Today we’d like to introduce you to Kenny Lawrence.
Kenny, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Since I was a little kid, I had always had a passion for food, I was a chubby kid because my passion at that time was eating. My grandmother and great grandmother were highly influential in the development of my culinary skills. My grandmother AKA mom was the one who began teaching me around the age of eight many cooking techniques, how to source ingredients and how to layer flavors. My great grandmother who I lost this year was my rock she is where my love of southern food derived from. She would make us huge pots of pork neck-bones, smothered turkey wings, fried chicken, homemade pineapple ice cream and the best sweet potato pie you could ever have. I had always felt free when I was in the kitchen, but I never took it serious enough to want it as my career. While in college at Florida A&M University I began to cook for my friends and coworkers and always received good reviews but yet again I failed to take it seriously. After graduating I began working in state government and I quickly realized that my job was unfulfilling and that I needed to do something else. Then one day after months of going back and forth about quitting I finally decided to walk away from my job. It was at this time that I returned to my true love cooking. I started Food Friends Catering and never looked back.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It hasn’t been easy especially in the beginning when catering jobs were few and far between there were times when I had zero dollars to my name. I was doing anything at that time to fund the business I even drove for Uber so that I could supplement the loss of income. There are huge risks you take in the catering business. Like the time I had invested thousands of dollars into vending for a 4th of July festival only for the event to get completely rained out. Those are some of the losses you have to be prepared to take while pursuing your dreams. Cooking is also very time consuming it often conflicts with family and personal time. It’s a struggle to find balance within both worlds. For instance, in this industry, you always work on weekends and holidays which is tough because I have a young daughter. Lastly, food costs are always a challenge because profit margins can be thin so searching for good ingredients at a great price is a constant issue.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Food Friends Catering is a full-service catering company that specializes in elevated southern comfort foods. We also provide vending services for large festivals like Jazz In The Gardens. Food Friends is a family business I run the daily operations and cook. My mother helps cook and my other family members have many roles from food prep to serving at events. We like to put creative spins on classics, like our maple bacon bread pudding or our shrimp and fried cheese grits. I’m most proud that we are firm believers in “making food taste good” it’s s a slogan of ours that really just means don’t cut corners. I think what sets us apart is our ability to take the old southern style of cooking and revamp it with a more modern approach. This year we also started an intimate dining pop up series called the Food Friends Experience. The event is curated by myself and my partners John Watson @djjohnnykool (IG) and Jarem Hodge Graphic Design @____remm (IG). We serve a free three-course meal and free cocktails. Guests at the pop up can also play games like Giant Jenga, enjoy music, and indulge in an immersive art experience.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was charismatic but still very shy I didn’t have a typical childhood. My birth mother battled with drug addiction and was often incarcerated for long periods of time. My father lived in another state, so we weren’t able to properly build a relationship at that time. Thankfully my grandmother was able to step in and adopt me. I was a quiet kid because I was always in deep thought about life which made my imagination run wild. I think those experiences are what really pushed me into having a creative mindset. I was a middle child essentially, so I watched everyone and took bits and pieces of what I liked from my sibling’s’ characteristics and made them my own.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 954-449-3114
- Email: foodfriendcatering@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foodfriendsllc/?hl=en
Image Credit:
Jarem Hodge
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