Missy Will Wine & Catering Events

Catering takes many forms; it all depends on what the customer is looking for. Many caterers have a specialty, a niche they fill. In Missy Will’s case, it’s all about the balance between food and wine.

Photo: Missy Will

Missy grew up with parents who invested in restaurants. She was raised to eat in a healthy manner and respect the food they raised in their garden. Meals were based on what foods spoke to them; what they desired to eat that day. Her parents paired wine with each dinner.

For 25 years of married life, she supported her husband by designing, executing and assisting with dinners/events for his customers. Unlike most corporate wives, these were not just in their home. They would take over restaurants or museums. After 25 years of this, you get pretty good. She also attended many cooking classes from Williams-Sonoma over a period of ten years. She tried to sign up for a soufflé class at the Laguna, California, Culinary Arts Professional Chef Program and, although it was full, the instructor told her to come anyway. The school became the first professional culinary school to take the 18 month Le Cordon Bleu advance course and intensify it into a six-month course. Missy signed on.

At the time school began, she was a vegetarian. Two weeks into the course, she was very disturbed at having to work with animals, "things with a mother and face." She asked herself "What would Alice Waters do?" Having no idea, she called and spoke to an assistant who said he would let her know. The answer came back: you just have to work through it. So she did and graduated number one in her class, receiving her Professional Chef Certification. She still loves vegetarian fare, but also makes "the world’s best rack of lamb."

From 2006-2007, she was the Cooking School Director at Villa Cucina in San Clemente, California, overseeing nine chefs and seven kitchen assistants. She ensured that students not only learned technique, but understood how their dishes could hold nutritional value and be presented beautifully, enhancing the dining experience. Her specialty even then was pairing wine with healthful food.

Looking for something new after her divorce, she connected with Carol Dearth of Rain City Cooking School, now known as Sizzleworks. Carol was looking for someone to do culinary team building events and handle operations. Missy moved to Kirkland to become the Executive Chef/Operations. She created events, held wine tastings and Guest Chef Nights as well as winemaker dinners featuring top Washington wines to pair with meals.

Her next step was to become the Executive Chef and Events Director at Woodhouse Estates Winery in Woodinville in 2009. She created cooking classes, events, team building, food and wine pairings and client appreciation parties. Her first cooking class was for Cinco de Mayo and she produced a very fun event based on her time spent in Mexico. The class sold out and had a waiting list. "This past year at Woodhouse has been one of my happiest," Missy says. "We had over 1,600 people in the Woodhouse kitchen over a period of five months. We had guests like the president of the Northwest Whole Foods and the executive chef of Land ‘O Lakes working on new product development and recipes. Buses from Microsoft would pull up to the winery. Trilogy, the retirement community, asked us to do a cooking class. They normally expected 75-80 people. 120 showed up for ours. It was such a fun year at Woodhouse."

As her contract renewal loomed, Missy decided to strike out on her own with Missy Will Wine & Catering Events. Without ties, she is able to offer her clients more venue options and, while she extols the virtue of the Woodhouse wines, her classes and events are open to all Washington wines. She believes in matching food and wine from the same physical location and will pair Spanish wines with Spanish menus, but has a focus on the amazing number of good Washington wines.

Photo: Cooking class

One of her goals is to become the "go to" caterer for Woodinville wineries, their wine release events, wine club parties and winemaker dinners. "I believe that the right pairing makes both food and wine better. I won’t cook for a winery before I taste their wine," she says. "I’m seeing a trend where wineries will host events in customers’ homes. Many of these are corporate events, but I’m also seeing individuals asking for this. It’s been happening in Napa and Sonoma and now here. I also love to do events where I can pair a different winery with each course."

Missy is a fanatic about finding the right ingredients and uses organic and local foods. "I’ll drive wherever I need to for just the right tomatoes," she laughs. "I want to support local producers and growers and focus on Washington wines."

Photo: Missy and her team of "angels"

Choosing Missy for your personal or winery events, in-home cooking classes and entertaining, office events and catering means you and your guests will enjoy Missy’s sense of fun while providing the best pairing of wine and healthy food and no muss, no fuss for you. She and her team take care of every detail, including leaving your home, winery or office kitchen just as they found it. Whether you sit back or jump in, you’ll enjoy the ride.

All photos courtesy of Missy Will Wine & Catering Events

Connie Adams/March 2010

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