Catering to her passion for food, Happy Valley-Goose Bay woman opens new business
For Doris Patey, working three straight weeks in a Muskrat Falls kitchen with one week off every month just wasn't cutting it — she needed a change.
"I didn't like the rotation in there … I said, 'I got to figure out something to do,'" said Patey.
"I called my husband and I said, 'We need to build a piece on the house' … I think I'm going to start catering in Goose Bay.'"
At first, she said, her husband thought she was crazy — but he quickly changed his mind, and within weeks construction had begun. Roughly six months later, Jemm Catering in Happy Valley-Goose Bay was open for business.
"The place is done and I'm officially opened and a licensed food establishment," Patey told CBC Radio's Labrador Morning, adding that she's the only licensed caterer in the area.
"I'm amazed, I was half-frightened to death, I mean it cost us a lot of money to do this," she said. "Since I put it on Facebook and got it out there, it's just been calls after calls coming through."
What's in a name?
Patey said a lot of thought and help from family and friends went into picking the catchy name, Jemm, which represents her husband and three sons, Jeremy, Eric, Markus and Michael.
Cooking has always been part of Patey's life, whether it was preparing meals for family or for work.
She worked at the mess hall at Canadian Forces Base Goose Bay for around eight years, starting as a kitchen helper. She said she just kept going from there.
Catering to the palate
The menu includes the basics like meat, sandwich and fruit trays but Patey is aiming to please by whipping up whatever her customers desire.
"Seafood trays, char pinwheel things that I do … it could be a pizza dip, it could be a salad — whatever anybody wants, I will accommodate them," she said.
While Patey is excited about how well her new business has taken off, she wants to keep things modest and has no plans to bite off more than she can chew.
"I don't want to go crazy. I'd like to keep it small — just maybe myself and have one person staff here, maybe two," said Patey.
"I just want to enjoy it, I love cooking, I love being in the kitchen … so now I just [have] to walk through a door and now I'm here. I don't have to go out in the cold or anything, it's perfect."
'Learning process'
Patey felt there was a market for a catering business in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Due to the high price of food in Labrador, Patey said her catering prices may seem a little outrageous.
She said managing her costs is a "learning process," and that she is doing her best to keep them reasonable.
Comfort food
Patey had a friend who was going through chemotherapy which made it difficult for her to enjoy a home-cooked meal and longed to be able to cook for herself and her family.
As part of growing her business, Patey hopes to go that extra mile and be able to provide some comfort and peace of mind to other people in need.
"If someone is going through an illness of some sorts that they still want home-cooked meals, that I will be able to make the meals … and deliver it to them so it will be the same as if they cooked it themselves."
