Progress, Inch by Inch

Slowly but surely we are getting there.  If you walk by the storefront it still looks a long ways off, but its not really.  This week the ac unit is installed, drywall gets done, and concrete patching finished.  Rough plumbing is done, electrical is almost entirely complete, and we got it painted Sunday.
 

We even are getting ready to hire folks.  All the chairs and tables have been purchased.  Big equipment shows up end of October... and well, you know... then I guess its time to open the doors. 

Wedding Season is Officially Over

The wedding rehearsals and receptions are all finished up for 2009.  Yeah! Another successful year of feeding newlyweds and their loved ones great food on their first day of holy matrimony. 

Since we last checked in we gave sustenance to Sasha and her loved one, Janel and her baseball loving Brent, aviation inspired Jerry and Janet, NY NY living Sheri and Erick, Kristina and her beau, and Seattle-ites Cindy and Seth.  All totalled 22 receptions and rehearsal dinners from May 31st to October 3rd.

Other recent catering fun has included a Macy's appetizer party for happy shoppers, feeding Democrats (this company will gladly feed Republicans as well), feeding Masons (will also feed Odd Fellows, Eagles, Shriners, and all other special clubs), snacks for Kerloo Cellars coming out party, Sheep to Shawl at the Kirkman House, a cooking class for Whitman Sorority girls, and another lovely dinner at Reininger.

Palmares: A few recent customer comments.
"I didn’t get a chance to see you before you left, but wanted you to know how much we enjoyed the lamb lunch. It was heavenly! Thanks for hitting another one out of the ballpark!" - Kirsten

"John,  The dinner was fabulous. And, let me tell you, this group isn't always easy to please. Everyone was still raving about it today. You NAILED the tenderloin. It was perfectly cooked. The vegetables were fresh and amazing and the dessert was totally yummy!  Thank you for making Kurt's birthday wonderful!  If you ever need a testimony for a client, let me know."
- Jennifer

"John I meant to email you last Friday - our lunch was AMAZING! Everyone gave you 'high 5's' - thanks so much. It tasted great - just my kind of food - fresh, wholesome! Your presentation was nice too." - Laurien

"That was the best lamb we have ever had!" - Mary Jane Fehrenbacher (She grows the lamb, I cooked it for Sheep to Shawl, her lamb is really spectacular, it is what I bring to any wine dinner we do lamb for, truly special stuff)

"I heard that Jen’s party was delightful as I knew it would be. I just wanted to say thank you again so much for making it a special evening for the girls. They loved the “lesson” and I understand that the food was outstanding as well." - Sara

Even got quoted in the paper from the Sheep to Shawl luncheon:
The owner and operator of Graze Catering was serving braised and grilled lamb with a Harissa sauce.  “I love it. I absolutely love it. It is probably one of my favorite meats to work with. And it’s a great local product,” Lastoskie said, noting Fehrenbacher’s lamb goes great with local syrahs.

Now that the Summer is over, and the slower days and cooler weather have returned, it is time to finally get down to business and get this storefront rolling. 

First step: buy lots and lots of stuff.... and then go back for more.

Cheers

Happy Anniversary!!! ...Really I Am Not Making This Up

We signed the lease today for a downtown location.  5 South Colville will be our eatery, 213 South 9th will remain our catering kitchen.  We are gonna call it Graze.  What else could we possibly name it? 

Our tagline for Graze Catering is "a beautiful catered event" (English majors seem to have a problem with the grammar of that phrase, me not so much).  Our tagline for Graze is going to be "a place to eat".  Because really all we want is our little 750 square foot shop to turn out nice, honest, and wholesome food at very affordable prices.  A lunch place by design, so sandwiches, salads, soups, and lots of deliveries.

Three years ago to this day, September 1st, I signed the lease to the catering kitchen, a solitary cook running a one man show.  And now here we are today on September 1st, signing a second lease.  It is truly amazing how far this little catering business has come in three years.  Here are two photos of the catering kitchen, after (!!!) I had gone to the restaurant supply to get ready to cook.  The place looks barren in comparison with today. (now we have trouble finding where to put things!)

Three years ago I had an idea of what Graze Catering would be, and I was scared and frightened beyond belief.  Today we (the wife, the employees, and me) have an idea of what Graze "a place to eat" will be, and we are also scared and frightened beyond belief.  (Do you have any idea how much money one can lose in the restaurant business?)  But its a good and energetic scare... and we are looking forward to serving you soon.

Cheers

Signing Day Cometh

We are gonna sign.  We are gonna sign.  We are gonna sign.  Tomorrow!!!

Cheers

Palmares

Palmares is a cycling term meaning a list of great accomplishments. Our version of palmares.

