Lodge, the Bellingham Ferry Terminal or on the Anacortes Port dock. From simple deli platters to elegant sit-down dinners, Gere can figure out a way to work with clients’ budgets, charging a per-person price for dinners or a per-platter price for less-formal events. “We’re pretty diverse,” she notes. She can provide the china and linens, the servers, setup and cleanup as well as the food and paper products for the client to handle. Gere enjoys decorating for buffets, using antiques, flowers and different props to create looks from country to crystal and silver. In the catering business for 20 years, she has 12 employees.
‘Creative outlet’ “It fits well with the deli,” she comments. “It’s a creative outlet for me. The restaurant is fairly routine, but with catering, every job is different.” Donna King of Catering À La King (757-4922) has turned her passion into her business. “I’ve always enjoyed cooking and the presentation of food.” Observing her photographer-husband, Ron, work on weddings for 12 years, she decided to add to the services. For example, someone now can avail themselves of the total “King treatment”: ministerial service, music, photography and catered reception. King does a wide variety of events from personal, business or open houses to weddings, breakfasts and benefits for charitable organizations. The menu is “open ended” to meet people’s needs and budget limitations, she says. With a new kitchen, but not having the overhead of running a restaurant, she can keep prices reasonable. Food choices run from a salad trio for a light luncheon or an anti-pasto feast to prime-rib or salmon dinners. “I use local ingredients as much as possible and everything is made from scratch,” King declares, “and I never just drop off the food. Everything is full service.” Full service includes the setup, draping and decorating tables, service and cleanup. King has done events as large as 500, but has the capacity to serve even larger groups. And she is the caterer who set up the proposal dinner, the murder mystery dinner (she wrote the story herself) and the children’s tea party. King is also house caterer for the Gaches Mansion in La Conner, which is available for up to 100 for weddings and other celebrations. Events done there help support the La Conner Quilt Museum. More information is on her Web site: www.donnaking.com.
Mexican specialties For great Mexican cuisine, consider Mama Rivas’ (336-2011) in Mount Vernon. Jason Rivas has done catering for six years, including managing a catering company in Los Angeles. While Mexican food is the specialty, Rivas can also do a wide variety of foods, including chicken and steak dishes or barbecue. He can cater meals for small office parties or large wedding receptions. Parties smaller than 15 can order off the menu and the restaurant does deliver. Catering prices average $8-15 per person and can include full service setup, equipment, decorating and breakdown. Rivas and his fiancée, Heather Carmack, do the bulk of the catering service, but he has a pool of up to 15 people who can help out, for example, during fair week. While not offering full-service catering, Andy and Julianne Ferguson of Bella Isola (299-8398) in Anacortes offer large take-out orders. Customers can get a “heat at home” dinner for two for about $15, including two entrées, bread and salad. Groups can order pans of lasagna, cannelloni or langoustine to feed 24-30 persons, or smaller pans that accommodate groups of 12-15. Salads of different types and sizes are also available. Prices vary from $20 to $95. In Bellingham, but finding plenty of acceptance in Skagit County, Emerald Bay Events (1-800-449-4393) is known as possibly the largest catering service in the state, serving 1,300-1,500 events a year and anticipating a gross income of $2 million this year. Owned by Britain and Gail Walker, it’s been in business 6 1/2 years. Britain has been in catering for 25 years.
Food and ambiance “We’re unique,” says Gail. “We offer not only food, but ambiance as well,” with props and decorating packages that are usually provided at no extra cost. They list 500 items from sushi to steak, and the food is cooked on the premises by one or more of six “chefs.” They have 35 employees plus a pool of part-time help through a temp agency. The largest event done by Emerald Bay was 7,000 persons at Microsoft, and other events have involved Waterfront Festival, Tulip Festival, Economic Development Association of Skagit County, various weddings and corporate events. “We go anywhere and do anything,” Gail quips, “from class reunions to backstage catering for bands.” The smallest group they’ll do is about 25. They also serve aboard their yacht, the Never Say Never, as well as own a restaurant, the Pilot House Grill in Bellingham, and have kitchen and banquet facilities at the Bellingham Yacht Club. Another caterer, out of Ferndale, is Celebrity Catering, owned by Bob and Nancy Pace. He says they’re narrowing their focus from service catering to more of the summer and fall “fun events” outdoors or in less-formal settings. In that vein, they specialize in barbecue fare, including Polish sausages, hamburgers, chicken, steaks or pork ribs. Their buffets can feature a pasta bar with 35 kinds or any kind of food the client wants. The Paces have done Greek, Mexican, Thai, Japanese, French, Mediterranean and North African cuisine. Celebrity is available at 360-380-7578 or e-mail office@celebritycatering.com.
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