A letter of Recommendation from Creative Dining Services
"Culinary Cultivations has become my go-to source when I need to ServSafe train multiple employees at a time. Shawn and team are extremely efficient, making the registration process and the distribution of course materials hassle-free. Instruction is professional, engaging and we experience a higher pass-rate than when we train employees individually, online."
Whether celebrating life's special moments in a tranquil garden setting or simply looking for a unique location for a party, business meeting, retreat or special occasion, Meijer Gardens is the ideal location for a social or corporate event.
With a 158-acre main campus showcasing internationally acclaimed sculptures and themed gardens, Meijer Gardens has multiple event spaces that provide you with diverse options for any event. Free parking and admissions to garden areas during your event, audiovisual and certified technical specialists, creative catering choices and professional event coordinators will make every event a memorable, one-of-a-kind experience
The Amway Hotel Corporation is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where it manages multiple hotel properties - including the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, JW Marriott Grand Rapids, and Downtown Courtyard by Marriott, The new Hyatt Downtown, The AC Hotel - in addition to Peter Island Resort and Spa in the British Virgin Islands and numerous others properties in hte US. The hotel company is part of the Amway family of companies, which began in 1959.
With excellent customer service at the core of all its operations, the company is led by President/CEO Rick Winn and VP/Managing Director George Aquino. Valuing both guests and associates while providing outstanding hospitality experiences has allowed this company to retain its heritage while adapting to the 21st century.
The Amway Grand Plaza Hotel - originally built at the turn of the century and existing for many years as the Pantlind Hotel - was re-opened in 1981 after a renovation and addition of a 29-story glass tower. It is home to a Spa & Salon, Ruth's Chris Steak House, GP Sports, Starbucks, Garden Court Lounge, Cornucopia Deli, Wolfgand Puck's Riverfront Restaurant, The new MDRD, The IDC Speakeasy, Plaza Essentials Gift Shop, and Plaza Men's Shop.
The JW Marriott Grand Rapids was opened in 2007, as the first hotel of its kind in the Midwest, and was awarded the 2007 Opening of the Year award from Marriott. The most luxurious of AHC's downtown Grand Rapids collection, this full-service hotel features a helipad, riverfront deck (named the "jdek"), farm-to-table restaurant called six.one.six, Spa, and Starbucks.
The Downtown Courtyard by Marriott is located in the Plaza Towers building along both the Grand River and Fulton Street, making it one of the most conveniently situated hotels in the area. Some of the hotel's defining features include its full-service restaurant, The Bistro, and its spacious guest rooms.
Currently ACH+ leans on Culinary Cultivations for providing their staff with thier food safety certification needs as well as their food service liscence aquisitions and SOP for food safety needs.
The Sicilian family traditions began several years before Lisa and Gianni were even born in a town called Montelepre, Sicily. Population of around 6,200 people where ironically both of their grand parents are from. Their roots started there and have traveled to Grand Rapids where they reside today. Gianni & Lisa met at Central Michigan University in front of the bookstore in 2000.
After Gianni graduated in December of 2002 he pursued a career in sales and landed his first gig at Enterprise-Rent-A-Car. Lisa was finishing up her degree in Business and apparel merchandising and graduated shortly after. Immediately after graduation, Lisa began cosmetology school. They were bound to get married but Gianni played the “five year plan” even though he knew he wouldn’t find any better than Lisa. In 2005 they married and moved to a small house off of Knapp and Dean lake. They instantly fell in love with the rapidly growing area and set out for several vacations before having children.
Gianni pursued pharmaceutical sales and Lisa began a consistent career at AJ Pinder & Co. where she still makes magic happen Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and an every other Saturday. Since 2005 several things happened including a new home and two beautiful children named Gianna (3) and Nico(2). At 13 months apart, Lisa and Gianni have tried to keep up with the demands of being parents, partners, providers, and now business owners.
Gianni is going on 10 years of corporate life and is finally ready to pursue his dream. After several conversations with Lisa about pursuing a restaurant career Lisa finally agreed that it was time. What makes a restaurant different these days and where do you go with so many options?
Gianni will always tell you that it doesn’t get any better than mom’s house. He has been spoiled with traditional dishes all his life so you can’t blame him. Anytime you go to Mamma Licari’s you get put into a food coma and walk out with a to go container, and by marrying a Sicilian girl, the coma continues. The main reason Gianni wanted to pursue a career in the food business was because he really wanted to showcase his mother’s recipes. He wants everyone else to experience what he got everyday growing up and still today from Lisa. Gianni has his own experience working for family and friends in the business but always wanted do it for himself and his family. Several chains do it well but not many places offer a fantastic plate of fresh pasta or pizza. They want to show the community that Sicilian food is different from Italian in many ways.
