BE Catering Is Shutting Down Storefront Location, Read The Heartfelt Letter From Its Owner
/UPDATE: To be clear, they’re only losing their storefront location but are still a catering company with the ability to serve all.
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The popular BE Catering storefront location (located at Charlotte and Park) has become a casualty of the economic crisis we’re in. Read the heartfelt letter posted to their Facebook page below from its owner Bonnie Kubica….
“This is a letter to let all of you know what’s been happening over on our corner of Charlotte and Park Streets. For the past six weeks, we have made so many soups, casseroles, lasagnes and curries, with the help of our wonderful cooks and staff. Thank you so much for your support of us and our local community, it is greatly, greatly appreciated! We are sad to announce that we will be leaving our facilities at the end of this month.
It warms my heart to think of everyone who has come through our doors, people we have gotten to know so well, some of you we got to see on a daily basis. We will remember fondly all of our in house bistro dinners, parties with live bands, Christmas get togethers and the celebrations with our food and drinks.
Bonnie Kubica at far left with team (picture via BE Catering Facebook page)
We will remember fondly all of the coffees (Americanos!) served, the muffins and scones, the BLT’s, ALT’s, soups, focaccia, and salads, lunches, breakfasts......
Our lease is up at the end of the month and we were unable to come to an agreement with the landlord, after 8 months of negotiations. They originally wanted to raise our rent by 87%. We tried to come to an interim agreement when the pandemic hit, but to no avail. We made the decision to store our equipment and tools, and will be moving out of our beloved kitchens at the end of this month.
This was a very difficult decision to make in a very turbulent and trying time for everyone. I have had a professional kitchen since BE Catering began in 1998, almost 22 years. I will miss my sunny mornings and afternoons looking out my big kitchen window, chatting with fellow cooks, making food. We did a lot of good, hard work. I know this decision for us is the right one.
Picture via BE Catering Facebook page
The core component of our business is catering for large gatherings of people, namely, weddings, parties and conferences. Since large events are not allowed to happen for the foreseeable future, this means that over 90% of our business has disappeared for 2020. If you have booked a party with us, or a wedding for this year, and hope to reschedule if we are allowed to congregate at a later date, I do have ability to work out of professional kitchens, so don’t fret.
We’re not going anywhere, just going dormant for a little while, while we take some time and space to figure out what catering, our true profession, will look like in the future. We hope that we can have smaller get togethers to celebrate being together, as we all so desperately crave at the moment. And we will be there to cook and serve wonderful handmade local food for you, with the same heart and honesty we have always strove to provide.
Picture via BE Catering Facebook page
