– Our Story –

[ THIS IS how IT ALL BEGAN ]

Marie Call, Teresa Deoreo & Hershel started met while working for the catering company in Cleveland, Ohio called The Sheridan Group. Hershel was a cook and learned his craft as a cook for the United States Army. 

Hershel died in 1978 at 66 years old.

Tish enjoys the business as it is both challenging and satisfying. Presents enough unique challenges but has never been overwhelming and is extremely comfortable with the work being involved i catering and restaurant industry for for decades.

Mike Deoreo was the family cook which most of the original recipes were derived from. Mike's son Rich learned these recipes, styles and techniques from his father Mike. Although Rich never intended to make cooking his profession, the skills came naturally to him while learning from his father.

In the year XXXX while working together at the Sheridan Group, Teresa, Hershel & Marie Call decided to branch off and start their own catering company. The original name of the company was DELL which was derived from the "DE" of Deoreo and the "LL" from Call.

In the beginning, the Teresa & Marie ran the company as Rich Deoreo and Hershel worked as the cooks. Once Hershel died, Flo Deoreo stepped in as a cook. Originally DELL had a set specific menu which provided simplicity to the business which allowed them to accomodate large events. The menu primarily consisted of pasta, meatballs, beans, roast beef and chicken.

This structure continued for many years, until Flo unexpectedly passed away. It was then that Flo's daughter Patricia Antonelli (Tish Mekker) began cooking for the company. Since Flo's passing was unexpected, DELL had events already booked which threw Tish into the business abruptly and she never looked back.