We are creating a casual, energetic, and affordable neighborhood pizza kitchen conveniently located in Celedon New Town next to the Crushed Grape. It’s airy, easy-going, and our spin on the Sicilian food is as delicious as the atmosphere. Claim a spot in our restaurant and order up some serious pizza, relax with a glass of wine, or perhaps with a bottle of wine from our reasonably priced wine list.
BarFly Ventures, a hospitality group, began in 2008 with HopCat, an award-winning brew pub in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids. Stella’s Lounge and McFadden’s Irish Pub joined the Barfly family soon after. In December 2012, BarFly brought The Grand Rapids Brewing Company to downtown Grand Rapids. Located at 1 Ionia, Grand Rapids Brewing Company holds the distinction of being Michigan’s first USDA Certified Organic brewery. The BarFly family continues to grow, with HopCat expanding into East Lansing, Indianapolis, Detroit, Ann Arbor, and several other Mid West cities.
Sustainable practices are notoriously difficult to implement in the service industry. All Barfly establishments proudly work toward becoming more sustainable in every way, all while creating spectacular and memorable experiences for every one of our guests. Currently, less than ten percent of Barfly businesses’ waste ends up in a landfill, thanks to our commitment to recycling and composting through local vendors and facilities. All of our food waste, spent grain, take-out containers, straws, disposable cups, and paper waste is currently composted, and turned back into new soil for local farmers.
On an individual level, Grand Rapids Brewing Company is proud to be the Michigan’s first USDA-certified organic brewery—but the entire brewery was designed from the ground up keeping our environmental impact in mind. A number of old architectural elements in the original space at 1 Ionia were reused throughout the building: Floor joists from 1886 became our tables, old fire suppression system pipes were transformed into furniture legs, and nearly all the brick that was removed in the renovation was put to use throughout the space, among other efforts. In an effort to reduce our carbon emissions, our brewery is powered mostly by city steam instead of fossil-based fuels. Our beer has also made us part of the local organic community—we use almost 90 percent of Michigan’s organic hops supply.
As an organization, Barfly actively supports local charitable and environmental causes. Most recently, we have begun to support clean water initiatives in West Michigan: water is not only central to our survival, it is also the most important ingredient in our food and beer. Our No Fracking Way collaboration beer, scheduled to release in early April 2014, has already united many West Michigan breweries in a show of support for protecting our lakes, rivers, and water supply.
Throughout our expansion, our mission has remained the same. We care about the environment and the world around us, we treat each other like a family, offer a unique dining and drinking experience, and make sure each and every guest feels important. By doing these things, we help not just others, but ourselves. Without doing all these things, we disappoint not just others, but ourselves.
Barfly 1 Ionia st sw Suite 200 Grand Rapids , Mi 49506
Forum Representative:
Autumn Sands Green Initiatives & Sustainability BarFly Ventures LLC HopCat GR | HopCat EL | Stella’s Lounge | McFadden’s | Grand Rapids Brewing Company 616.965.9789 autumn@barflyventures.com
Bringing together the combined strength of a Group which operates in around 50 countries, with more than 500,000 employees, to deliver the same superior standards of service globally, daily, personally.
This section provides more detail on how we are developing the markets we operate in. It also tells you more about what we believe in, the key events in our history that have shaped who we are today and introduces you to our leadership team.
"Shawn Kohlhaas and the Culinary Cultivation's team has been wonderful to work with! From assisting with our Employee Picnics to providing Safe Serve classes to our customers, this team DOES IT ALL! They have been able to service a broad range of needs for us, while always remaining very flexible, cost-effective, and professional to work with. Great job and keep up the good work"
Nina (Neira) Erkocevic
Great Lakes and GLW Executive Assistant
Gordon Food Service®
"Culinary Cultivations is the only partner to choose when building a restaurant from the ground up. Their professional staff will help you construct, build, and cost a menu. They will help get your staff certified and trained. They are of the utmost professionalism and I would trust them with any size project".
"Wow. Just wow! Amazing! The best contract labor I've had experience with. I used some in Chicago and another one here in GR. This was by far the best. Looking forward to continued partnership with Culinary Cultivations!"
"Culinary Cultivations has helped us consistently throughout this last school year. Their employees are highly skilled, professional and have been integral at getting us through tough staffing times. Melissa and Penny are amazing and their communication is astounding!"
