A North Shore celebrity caterer has partnered with a New York City celebrity chef to form an upscale, off-site catering business for parties and events.
When Andrea Correale first fell in love with catering, she was a 16-year-old living in her parents’ Bethpage home.
After graduating from the hotel and restaurant management program at New York Institute of Technology, Correale founded her catering company, Elegant Affairs, headquartered in Glen Cove
She has partnered with chef David Burke, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. Burke’s 25-year career is decorated with honors that pay homage to his culinary skills, including appearances on Bravo’s “Top Chef Masters,” receiving a U.S. patent for his pink Himalayan salt dry-age technique for steaks and his multiple restaurants, including The King Bar and Red Salt Room in Garden City.
The pair have worked together over the years, Correale said, and felt the partnership would be a good fit for David Burke Off-Premise Catering.
“A lot of celebrity chefs have restaurants, but when it comes to doing off-premise catering, it’s very difficult for them because they don’t have the engine behind them,” Correale said. “The restaurant business is completely different than the high end off-premise catering world. When (David) decided he wanted to start his own catering company, he asked me to partner with him to be his engine.”
The company, based in Fort Lee, New Jersey, is available to cater events from New Jersey to the Hamptons and the surrounding areas, Correale said, including Greenwich, Connecticut.
“David wants to take some of his customers’ favorites and tweak them and turn them into items that will work well in a catered environment,” Correale said. “We’re going to have some of his more popular items as well as new culinary concepts.”
Though taste is one important factor, Correale said the visual appeal will be as important for the catering company.
“We’re very much into the taste of the food, but visual presentation is paramount to both of us,” Correale said. “We’re both very creative people and have creative companies. The synergy was perfect to partner.”
Reach reporter Amelia Camurati by email at acamurati@theislandnow.com, by phone at 516-307-1045, ext. 215, or follow her on Twitter @acamurati.