"John, Thank you for catering our event on Saturday. The food that you provided was fantastic and our guests really enjoyed it. You and Pete did a great job putting the menu together. The cook that was on site also did a great job." - Zuzana (Bellevue Athletic Club Tour, lunch at Reininger and appetizers at Dunham)

"Dear John,
We are so appreciative of the wonderful lunch you prepared for our wedding at Grant House. The entire menu was fabulous, with such wonderful attention to detail. From the fresh vegetables (those heirloom tomatoes--oh, heaven) to the delicious dolma to the outstanding flank steak skewers (I think several people wept at the experience of eating them) everything was perfection. Our guests loved their meal and your ears must've been burning from all the compliments. You made our special day all the more special. Thank you for everything. I really look forward to eating your food as soon as I can. We will certainly recommend you to anyone looking for the best." --- all best, Marie and Rick (Wedding luncheon for 50)

"Hi John: Thank you so much for all you did for our wedding. It really was a perfect day for both of us, and we received rave reviews about the food, so many thanks to you and your crew on that end." -- Carrie and Dean (Wedding at Mill Creek Garden for 120)

"This morning our folks were still talking about last night's dinner. The food and your staff were wonderful!" --- Amanda, Washington State Dental Association (Basel Cellars Buffet for 60)

"We all thoroughly enjoyed it. One couple in our group is relatively new to me. I didn't know he doesn't like beets and she dislikes lamb. He ate every single beet and loved it and she still hasn't stopped talking about the lamb. She usually eats half of what is on her plate for weight loss, but licked it clean. Two converts!" --- Zari (Dinner for 12, five courses, at Reininger)

New Favorite Things:

• I am always running into clients who would make really really really great catering coordinators. Amanda from the Washington State Dental Association would be perfect. When she tried to book us for their yearly gala event, which they hope to hold at Basel Cellars... in 2012, I knew she would be perfect for the job.

Cheers

Time flies... when you are busy.

My father reminded me the other day I haven't posted anything on the blog in a while. When he named the date, June 22nd I realized two things. 1) My parents pay more attention than I think, and 2) that was a long long time ago.

So here is what Graze Catering has been up to the last month and a half.

Shanna got hitched at a private residence and we did a family style dinner under a big old tent and a pretty blue sky for a bunch of people. And Caitly and her beau tied the knot and partied down at Mill Creek Garden.

The Columbia County Grain Growers ate a bunch of prime rib at their annual meeting, and the Farm Credit folks let us grill up some tasty meat at Mannina Cellars for their special guests.

Prescott High School held their annual all class reunion and Reininger hosted some folks for a good old fashioned hootenanny. Rachel's daughter had a reheasal dinner on the Fourth of July, and the folks at Con Agra had us back to do a posole feed for their entire work crew. Then we went back to Reininger for a WSU event, and then back again for a really fun and yummy intimate dinner.

What Now Productions let us cook lunch and dinner for an entire month for a movie shoot, Leah got married at Mill Creek Garden, Kristi got married at the future site of Reynvaan Family Vineyard, Sykes had us do a company bbq for 800 employees, Washington Dental Association ate like kings at Basel Cellars, Carrie and Dean tied the knot at Mill Creek Garden, Nikki bound herself in matrimony and threw a big old party at Assumption Parish Hall, Tracy's daughter tied the knot and we cooked it up at Three Rivers Winery, Shakespeare UnCorked let us host their pre-opening night dinner, and Rick and Marie hitched up and had us do a really pleasant luncheon.

Somewhere in there the family went camping in Hood River, the wife and children went to Portland, the wife and I escaped without children to Joseph OR for one glorious and peaceful night, my softball team reached the championship game before losing in heartbreaking fashion, and I missed the 2009 Walla Walla Wiffleball Tournament due to a very special wedding (even though I vowed to cater and win the thing last year, I re-vow for 2010).

And just this last week a space came up for lease downtown... there may be a few more hours in the day.

Cheers

Palmares

Palmares is a cycling term which means a list of great accomplishments. Our version of palmares. A thank you from our Greek Wedding.

"Hi John,
I just wanted to tell you how impressed and utterly amazed I was by your quick and perfect set-up, great servers, and most of all, your fantastic food! I knew you guys were good but WOW.... we were blown away and so were all of our guests. I had at least 10 people independently comment on how fantastic the food was and how pleasant the whole wedding was... which would not have been possible without you and your crew. It was such a pleasure to work with you...

So, please pass along to your servers and staff how pleased we were by the top-notch, friendly, efficient service and to you: what an amazing meal. We LOVE good food and eat out frequently at delicious restaurants and your food was some of the best I've had.

Thank you again for being so easy to work with and helping make our wedding night and party memorable and highly enjoyable.

All the best,
Carolyn (& Pete)

Carolyn's Greek Fest and Leann's Tex-Mex Throwdown

Two more down. Fourteen more to go (we picked up another wedding this week).

Here is how a typical conversation with a bride and groom transpires. I ask what they like food wise, what the feel of the reception will be like, and if any themes are possible to build around. Carolyn let it slip that her future husband has a crazy long and confusing Greek name, something like Korfilaiatisisas (but not really, I never once tried to pronounce it, people mangle my seemingly simple Lastoskie daily). So I proposed a greek buffet and they loved the idea. Leann told me she loved mashed potatoes, and heard we made really good ones, but then she mentioned many family guests were from the Southwest, so we tossed the mashers idea out the window and went with a simple Tex-Mex theme.