"For years, The Candied Yam has called upon Culinary Cultivations to work with our team. This has allowed us to offer our valued customers more service features when catering events to conquer staffing challenges."
The Candied Yam
Jessica Ann Tyson
Owner of the Candied Yam, Delightful Souther Cuisine
"The Culinary Cultivations staff have been a great asset to Beacon Hill over the past two years! Their team members arrive trained and ready to work alongside our community staff in our Independent Living and Healthcare settings. The office staff is truly outstanding to work with for scheduling, information and ServSafe training."
"Very Happy we had met the right people! Culinary Cultivations led me through the beginning of our dream! Shawn always looked out for us since day one, without any commitment, and not expecting anything in return! We were miss informed by other people before we got the restaurant, but Shawn kept pushing us forward! We are very happy we met Shawn through Culinary Cultivations! "
A letter of Recommendation from GRNoir Wine & Jazz:
"Working with Culinary Cultivations has really been useful in helping us to design the kind of dining experience that is consistent with our brand. We wanted to build a menu that is culturally relevant and paired well with our curation of wines. Culinary Cultivations helped us hit those fine notes."
"Culinary Cultivations was instrumental in the launch of the Impossible Burger into Food Service throughout the midwest, supplying great tasting recipes and expertly trained chef services for trade shows and critical customer presentations! "
A Letter of Recommendation from Gilmore Catering Group
“Culinary Cultivations has been an essential contributor to our success in the summer and during our holidays. We appreciate the professionalism that each of the employees carry with them. They are ready to work and blend in well with our team. We know we can always rely on Culinary Cultivations to provide us with great staff, even if our request is for 20 team members! We are always impressed and will continue to call on Culinary Cultivations when needed.”
Madeline McIlhargey
Events Manager
Gilmore Catering Group
About Gilmore Catering
Gilmore Catering has an extensive management team filled with the best event, party, and meeting planners. From coordinators to organizers to managers, we have your needs covered with over 100 years of combined experience in the event planning industry in Grand Rapids, Michigan and the lakeshore. We’ll make sure your social or corporate event is executed perfectly from beginning to end.
"Culinary Cultivations has been extremely helpful in supplying knowledgeable wait staff. Their staff is very reliable and the communication regarding filled shifts is always timely."
"Melissa and Penny are a joy to work with! I always know I can count on them to help find the best staffing for our events. The servers and bartender are knowledgeable, hardworking and always show up with a smile ready to jump in and help. We are so thankful to have found them. I highly recommend Culinary Cultivations!"
"Culinary Cultivations was there for every question, hiccup and meeting with the health department. If it wasn’t for them, I don’t know if I would have made my opening date deadline.
I can honestly say that Shawn took hours of stress from the opening process away from me. Not only is Shawn great at what he does, he is extremely personable and has great connections that he is more than willing to share with you.
"We had a business plan and a wealth of knowledge about beer, but we knew very little about building a commercial kitchen, creating a menu, and navigating our way through the health department requirements. We partnered with Culinary Cultivations and transformed an empty space into a state of the art kitchen producing made from scratch cuisine. The consultants at Culinary Cultivations provided top notch customer service and were responsive to our needs to ensure that the menu reflected our vision, not theirs. We'd work with them again in a second!!"
Vincent Lambert
Co-Owner
Creston Brewery
Creston Brewery - About
We are a group of individuals committed to working together to provide each person who steps through our doors with the best that we can give. From the beer to the food to the service, we want you to feel at home and we want you to feel appreciated. We want this consideration to go beyond our walls and we want to do what we can to better our community as well. Our focus is small because even the smallest things matter.
"Culinary Cultivations has been our go-to team to reach out to as we certify our management and hourly staff. Always professional teachers, flexible course times and locations and efficient classes with great scores from our staff in turn. Shawn specifically is a pleasure to work with and is a great connector of resources in the food industry."
Tina Iker : Director of Operations
The Winchester
We provide The Winchester and all their sister restaurants with their Food and Alcohol Safety Certification.
"Culinary Cultivations was easy to work with. We needed to train 30 staff members on a Saturday morning and they were professional, on time and engaging with our staff. I highly recommend using them if you are looking for staff certification."
"Culinary Cultivations has been our go-to team to reach out to as we certify our management and hourly staff. Always professional teachers, flexible course times and locations and efficient classes with great scores from our staff in turn. Shawn specifically is a pleasure to work with and is a great connector of resources in the food industry."
