NORTH BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL EVENT

Impact Napa

Tuesday, August 26, 2008, 8-10:45 a.m., Napa Valley Marriott, Napa

Best Places to Work 2008 Awards Reception

September 25, 2008, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Doubletree Hotel, Rohnert Park

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HOSPITALITY: Elaine Bell: First, lift that 30-gallon pot, then build Wine Country’s leading catering company

NAPA – As the leading lady of Napa’s first and most prominent catering company, it’s hard to believe nearly three decades ago a 30-gallon pot of soup almost meant the end before the beginning for Elaine Bell.

“It was literally my first step into a professional kitchen when the chef looked at me and pointed to a 30 gallon pot of soup and said, ‘Oh, no young lady, if you can’t lift that you can’t work in my kitchen,’” said Ms. Bell, owner and founder of Elaine Bell Catering.

“There were not a lot of women in culinary school in those days; I was one of 20 in a class of 1,200. But I learned that male or female wasn’t the issue. Skill and talent had to prevail. It forced me to be focused and have confidence in my own ability.”

And graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., she did more than persist. At the age of 25, she started her catering company and brought fine dining literally into the vineyards for the first time.

“My husband worked in wineries, and he needed to entertain. There were very few people cooking at the level I was, and that really catapulted my business to the top very quickly,” she said.

It started with a two-burner propane range she dragged into the vineyards, where she would make the valley hillsides her dining hall by setting up tables between the rows of grapes.

Though she was still doing most of the work herself, including sewing her own uniforms, the budding chef and caterer broke $1 million in her third year, and it would be another three years before she had any substantial competition. Just in the first few days of her fourth year, she’d booked more business than the entire previous year.

“All of a sudden, my employees started leaving to work for other companies or starting their own business, and people would ask me, ‘Doesn’t that make you upset that they are stealing your best people?’

“But the way I look at it, they helped me build the industry here, and when new catering companies began to appear I knew that I had helped inspire a new way of business. This is a great source of pride for me, and I continue to work toward a strong culinary industry and distinguish Napa Valley as the place to entertain in the United States.”

Even 26 years later, Ms. Bell still spends time behind the stove, but now it’s in a kitchen the size of an Olympic swimming pool neighboring a warehouse filled floor to ceiling with crystal dishes, designer decorations, silver flatware and other event supplies.

“I have a tremendous passion for this business. I love creating something beautiful, and I always make sure that it is ‘Elaine Bell quality,’” she said.

Today, the company has a staff of more than 150 and caters about 600 events a year, ranging from a wedding or business event of 2,000 to small dinners of 30 or 40.

In the past few years she has also grown her business in other ways, providing cuisine for the Stonetree Golf Club in Novato and taking on a corporate catering business called Picnic People NorCal.

She said her goal is to double the size of the business in the next five years by challenging herself in new ways by expanding to events in San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Sacramento and Stockton.

“It’s a real honor for me to be chosen for this award by the business community. It’s different than being recognized for my cooking because that is what I do,” she said. “I would just say to other women in business to take pride and to be themselves and not be afraid.”

Elaine Bell Catering is located at 776 Technology Way in Napa. The space contains a showroom where guests can do tastings, a 5,000-square-foot kitchen, an events warehouse and an administrative office. Those interested in catering events can call 707-603-1400.

The company has a variety of menu items for weddings, vegetarian dinners, wine country events and corporate gatherings, but they also offer custom dishes and menus. She has an array of organic plates and options including produce used by sustainable farmers.

Elaine Bell Catering has been recognized as best of Sonoma and Napa catering 14 times by Napa’s KVON-KVYN’s readers’ polls, and Ms. Bell is the Baille of the San Francisco chapter of Chaine des Rotisseurs, an international food and wine society.

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