Kaspars Special Events & Catering

True hospitality

When you want to be welcomed with opened arms and made to feel special, book your event with Nancy and Kaspar Donier. They embody the true meaning of hospitality. Having been an integral part of the Seattle dining scene for the past 25 years, they've done it all: owned a restaurant, catering and cooking class business, event venue; become a go-to place for auctions and galas; and donated many hours and much food to charitable causes.

Kaspar's Restaurant, opened in 1989, was transformed into Kaspars Special Events and Catering in 2005. "Seventy percent of our business, including private parties at the restaurant, was in catering," explains Kaspar. "The food has always been the same as the restaurant, we just organize differently. Everything is made in-house. You can be as creative with catering as you are in your dining room." And they enjoy the personal interaction and satisfaction of creating the perfect event for guests.

They cater five nights a week onsite using their five separate rooms. Rooms can be opened for large parties. "We do a lot of weddings. It's reasonable and worry-free. People don't have to rent tables, chairs and linens; we have everything they need," explains Nancy. They work with any budget and also offer continental breakfasts and box lunches.

Demo cooking classes are offered some Saturdays and end with lunch. Teambuilding classes have teams cooking their own six-course lunches. They specialize in large sit-down dinners, auctions and galas, and have a mobile kitchen truck that allows them to cater at any location. The "kitchen" can be kept behind the scenes, or used to make a unique addition to an outdoor event.

Outside catering ranges from dinners in homes to the 3,000-person event held in an airplane hangar. They like giving back to the community and do at least three-four events per month. These include the auctions and galas for Plymouth Housing, Water First, Future of Flight, National Audubon, SIFF, MOHAI, Auction, Evergreen Health Gala, Cooking with Class, Futurewise, SeattleWorks and more. "We can't do them all. Sometimes we have to rotate events and skip a year with someone," says Kaspar. They also donate seasonal soups to the Queen Anne Food Bank weekly and provide food items and gift certificates to many non-profit auctions throughout the year. Many culinary students are employed in the kitchen to help with the larger off-site, in-house and charity events.

A restaurant experience is offered during winemaker dinners, and buffets for Valentine's Day, Christmas Eve, Easter, Mother's Day and Thanksgiving.

Kaspars recycles, uses local and organic products whenever possible, composts everything and uses china and linen or corn-based disposables. In 1995, they bought Springhill Farm in the Lynden/Mt. Baker area where they grow many of their herbs, vegetables and even flowers for event floral arrangements. Very wine oriented, their focus is on local wines and winemakers. At Mt. Baker Winery, near their farm, they bottle their own house wines, Chardonnay/Chasselas and Merlot/Cabernet blends.

Nancy's career began in Canada while studying accounting and business in college. After classes, she worked at the Hilton in Vancouver, B.C., which later became the Hotel Vancouver. After getting her CPA, she worked for Big Eight firms like Coopers & Lybrand, and Peat, Marwick; her specialty was hospitality.

Kaspar started his career as a dishwasher. "I had to decide what to do when I was 14. I took what was available and I enjoyed it," explains Kaspar. "When you're young, you want to travel and work abroad." A chef apprentice at Zurich's Hilton Hotel, he continued his education at Suvretta House in St. Moritz and Beau Rivage in Lausanne. In 1976, he became garde manger (cold foods, pâtés, salads), then saucier at the Hotel Vancouver. He was 20 years old.

A romantic place for guests, the Hotel Vancouver also worked its magic on Kaspar and Nancy. Besides finding romance, Kaspar earned three gold medals in Vancouver food shows, leading to his appointment as saucier and then executive sous chef at the Four Seasons Hotel, Vancouver. Nancy and Kaspar married while in Vancouver.

1985 brought a transfer to the Four Seasons Inn on the Park in Houston, Texas. In 1986, he was promoted to executive chef. After four years of both of them working 80 hour weeks, they decided it was time to open their own restaurant. "We were working too much and decided we should do it for ourselves," recalls Nancy. They returned to the Pacific Northwest because they loved the Seattle area.

Kaspar's Restaurant opened in what was then the First & Cedar Building. "We remodeled the space in 1990," says Nancy. "We weren't a bar kind of place and the bar was large. We created a circular bar, moved the dining room and had four private dining rooms." Private parties led to catering jobs and a new business. When their five-year lease ended, they moved. "It was a tough location. It was hard to get people to the fifth floor," says Nancy.

They purchased their current location in 1994. "We have the Key Arena and Seattle Center nearby and get traffic from events," says Nancy. "Eventually, we had too many things going on," explains Nancy. "Kaspar couldn't do all the off-premise events because he needed to be at the restaurant. And we couldn't do all the private party requests onsite that people asked for." They decided to focus on special events and catering. "We can control our time better and know when we're going to be busy," adds Kaspar.

Seattle's culinary scene has been taken to higher levels with the presence of Kaspar and Nancy Donier. Enjoy them!

Kaspars Special Events & Catering
19 West Harrison
Seattle, WA 98110
206-298-0123

www.kasparsseattlecatering.com

All photos courtesy of Kaspars Special Events & Catering

Connie Adams/June 2014