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| Mother's Day, a Sisterly affair. Missing from pic brother Craig. Sorry Bro... Not! Ha! |
The reason for Mother's day being such a big deal in the restaurant business is that - aside from the fact that mom's have traditionally done most cooking in households and need a break - mom's are loved...and everyone has one! Who wouldn't want to pamper their mom on Mother's Day if they could, especially via a place offering up delicious fresh food fare that included everything from an omelet bar to a fresh fruits and meats such as D.H.C's?
I guess I should have known better since Johnny had mentioned doing Mother's Day last year in a previous discussion saying with minimal promotion they got positive results, but really in my family anyway, when it comes to Mother's days the sisters have all the control. No different than marriages I suppose. Ha. Better not go there since Deli House Catering's first and biggest business is weddings in-house and out, with owner Johnny Cutroni having first gotten the catering bug as a young teen protege while working as a busboy at the Atrium Banquet Hall in Aurora on his way up to becoming a head waiter, earning the money adults were making through hard work and ambition. Perhaps not so much by ambition, although young J did take pride in learning the craft and doing a great job for the elderly family owners no doubt, but Johnny just loved the business. He loved the feeling of pleasing that guest and that simple philosophy guides him to this day, this man who tells me now,
'There are no such things as Bridezillas." Johnny Cutroni
At any rate I ended up with my family or parts of it - all mom's kids at least - at a likeable enough place located at an out of the way golf course part of the golf-links group, and was greeted nicely enough to the elaborately decorated room by a guy with what can only be described as a chain of keys dangling from his pocket and wearing a dress shirt with what looked like work pants. Another visual red-flag were the guys serving up the buffet in whites but no hats - with one wearing a baseball cap - and our waitress nervously hurried through our order as if we were in some sort of rush, confirmed my suspicions. But on this day I wasn't going to care, we were all there to see our mom and vie for position in her will before it's too late. Ha. Kidding. Seriously. The kidding part.Gulp...(crickets chirping).
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| Deli House Catering Banquet hall with it's natural lighting & amplifier-friendly acoustics - Newmarket's best kept secret! |
At the end of a completely adequate buffet (2013 menu at Deli House for sure...I'm asking the sister's as we speak..er..as they read!), although some food seemed suspiciously already cold (including my coffee) even though we were first up like the french toast - sorry couldn't resist one - all was delightful, and the banter was going well as we reminisced whilst half jokingly bringing up old beefs. My sister Gail apparently still blames me for a pair of her winter boots that went missing. Uh sis...that was the 70's! Even if I did take them (and I'm not saying I did) I couldn't have been held responsible! "Lolita" Liz got accused of 'coming on" to a teacher Gail had been assigned to in public school whilst late comer Karen got off relatively unscathed, and brother Craig of course had brought his impressionable 12 year old daughter to the soiree likely to deflect any trash talk. Brother's in-law and kids always escaped the Pearson wrath too..for now!
I'd also planned a fake rant about how I felt ripped off for Mother's Day and was disappointed in my mom because not once had she commented that I'd needed a haircut ( I'm WAY overdue and have subconsciously let it go to seek attention from my mom) or to tuck my shirt in ( I purposely left it out) or that I needed to shave - all things she'd never have let slide before. My "rant' ended before it really began as my brother interjected with the fact that we were in a public restaurant. When the hell did he grow up? I knew he blamed me for Ronnie Grimmer hitting him with that slap-shot after I talked him into coming out to play!
Video below shows the natural lighting on the tables and settings at Newmarket's Deli House Catering
Tom Out!
Tom Pearson is a former Restaurant & Nightclub Manager, Entertainment Editor of Coverstory Newspaper's "Local Flavour" and "At the Clubs", hosted / produced Roger TV's Out & About, and has spent 20 years around the hospitality and entertainment industry.