After many years in this wonderful yet crazy industry we have had the opportunity to work with some amazing vendors. If there is one thing better than a professional vendor, it would have to be a great friendor (vendor + friend = friendor)!
Our clients always ask, “Do you have a preferred vendors list?”, “What makes them preferred?”, “ What do they have to offer?”. We reached out to our friends and interviewed them just for you!
Find out how long they have been in business, some advice/tips, and who they are through our “Friendors Blog Series”.
To kick off our inaugural series, we sat down with Vanessa Yeung, the amazing lady-boss of Aphrodite Cooks, a west-Toronto catering company that provides deliciousness all across the GTA. From working as Ed Belfour's personal chef, to being trained as an apprentice at one of Canada's top restaurants, Scaramouche, Vanessa opened Aphrodite Cooks in hopes to bring people together in love and food.
Here's our chat below:
How long have you been in business?
Aphrodite Cooks started in 2006. So that would be 11 years.
What made you choose this career path?
A love of food and the power it has to bring people together in auspicious moments.
Do you have any laughs or stories to share of your experience working with Kim and her team?
Our first wedding with Envision was a memorable one.... and was also a few firsts for us a wedding caterer. One week before the wedding the final guest count grew by 30. But the bigger hurdle was that of moving the entire wedding to a new venue with less than 5 days. Kim used her magical wedding powers to secure, in my humble opinion as a chef and caterer, a better venue. The kitchen was better equipped to serve the menu that was chosen and we as the caterer were able to make some great food for the guests to enjoy. In our 11 years of catering we had never had these situations.
What's your favourite part of being in the wedding industry?
Being part of a significant event in someone’s life, by far!
What advice do you have for a couple when they begin planning and looking into your services/field of expertise?
When a couple chooses a venue they need to understand that the kitchen or even lack of kitchen facilities could play a large role in determining their menu. The other factor that will play into the menu for a wedding is your budget. Knowing how much you want to spend on just food will greatly determine what can be served at your wedding.
For more information on the different types of services that Aphrodite Cooks offers (including her yummy cooking classes!) visit her website here.
Happy noshing!
Dianne