Press
Releases
 Abundant
Catering is rapidly gaining recognition for it's delicious cuisine
and it's excellent customer service.
You can read a few featured press releases about Abundant Catering
and it's successes from both local and nationally recognized
newspapers.
Jackie is seen here with KARE 11 broadcaster Roxanne Battle,
while filming one of her many appearances on The KARE 11 Morning
Show with Pat Evans where they feature recipes from the best
chefs in the Twin Cities, Minneapolis/Saint Paul.
You can contact Jackie at: jackie@abundantcatering.com
Minnesota Monthly - Upcoming
Events
CHEF JAQUELINE WILLIAMS COOKING DEMONSTRATION - 12 p.m.
Saturday, February 27, 2010 - Macy's Minneapolis, Lower Level, Culinary Kitchen
Join us as Executive Chef Jaqueline Williams, owner of Abundant
Catering, caters to your culinary desires with a savory show-and-tell.
Discover how Chef Williams pleases the pickiest of celebrity palates
from U2 to Mary J. Blige as she demonstrates the tricks of the
made-to-order trade and dishes out nutricious and delicious creations.
Chef Williams, one of the first African American women to graduate
from the Allegheny Community College Chef Apprentice Program, is a
true culinary trailblazer and inspiration.
Click
here to see the full event details
City Pages - Best of Twin Cities
Read about Abundant Bistro & Catering being honored for the Twin Cities' best soul food two years in a row!
2005 City Pages' Best of the Twin Cities
2006 City Pages' Best of the Twin Cities
Soul Food Heaven
Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal : : June 11, 2004
Click here to read the article
Success comes one soufflé at a time
INSIGHT : : Aug-13-2001
By Pamela Youngberg
Success hasn't come easy for veteran Twin Cities'
executive chef Jackie Williams, but it has come. With the launch
of her newest venture, Abundant Catering, Williams will take
experience gained serving a large dossier of celebrities and
in restaurants like Capers (Edina), Café Solo and Rosewood
Room, both in Minneapolis, to an even broader clientele.
"I am blessed because many doors have opened for me. It's
been going really well", said Williams. But it hasn't
always been that way. When Williams took her interest in cooking
to the culinary arts program at Alleghany Community College
in Pittsburgh, she had to go through interviews, taste tests,
a panel of chefs and a five-year waiting period – just
to get in. After working full-time and attending school, her
prize was the honor of being the first woman to graduate from
the program.
"I was training in fine dining with a woman who said that
she already had one strike against her when she started: she
was a woman," Williams said. "I had two: I'm
a black woman."
In the culinary world, particularly among chefs trained in Europe,
the woman's place might be in the kitchen at home, she says,
but certainly not in the kitchen of a fine dining restaurant.
"It took a very long time to get to where I am today and I'm
proud of that. It wasn't easy and it wasn't handed to
me. Most chefs who are women would agree with me on that," Williams
said.
Once Williams was on her way, however, she had the opportunity to
cook for a lot of big names.
"I was personal chef for a
big promoter. The caterer he used to feed a lot of the big musical
acts that come through town was really busy and he asked me to help
out," Williams said.
Which is why she knows that Ozzy Osborne is a vegetarian and prefers
a lot of fruit, vegetable trays and fine cheeses in his dressing room.
Gene Simmons of Kiss is a big pasta fan. And according to Williams,
while some of the Lilith Fair performers are vegetarian, Prince is
a vegetarian, and won't eat anything with animal fat or dairy
products in it. She even fed the King of Norway when he came to visit.
"Cooking for entertainers is really great. They are happy to
have good food and happy that you are going out of your way to do
things for them," according to Williams.
Lately, she has focused her talents on middle to large corporate events
and private parties and can offer a broad array of menu options.
What's next?
"It's my goal to open a banquet hall. It won't happen
for the next few years, but that's the next project," said
Williams.
For now, she will focus on her new catering venture. She specializes
in French nouvelle cuisine, Southern specialties, hearty buffets and
corporate lunches, with menus in every price range. For the holidays,
she is working on creating Creole Christmas.
"My experience,
especially when cooking for performers, has provided me with the opportunity
to become fluent in the preparation of a wide variety of cuisines."  more...
Master chef Jacqueline Williams:
food for stars
Skyway News : : Sept-5 2001
By Tiara Williams
Editorial Team
Jacqueline Williams knows what it means to reach for the stars;
in fact she's ranked number one in the eyes of may celebrities
for her exquisite culinary creations. Since, 1984, Williams
has been satisfying the appetites of may with her fine dishes.
Catering for numerous companies private parties, as well as
national events, Williams has proven that there is not a mouth
that's too big to feed. ‘with a list of credentials
as long as the Nile River, Williams s responsible for catering
almost every summer event, including the Ozzy Fest, Lilith Fair,
Edge Fest, Fan Jam, and finally the Last Chance Summer Dance.
