Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Ormsby.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I started a four-year cooking apprenticeship when I was 16 at the 5-star Windsor Hotel in Melbourne, Australia. On completion, I lived in London for a year cooking at the Royal Festival Hall and the Café Royale in Piccadilly Circus. After that, I was based back in Melbourne and eventually became the Executive Chef of the Victorian Arts Centre, (which at the time was the biggest arts complex in the world) with 3 front of house restaurants for patrons, 2 restaurants for performers, 26 banquet rooms and 3 mother kitchens.
In that time, I cooked for many heads of state from all over the world as well as the Queen of England, Prince Charles and Lady Diana. presidents and prime ministers. I was also a consultant to the Australian prime ministers dining room and coach of the world culinary Olympics representing Australia for the Victorian team in 1988. After that I joined the world of large private motor yachts and sailed around the world for 10 years, I lived on the ocean for most of the ’90s.
The owner of my last yacht was a Texan Billionaire from Dallas. When my wife became pregnant we left yachting and moved to Dallas permanently in 1998. We opened a catering company on Ross Avenue called, Andrew Ormsby Catering. We were voted best caterer in Dallas in 2012 and that year we were invited by the management of the Cityplace building to take over all the catering in the building. We run both operations, Cityplace Events and Andrew Ormsby catering out of the same kitchen. We cater and host many weddings, conferences and special events both in Cityplace and across the metroplex.
The view from our 42nd floor Club penthouse is breathtaking and has the best views of Dallas. Our team of chefs has been with us for 19 years now and our catering company has done partied in Italy, Croatia, France, Martha’s Vineyard, New York, Orlando, Denver, Augusta, Punta Mita Mexico and all over the state of Texas.
Has it been a smooth road?
The challenges of running your own business are many, cash flow, and regular consistent business from your clients is essential, having it so the phone is ‘always ringing’ can be a real challenge. Living in Dallas we are subject to different seasons, Spring and pre-Christmas are the two peaks that we encounter, some of the associated problems with catering is that everybody wants a party on the same night.
Sometimes social events aren’t enough for year-round sales, it’s good to have some corporate banqueting as well to even out the week. House parties at Cityplace are always less complicated because we have everything we need at our fingertips. Outside catering to different venues and people’s homes requires a lot of organization to ensure it goes off without a hitch. We take pride in all the details and rely heavily on word of mouth, so you’re only as good as your last party.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We are very lucky because we don’t have a high turnover of staff, we have a wonderful loyal team that works toward a common goal and that is to create the best experience possible for our clients, the food is always fresh and creative, and we work hard to make it affordable but different. The front of house staff and service are also equally as important so that our client can enjoy the complete experience.
The view from our ‘Loft’ and ‘The Club’ on the 42nd floor is incomparable, we also have three other Atriums that have been newly renovated and are stunning and have a 300 seat auditorium with front and rear projection and many breaks out rooms for all day or all week conferences, which keeps us busy during the week.
We are blessed with an enormous three-story service kitchen that services all our needs, we boast 3,500 car spaces in our underground parking garage, and a myriad of different banquet rooms to choose from, so whatever the occasion we can make it a grand one.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2711 North Haskell Ave Dallas, Tx 75204
- Website: cityplaceevents.com
- Phone: 214-515-5100
- Email: dcope@cityplaceevents.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cityplaceevents/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheToweratCityplace/
Image Credit:
Harry Harjabrata – Harry Photo; Blomberg Weddings
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