CO-OP PEOPLE
Caterer on wheels
The folks at Red Barn Caterers bring the whole kitchen to the job. STORY AND PHOTOS BY MARGIE WUEBKER
W
hen Dan and Tawni Batdorf hit the road to their latest catering job, they bring a spacious kitchen with all the conveniences of home right along with them. This day, the Covington-area residents and their trusty staff have set up shop near the Tin Roof Barn near Houston, in the heart of Pioneer Rural Electric Cooperative territory. Wedding guests sniff the air, eagerly waiting to fill dinner plates from a line of covered chafing dishes. The Batdorfs started Red Barn Catering in 1998, working from the back of a pickup truck stacked with coolers, grills, and cooking utensils. One of their early engagements had them preparing 77 customer appreciation lunches for Ebberts Field Seeds, down the road from their Miami County farm. They still work that lunch, but today, the number of lunches they produce for the annual event has grown to about 630. “We definitely needed something more than a pickup truck bed,” Tawni Batdorf says with a chuckle. “We needed a place out of the rain and the sun and a place to wash dishes.” Dan Batdorf purchased a 25-foot trailer that had been used as a library bookmobile and set to work installing electricity, running water, cabinets, counters, sinks, and commercial kitchen appliances. It turned out to be a real boon for everyone involved, despite rather close quarters. When business kept growing, Tawni, who formerly taught food service operations at the Upper Valley Joint Vocational School in Piqua, knew what
12 OHIO COOPERATIVE LIVING • DECEMBER 2021
