Photography by Stephen Buchanan
Crave Catering Co. | cravecateringco.com
Kevin Devine debated for a while about whether he should start his own catering business. He’d spent 20 years catering for different companies, including a stint as a contractor for Google, where he won two catering-related awards. He got his perfect opportunity to venture out on his own when his mother, Susan Cordner, suggested he organize a party for about 100 people for the company Advance Air, where she worked in 2018.
The catering job was a big hit. And with about $2,000 in profits, he launched his own company—Crave Catering Co.—in Bowie in December of 2018. He plans to relocate to Edgewater in 2022. “I decided to go after it then and there,” Devine explains.
Examples of food themes he offers on his menu include Americana, Rustic Tuscan, French Countryside, and Simply Done Well. “Being able to take different bits and pieces of various cultures and applying them to dishes here in America has given us a nice spin on offerings,” Devine says.
Devine runs the company with his wife, Etoye. They both earned culinary degrees from Johnson and Whales University in Rhode Island. We talked to Kevin about what separates Crave Catering Co. from other similar businesses, his food themes, and some of the customer’s favorite foods.
Tell me about your background as a chef.
I went into the health care industry first. Cooking for hospitals and a retirement community. That was as a lead chef. After that, I realized I wanted to have a better outlet to express my creativity. So, I worked for a catering company for four years. After that, I went into corporate dining doing café service for various law firms in Washington, D.C., for 10 years. We did a lot of catering. Everywhere I have worked there has been a heavy presence of catering.
Did working as a contractor for Google at their D.C. office give your career a boost?
It did. Being able to put that name next to yours is a huge plus. It took what I was offering and helped me rise to another level. It made me top tier. The awards were for excellence in our events, food and service, and as best catering team in the Americas. That’s out of all the hundreds of offices in North and South America.
Why did you decide to start your own business?
We felt we had to move on with what was going to be best for us. My wife is my partner. It was time to move into something that was going to be ours. We had taken the 20-plus years in the catering and food service industry and wanted to use what we learned to make our own statement and put our own spin on it. I have always enjoyed working at weddings and providing great food is the cornerstone of what we love to do. So being able to do that on our own terms is what really propelled us forward.
What type of events are you catering now? What event do you cater most often?
Most of what we cater is weddings. People held off getting married and we are now having a resurgence. We had nine weddings in late summer. We also are doing a lot more social events—anything outside of a wedding. Anniversaries, bar mitzvahs. That’s because corporate America has not quite returned to full capacities, like in Baltimore, Washington, and, even, Annapolis.
Why did you decide to go with Americana as a theme?
It’s really taking what we know as typical American Cuisine—great meats vegetables and things like that and elevating them by adding different nuances. My time cooking with Google gave me a tremendous international perspective on foods—being able to take different bits and pieces from different cultures and apply that to dishes we know well here in America. It has proven to give us a nice spin on our offerings.
Did you develop the Tuscan and French themes because people were asking for them?
I always found when I talked to clients—specifically wedding clients—a lot of them had themes in mind for their events or weddings. I thought it would be great to take some of the world’s most loved cuisines and develop something around them. With our Tuscan theme, you will see Italian foods in there. French Countryside is a cuisine you may experience outside of the big cities in France. Everybody can find something they will like, and their guests will like. We are not limited to those. We can come up with something custom to meet your vision of what your event is going to be. We have a great idea of just about any cuisine across the world. We are well-versed in many global cuisines. We want to build something custom, fun, and event-driven.
What is most popular theme? What item do the customers crave?
I will be very honest. The American menu. It’s casual in nature, but it’s well-elevated. There’s something at the event that everybody will like, from grandpas to nieces. It’s great American foods everybody will love. Customers love the Citrus Sweet Potatoes. It’s something we take that is very familiar and we just amplify it with fresh orange, maple syrup, and a dash of cinnamon. It just takes it to another level and is phenomenal.
What other food items are very popular?
It’s not on any of the themed menus. It’s on the plated options. The red wine braised beef short ribs with the porcini mushrooms is one of those cold-weather, stick-to-your-bones flavor bombs. You can cut the short ribs with a spoon. It’s just a savory explosion in your mouth. If I had to call one of our things a signature dish, it would be that. It’s grandma’s beef stew on steroids.
Where do you source your food from?
We use a lot of local vendors. We utilize farmer’s markets in Anne Arundel County whenever we can, and also the small mom and pop producers for other items. We probably get half of our items from Maryland. It’s important to source as much as we can from local farms. We are pretty solid about our mission and supporting them.
What is the difference between your catering company and others?
We are chef-driven with a heavy emphasis on service—just on another level. We are very thoughtful on how we construct our menus and how we construct our experience as a whole, from the bar service to the lemons on the table. Everything is put together in a seamless package. We will fulfill everybody’s vision for their event.
Photography by Stephen Buchanan
Whipped Sweet Potatoes with Citrus
Serves 4
- 1-1 1/2 pounds Whole
- sweet potatoes about the size of a baked potato (smaller size)
- 4 Tbsp Unsalted butter,
- at room temperature,
- cut into small pieces
- 1 Tbsp Kosher salt
- 1 small orange zested
- and juiced, discarding flesh
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup
Method of Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and wash potatoes, do not peel
3. Place potatoes on baking sheet and put in the oven for approximately 40 minutes. (Cooking times may vary depending on size of potato.)
4. Potatoes should be soft and easily mashed
5. Remove potatoes from the oven and allow to cool until they are able to be handled.
6. With your hands, peel away the skin and place into a mixer bowl.
7. Add butter, salt, orange zest and juice, and maple syrup. Then whip with a whisk attachment or beaters until all ingredients are incorporated well and potatoes appear smooth and fluffy.
8. Serve warm.
Roasted Coriander Carrots
Serves 4
- 1 pound tri color carrots or standard orange carrots are fine, peeled, and left whole
- 1 Tbsp good quality olive oil
- 2 tsp. Kosher Salt
- 1 tsp. Ground coriander
- tsp. Ground cumin
- tsp. Fresh cracked black pepper
- 1 Tbsp Real Maple Syrup
Method of preparation:
1. Preheat your oven to 400 ℉
2. Rinse and peel carrots, but leave them whole
3. In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients to create a bit of a spice “paste”.
4. Toss carrots in the bowl covering them thoroughly with the spice mixture and oil.
5. Place on a foil lined baking sheet/sheet tray and place on middle rack of your oven.
6. Cook carrots for approximately 25 minutes or until they begin to brown.
7. Carrots should be slightly tender, but not mushy.
8. Remove from the oven and carefully drizzle the carrots with maple syrup. Using a spatula gently move the carrots around the sheet tray coating them with the Maple syrup.
9. You can serve the carrots whole or cut them on an angle into 1 inch long pieces.
Simple Salt and Pepper Salmon
Serves 4
- 1 pounds skinless salmon filet
- 2 Tbsp Olive oil
- 1 Tbsp Kosher salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- Method of Preparation
1. Cut Salmon into 4 equal pieces, approximately 6oz portions
2. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the filets equally
3. Warm a heavy bottom skillet over medium to medium-high heat
4. Once pan is warm, add the olive oil into the pan and rotate pan to coat the bottom.
5. Add salmon filet and do not touch for 4 minutes.
6. Then with a fish spatula, carefully flip over the filets to cook the other side for another 4 minutes.
7. Fish is cooked when the filets are firm to the touch and well browned. Cooking times can vary slightly depending on the thickness of your filets.
8. Serve immediately.
