When White Plains-based Combe Inc. ”“ makers of Aqua Velva, Grecian, Vagisil and other personal products ”“ hosted its Founder”™s Day picnic marking 62 years in business, the company turned to another “seasoned” pro for the festivities: Crystal Spoon in Elmsford.
Firing up a huge grill with 120 boneless sautéed chicken breasts, 220 burgers and 300 hot dogs (with natural casings, as requested), chef Richard Davis of Poughkeepsie ”“ “Grandson of Gov. Deane Chandler Davis of Vermont” and four years with Crystal Spoon ”“ said a barbecue offers sociability not available with other gatherings.
“At a sit-down Christmas party, you might talk to nine or 10 people at your table,” he said. “With a barbecue, you can walk around and talk to everybody. And Christmas-type parties are more expensive. I like the barbecues as a better event with more ability to mingle, yet it”™s still affordable.”
It could be a good time to be in the barbecue business, which Crystal Spoons runs as its Westchester Picnic Co. (The company also handles institutional and contract food services under the Crystal Spoon moniker and home-delivered gourmet meals under its Top Chef Meals banner.)
Crystal Spoon offers many options and a complete arc of pricing possibilities. The lowest-priced “no-frills” barbecue is $8 per person, up to what company President Paul Ghiron called “the ultimate steak and shrimp setup ”“ very elaborate” for $45 per person.
Crystal Spoon is six years old and Top Chef is 18 months. The company caters some 1,500 events per year “throughout the tristate region,” said Ghiron, adding, “We”™re the No. 1-ranked caterer in the Business Journals (Book of Lists) since 2005.”
Crystal Spoon will customize just about any food: “We catered a hospital bariatric unit” ”“ which deals with obesity ”“ “for an anniversary event,” Ghiron said. “Everyone wanted to support their method and their mission, so we presented low-carb foods, extensive hors d”™oeuvres. They were very specific to do it that way.”
Greenwich (Conn.) Hospital hosted its most-recent employee barbecue at Byram Shore Park. In the Hudson Valley, a Middletown corporation also contracted for a barbecue, although as Ghiron noted, “As we go up into the Hudson Valley ”“ into Putnam and Dutchess ”“ we see a larger percentage of business in private homes ”“ it”™s maybe 50-50 up there and more tilted toward the corporate farther south.”
The recession brought a 30 percent downturn in catering that last year began to reverse itself. This year”™s bookings to date are 10 percent greater than 2010. With the help of a revamped web menu, the company ratcheted up its online business 300 percent in 2010 compared with 2009.
When it”™s all added up, Ghiron said his business is off about 20 percent from pre-recession highs and he calls that a bellwether of overall business in the region: “Handling weddings and bar mitzvahs and the like is different. People are going to do them no matter what ”“ they”™re going to get married or have the bar mitzvah ”“ even if they scale back. But businesses do these events more by choice, so I think we”™re a very good barometer for business activity,” he said.
The company employs 14 full-time and expands as individual projects demand. “We”™ve had no weird requests for Komodo dragons or anything like that,” he said. “But we just got two contracts to provide lunches for two camps: one in Westchester and one on the Westchester-Putnam border.”
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