Tina Iker : Director of Operations
Donkey Taqueria
Winchester
What the Truck
DONKEY IS A FULL SERVICE BAR OFFERING AUTHENTIC MEXICAN FOOD, BEER, AND TEQUILA LOCATED IN A 1920’S SERVICE STATION IN THE WEALTHY NEIGHBORHOOD IN GRAND RAPIDS.
What a blessing it is to have such great colleagues in such a cutthroat business. Culinary Cultivations and Shawn himself have been great help to myself and my company. When I reach out for help I know I'll have a trusted company that has my back.
Chris Weimer
General Manager
Brewery Vivant
Celebrated as the first LEED certified commercial micro brewery in the world, Brewery Vivant is housed in a refurbished historic funeral home. The pub harkens back to an old world monastery where monks brewed Belgian beer. Come live the Bon Vivant with us-- enjoying Belgian and French inspired beers alongside European inspired fare from our scratch-kitchen.
We are excited to share our passion for beer, food and sustainability with you. Much of the inspiration behind Vivant comes from the small breweries that dot the countryside in Southern Belgium and Northern France. Many of those breweries are true beer artisans who are also an integral part of their community. They experiment with unique yeasts and ingredients, always with an artistic eye to their creations. They source a lot of items locally which makes their beer pair exceptionally well with the food they harvest locally. These family businesses often wear many hats besides brewer, including educator, visitor guide, and even town mayor. Though we don’t aspire to be the mayor of Grand Rapids, it is important to us to be more than just a manufacturer of great beer (although that is our first passion). We see ourselves synonomous with the flavor of what makes our city great. Explore our website and start planning your trip to 925 Cherry Street. We'd love to see you down at the pub. Cheers!
Here are some of the most recent comments from private parties we have staffed and executed
"THANK YOU so very much for all your support in making our daughter's graduation party a complete success. Steve, you absolutely executed my vision and exceeded our expectations. When the kids say it was by far the best food at any grad party (and when they end up sitting around for over an hour eating), you know it was a home run. Shawn, I will absolutely contact you for future events (feel free to send Steve our way again :)). "
Libby Ferrin - Upscale themed graduation party (6/16/16)
I would recommend Shawn and Culinary Cultivation to anyone looking for additional temporary expertise in the culinary and server fields. We have used Culinary Cultivation on numerous occasions when our event schedule exceeds our full and part time staffs.They are great to work with and the staff they send us have been very helpful. Shawn is always interested in feedback on the performance of the individuals that he sends us and corrects any situations that may arise quickly and efficiently. It is a pleasure to work with Shawn.
Kathleen Harkins
CEO
Applause Catering + Events
Since 2003, Applause Catering+Events has been voted Best Caterer nine different times by Grand Rapids Magazine. Founded in 1989, Applause has evolved into a full service catering and event design company with an unrivaled list of services from At Home Catering to Weddings, Corporate Events, Event Design and Barbeque Boys. No detail is too small or too complex for our experienced team of experts. Applause has served a wide range of clients from heads of corporations to many very happy brides and cater to each one with the same level of outstanding service. Our own Event Facility will accommodate up to three-hundred and fifty guests. Bridgewater Place,our beautiful downtown venue overlooking the Grand River with scenic views of Grand Rapids,will host your plated or buffet event for two hundred guests and can accommodate over three hundred for a strolling reception or cocktail party.We have partnerships with all the exclusive venues in West Michigan and can cater to all these locations as well as many others in the area.
Our goal is to provide you a one-of-a-kind experience that leaves a smile on your face by providing warm customer service, custom made menus, delightful culinary treats, breath taking venues, creative table presentation and extending VIP treatment to all guests and clients. Applause Catering+ Events recognizes that focusing on all the details is what delivers that special element that makes your event sparkle and we have the flexibility to handle your unique requests. We have accumulated wisdom in the industry by combining the collective abilities and expertise from all our Team members. On all the memorable days in your life from Wedding Receptions, Corporate Events, Barbeques, Proms, Showers, Charity Galas, In Home celebrations, let Applause Catering + Events handle all the details.
A letter of Recommendation from The Catering Company
"Our team has come to rely on the professional services of Culinary Cultivations. The Culinary Cultivations team supports our business with service professionals for the front of the house as well as culinary professionals. The Culinary Cultivations team members are well trained and professional. We find the service professionals come from a variety of backgrounds, all enhancing their service standards and each culinary professional is educated, certified and seasoned in the industry. We look forward to an eventful future with the Culinary Cultivations team."
Kim Faber
General Manager
The Catering Company
About The Catering Company
The Catering Co. provides elegant catering services for wedding receptions, corporate events, conferences and other very special occasions.