LITTLE CURRENT—Jody Elliott loves to cook, so much so that the restaurateur cooks three meals a day at home even though she puts in a full shift each day at the Little Current restaurant she and her husband Jason own and operate. Ms. Elliott recently announced the launch of a new cooking venture, Elliott’s Custom Catering.
She and her husband had calculated starting a catering venture in their original business plan, but settling into the restaurant has taken more of their attention than originally anticipated.
“Now that we have the staffing down solid at the restaurant—our staffing is great—we decided it was time to move on some of the other plans we had when we took over the restaurant,” said Ms. Elliott.
Ms. Elliott has been conducting research into what people are looking for in a catering service on Manitoulin these days and the results have been very exciting. “The people I have been talking to don’t necessarily want a set menu,” she discovered. “I originally had a set menu written up that we were going to offer, but then, after talking to people, we came up with a different business model.” Since Ms. Elliott enjoys creating different dishes, the concept of custom catering tailored to different tastes really resonated with her.
“So we will sit down with people to plan out what they want, who they are serving, where we are serving them, do they want to go fancy or more traditional and simple,” she said. But that doesn’t mean she has totally tossed the original menu she created for the business. “It’s custom catering, so if people want that set menu, that’s fine. But we are very flexible. If you want homemade soups, stuffed pork loin, a traditional roast beef, chicken or turkey dinner, we can do that too, but you aren’t limited.”
Ms. Elliott’s food offerings tend to the healthy side as well. “We find that a lot more people are being conscious about what they eat,” she said. “We get that. We like to eat healthy so we are very comfortable with dishes featuring chickpeas or quinoa.”
The catering options are also not limited to large groups or special events. “We can offer options for any size group or occasion, or just to do something a little different in the office,” said Ms. Elliott. “But we won’t be taking on weddings, yet.”
When it comes to catered buffets Elliott’s Custom Catering has another unique option for customers. “You can take the food left over home with you,” she said. “We will package it up for you and you can take it with you.” Ms. Elliott got the idea from her own wedding reception. “The next day we used the leftover food at the after party,” she said. “It worked out really well.”
Elliott’s Custom Catering can be contacted at 705-368-3370.
