Food for Thought with Alex Bielak - Roseto Catering - Just like Mama makes…

Roseto Catering - Just like Mama makes…

I had noticed the small sign for Roseto Catering and Culinary Services on the heritage building at 22 Mill St. South in Waterdown and kept meaning to stop to investigate; but each time I passed it before I knew it, heading down the curve into Smokey Hollow. When I did finally manage to drop in to pick up some items for supper (they are next door to the American House and have plenty of parking), I was warmly greeted by owners Anna Hansen and her mother Elizabeth Vespa.

While waiting for my order, I was particularly taken by an orange toffee biscuit on offer. “As with many things that are so fabulously delicious they’re really simple to make.” Anna said. Ingredients are butter, brown sugar, toffee pieces and a bit of sea salt to balance out the sweetness of the caramel. “Adding orange gives such a nice essence to the cookie” she added. She and Mama also sell cannoli made from scratch stuffed with a subtle white chocolate filling or, alternatively, chocolate, lemon, strawberry and peach.

I went home that day with some lovely Eggplant Parmigiana and Arancini di Riso for our family supper as
well as some of the afore-mentioned cannoli. The Arancini - a customer favorite - were delicious. Freshly-made that day by Elizabeth, they’re risotto balls stuffed with mozzarella, coated in breadcrumbs and fried and then served with tomato sauce. They’re clearly a labour of love, and at only $1.99 apiece, a loss leader I suspect.

While I was waiting to interview them on a subsequent visit, I chatted with the di Cesare family who wanted to pick up some food for a picnic. Mrs. di Cesare said, “I like coming here. It’s home-made Italian food, like eating food my mother used to make.” “Very authentic…it’s just like in Italy, you can get it made to order.” added Dad. “It smells really good too!” chipped in one of the kids.

Anna was the picture of concentration as she stood over a pair of induction burners at the back of the shop. She whipped up an order of tortellini a la briciola (“breadcrumbs toasted up in a little bit of olive oil and garlic, a very old Italian recipe for when you did not have any sauce on hand, and you coat the pasta with the mixture.”), and another of Penne in Marinara sauce with beef meatballs. Elizabeth made up two hefty buns with veal and chicken respectively. Arancini and Italian orange pops rounded out the order which clocked in at a very reasonable 43$. (The full in-store menu can be found here.)

The Retail location has been open since October 2011, but mother and daughter have been catering together for seven years, offering “small to medium sized event catering, personal in-house cooking services and specialized baking & meal orders.” The storefront was an idea suggested by clients to help promote the catering business, and Anna and Elizabeth have been happy with the results to date. “The catering side has been very busy since we’ve opened. People are able to get a taste and a visual of what we do, and they are pleased even before we do a catering job as they know what to expect.” said Anna.

Elizabeth relies on her store of experience and recipes built up over the years. She gives a lot of credit to her Mother-in-law for the latter. Her husband, who came to Canada when he was 14, was born in Roseto Valfortore, in the Province of Foggia (think the top of the heel of the Italian” boot”). Hence the name of their business.

Anna went to Liaison Culinary College and apprenticed with the Head Chef at the Carlisle Golf and Country club for five seasons, all the while taking on catering jobs and learning as she went. She was raised in Carlisle and went to school at St. Thomas, so Waterdown seemed an obvious choice for the storefront given a mostly Flamborough clientele.

Permits were challenging to get. The City had some problems with defining what they did, mixing a takeout and catering operation out of a heritage property. Anna is good natured about the run around I perceive she must have got, going back and forth obtaining a number of permits. “In the end it was a real learning experience (that took) the better part of a year before we were able to open.”

I concluded the interview quickly as it was clear I’d probably not come at the best time. The phone was ringing constantly with orders and clients were coming and going. “Are you managing both the store and the catering, or is it killing you?” I asked.

“It’s killing us,” Anna admitted, as Elizabeth laughed. “We’ll have to decide which (element) to focus on and it is pretty much guaranteed it will be the catering, as we do that really well. We’ll never shut this (the store) down, but we may not be doing a full menu the way we are now, and simplify things a little more.”

As I left Elizabeth said of her daughter, “She’s very enthusiastic and very passionate about what she’s doing.” That’s obvious, as is where she gets her inspiration from, since, as we know, behind every successful woman, stands another!

To see more pictures, click here

Alex (Alex can be reached at fft@thehamiltonian.info )

Food for Thought logo, designed and kindly donated by Ninka Bielak. Ninka can be reached at ninka.bielak@gmail.com.