The Greek Bazaar was in the Dunham Cellars Hangar Room (they are still undecided if wedding receptions will be held there often, but it is a great spot, beg and plead to let them be your host). Here is a shot of the reception room.

Mill Creek Garden played host for the Tex Mex Reception, awesome hosts as always. We didn't bring the camera to the reception, hopefully some will be emailed our way.

New Favorites Things

• Greek Mothers. Pete's mom approached me towards the end of the evening and offered beautiful words regarding our food and service. I thanked her profusely and asked if the buffet was Greek enough (as this was our first crack at a Greek themed... anything). "It was soooo Greek!" she exclaimed. "Oh my goodness, my husband even told me this is better and more Greek than his cooking!" Kinder words could not have be offered.
  
• The Grill at Dunham. We grilled/roasted 20 whole chickens that had been marinating in oregano, lemon, pepper, and salt for 24 hours. That machine is incredible, it sounds like a jet engine when the burners are on. I can't wait to use it again.

Cheers

Andrea and Michaela's Weddings (Not to each other)

Two down, Fifteen to go.

We kicked off the wedding season in grand style Saturday. Andrea and Marc celebrated their union at Hence Cellars with 175 guests and a huge appetizer buffet. Michaela and Taylor filled Areus for a 130 person family style meal blowout.

Taylor and Michaela's Menu
- passed appetizers during cocktail hour
- whole leaf ceasar salad, poached salmon, poached shrimp, seared scallops, garlicky croutons
- red wine glazed grilled beef tenderloin with bordelaise sauce, rosemary grilled chicken with herbed vinaigrette, israeli cous cous and spring vegetables
- blanched asparagus, roasted walla walla spring onions, sauteed morels

Andrea and Marc's Menu
- too many appetizers to list... here are the highlights
- deviled whole egg, caper, shallot, dijon, mayo mixture
- french styled pulled pork
- paninis, turkey and bacon, portabella mushroom and roasted red pepper
- shrimp and scallop skewers with lemon butter

New (not so) Favorite Things:

• My son was born 5 1/2 years ago. After a short nicu stay and a healthy period of growth the head lady and I threw a party in his honor. I was a teacher at the time, but did the food for the 70 or so guests out of our little kitchen. It was a Spring theme, asparagus, grilled oysters, a picnic ham, and one of my favorite things ever, deviled eggs (a version ever so similar to Chef Rick Mahan's at Waterboy in Sacramento). To be tricky, I perfectly hard boiled 150 eggs, had my 80 year old grandmother peel most of them (she always wants a job, to this day she reminds me of her slow egg torture) (which left us with 100 perfectly intact eggs), sliced off a bit from the bottom, sliced off a cap from the top, scooped out the yolk (which left us 80 intact eggs), made the deviled mixture, piped the mix into the standing eggs (which left us with 70 intact eggs), and put the original top back on. The end result is a standing hard boiled egg, unblemished, filled unbeknowst to the guest with pure delight. I was thrilled with the result, but downcast due to the amazing amount of time and effort it required. I vowed never to do them again for more than say... ten people. But I am stupid, and forgetful, and temporarily lost my mind when discussing the menu with Andrea and her mother (Anne from Amore Flowers). And so I agreed, no proposed, to do my special eggs for 175 people. And the day before the reception I spent 5 and 1/2 hours working on eggs... only eggs. So again I proclaim (and will probably forget) to never again do my special eggs for more than 10 people.

Cheers

Palmares

It has been a busy May here at Graze Catering. So busy we keep forgetting the camera. Here are two very nice thank you's from two very nice clients.

From Shari and Otto's 25th anniversary dinner at Longshadows. A four course family style meal. Arugula and Beet Salad, Sweet Onion Soup and Caramelized Onion Custard, Olive Oil Poached Halibut with Red Onion Jam, Fehrenbacher Farm Leg of Lamb with Crispy Polenta Cakes and Creamed Spinach, Dessert from The Patisserie.

"John: We can't thank you enough for what was truly the highlight of our anniversary weekend. Our dinner at Longshadows was absolutely amazing, from the appetizers through dessert. I could live on that beet salad! The tables were beautiful and your crew did a great job. Right down to the full moon and beautiful view, the evening was perfect. If you ever need recommendations, please use our name. We think we had one friend taking pictures that night. We will check with him and forward you anything we have."

Thanks again.Shari and Otto Klein

From the Kirkman House luncheon. A plated composed salad, Butter Lettuce Leaf with a Roast Chicken Waldorf Salad, Patisserie Mini Croissant, Blanched Asparagus with Romanesco Sauce, and a Perfect Hard Boiled Egg.

"Hi John, Thank you so much for all of your hard work; I cannot say enough about the perfect meal and service for the Kirkman House’s inaugural luncheon! The mix of foods, the portions, the presentation….it was all wonderful. I look forward to working with you in the future."

Regards, Kirsten R. Schober Executive DirectorKirkman House Museum

Cheers