For the last 10 years Williams has worked with Chef Capers Restaurant
where she served as a executive chef, Cafe Solo, Dayton's
as a catering chef, Cuisine Design Catering where she was promoted
to executive Chef, the Boundary Waters Restaurant and Marriott
International Division at Augsburg College.
Since 1997, Williams has worked for Eat Your Heart Out Catering as
executive chef cooking for local, national and international artist
that come to the Twin Cities, and Wisconsin, that includes blues,
rappers, country, R&B. ‘Oh, I’ve cooked for them all,"
she said. "Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z, Prince, DeAngelo, B.B. King,
King to Kiss, U2 and the Rolling Stones…They’ve all enjoyed
my creations." She’s said she even received thumbs-up from
King Herald of Norway and the list goes on.
Williams started her career in the narrow streets of Pittsburgh, PA
where she began spending her summer’s working as an assistant
chef at a local restaurant known as Houlihans Diner. "Cooking
was the easiest way to receive money. I was always trying to step
in and help my mother raise the 12 of us," said Williams.
After graduating from high school, Williams had aspirations of becoming
an interior decorator. She was not mentally prepared to start her
post secondary education, so she relocated to Minneapolis only to
return to Pittsburgh a year later. Still not satisfied with her living
arrangement, she found herself moving to Atlanta, GA and then returned
to Minneapolis in 1990. During this period, Williams realized how
important it was to have an education, she had been turned down several
times because she lacked a degree. She would not let this be her downfall,
so she went back to school.
Williams received her associate science degree in Culinary Arts. She
also attended the Wheeler schools of Business. Currently, Williams
is taking her experience and using it to launch her own business,
Abundant catering bigger and better that anything she’s seen.
I can’t explain what I believe God has in store for me, it’s
that great… I just have to wait and see, but my experience can
certainly contribute to my future success." Williams works hard
so that Abundant Catering accommodates all, but specifically she prefers
medium to large corporations, event planners and also the larger private
parties. She will also be catering for the musicians that will be
part of the state fair festival. more...
Chef Caters to kings and commoners
MN Spokesman Recorder : : Jul- 26-2001
By T.D. McNellis
Staff Writer
A Twin Cities "chef to the stars" has gone independent
and opened her own business, Abundant Catering, run out of the
Wilder Foundation kitchen in St Paul.
Jackie Williams is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
where she received her formal culinary training. There she attended
a three-year chef's apprenticeship program of the American
Culinary Federation based in St. Augustine, Florida. The program
was administered through Allegheny Community College in Pittsburgh.
She completed her chef's training there and earned a Associate's
degree in the process.
At the time Williams enrolled, there was five-year waiting list
to enter the program. She was the first African American woman
to graduate from the program, as well as the first African American
woman to join the Pittsburgh's Cooks and Chefs Association.
Williams was cooking in Minneapolis for a year before her formal
training began, working under Chef Alaxander Dixon, who now
runs Zander’s o Selby Avenue in St Paul. Under Dixon,
Williams got her first taste of fine dining and was inspired
by what she learned.
"He would have me writing down recipes for new sauces all
the time, and he really go me focused more on fine dining."
But "one year of this weather was enough," Williams said
of her return to Pittsburgh. Despite the weather, something drew her
back to the Twin Cities after her training. Since her return she has
held executive positions in may fine restaurants. Williams has worked
I executive chef at Café Solo’s in downtown Minneapolis,
where she upgraded the lunch menu and designed their dinner and late-night
menus. She has also served as executive chef for Caper, on 50th and
Penn. She worked for Daytons, where she started in catering and was
ultimately promoted to executive chef of the Boundary Waters Restaurant in Southdale.
Before opening her own catering business, Williams worked extensively
with Eat Your Heart Out Catering. Eat Your Heart Out deals with local
and national entertainers who come to the Cities. "I’ve
cooked for Prince, BB King, U2, Ozzy Osborne, and the Rolling Stones.
I’ve also cooked for the musicians at Ozz Fest, Edge Fest and
he Lilith Fair."
But in her opinion, "The most famous person I’ve ever cooked was
King Herald of Norway, when he came to Augsburg College in 1996.
Her work cooking for celebrities is far from over. Her association with Eat Your Heart Out
Catering will continue this summer as she subcontracts to feed the musicians coming to the State Fair.
Williams loves cooking in French and Novell (contemporary artistic) styles and also specializes in Southern
cuisine. "I don’t cook so much soul food; I can eat that when I’m with my sisters.
But I like cooking more fancy Southern dishes like fried, smothered rabbit.
Of her future aspirations, Williams says, "The biggest problem with Minneapolis is that there is nowhere
for people to host their events. Everything’s got to be at the hotels, because there’s
really no nice place to go." She plans to buy a banquet hall within the next three years to accommodate parties,
dances, receptions and banquets. She plans to market her business to middle-to –high-level corporations, event
planning and private parties. more...
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