MEET our MEMBER
Mastering the small details of hospitality John Serock Catering
On a July afternoon in the primary meeting room at John Serock Catering in West Chester, President John Serock and his staff of planners reviewed the company’s upcoming events, carefully and painstakingly sifting through their many moving parts with the precision of diamond cutters. Which chef and bartenders have been assigned to this wedding? Let’s make sure that we receive the proper pronunciation for every member of the wedding party. For the Smith-Jones wedding, let’s be sure to clean, wrap and place the family heirloom cake cutting knife in the mother-of-the-bride’s car at the end of the night, as well as her wedding favors and her corsage. Let’s be perfect and let’s be invisible. “We look at what we do as putting on a performance, and we’re always the visiting team and never the home team,” Serock said. “We arrive at a venue at 3 p.m. and by 11 p.m., when the event is over, we want every guest to have felt like we weren’t even there. We’re the first and last ones on site, and it is our responsibility to make sure everything is orchestrated perfectly.” For every visionary and entrepreneur, there is a beginning, and for Serock, the first kitchen that served as his indoctrination to the world of preparing food was one occupied by his grandmother. By the time he was a teenager, Serock was cooking at an Italian restaurant in New Jersey, and later attended the prestigious Johnson and Wales Culinary School as a Food and Beverage Management major. In his second trimester, however, he saw his first professional kitchen at the school – dotted with elaborate recipes, students dressed in starched chef’s whites and conversations that ended with “Yes, Chef!” and “No, Chef!” Serock was so inspired by what he was seeing, he quickly changed his major to Culinary Arts. “In my first semester at Johnson and Wales, I wrote a life plan that spelled out my future goals,” Serock said. “I wrote that when I graduated, I wanted to start my own catering business within three to five years, and within 46
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President John Serock, back row, third from left, with some of his staff at John Serock Catering in West Chester.
five to seven years, be one of the largest caterers in the Philadelphia region.” Today, John Serock Catering has earned the rank of being one of the most respected catering companies in the Philadelphia area, managing as many as 300 events a year throughout a 40-mile radius of their West Chester headquarters. From an elaborate wedding reception at a country estate to a special occasion dinner at a corporate boardroom, Serock’s team of 18 full-time chefs and planners – as well as 70 part-time staff -- are committed to turn dreams and visions into one-of-a-kind events. “It always comes down to listening to what each client wants,” Serock said. “To one bride, she may want a full dance floor all night. To another, she may want a leisurely dinner that encourages guests who haven’t seen each other in many years to get reacquainted. It’s about knowing what is important to them and then coming in as the experts and making their dreams and their vision work for them. “Every event we do is like solving a giant puzzle, and that’s what makes what we do so incredibly exciting,” Serock said. “Every week, we get to go to a wedding or a large corporate event, and we get a chance not to just make a bride or a groom or the CEO happy, but 200 guests we have never met before.” To learn more about John Serock Catering, visit www.serockcatering.com.
2021 • Volume 9——v
