Alimento official caterer to Best Western in Liverpool

It’s about to get busier for the young chef as well. Alimento is the official caterer for Best Western Woodstock Inn and Suites Ltd. in Liverpool.

The hotel will be open this month. The offer to cater, however, came as a complete surprise to Williams. “I didn’t know anything about it. They came here and put their cards on the table and literally said ‘We’d really like for you to offer your services to the company.’”

Williams says it was “very flattering” when he got the offer, and it didn’t take long to say yes. Part of the reason they came to him, he says, was because the company is keen on using local resources.

Best Western published the catering menu, with the Alimento logo featured prominently on its cover. The menu includes a vast array of selection, from soups and a pasta bar to full course meals. “I feel that I’ve put my best work into that. That’s my baby. It’s all my training in one book,” he says proudly. “We have a different structure than a typical restaurant because we’re able to order according to the booking, where restaurants are required to have their items available daily.”

This, he says, allows them to offer a broader menu.

Williams points out it won’t substitute a restaurant. Guests at the hotel will not be able to get a meal sent to their room, but they can book ahead for something like a dinner for eight.

Already he has catering jobs lined up at the hotel into October, and just recently hired another employee in the kitchen. “A lot of what you read and hear is negative. But right now, as a small business, this is probably the most exciting and busiest time this company has seen,” says Williams.

He adds other businesses, like Piping Hot Bakery and Mike Olsen at Woodpile Carvings and Café always seem busy as well.

Williams will continue his catering business, as well as the retail meat shop after Best Western opens. In a nutshell, he says, what he offers to the community is a broad range of quality products. In speaking with Williams, one gets the sense he is always looking to innovate and ready to adapt to whatever changes to the market come his way.

Alimento also sells its soups and catering services to a chain of cafés in Halifax, the Java Factory.

Williams buys as much local produce as he can for Alimento, such as baked goods from Piping Hot Bakery, Maple Grove Farms in New Germany and produce from VJs at the Farmer’s Market on the waterfront. Neil Raymond supplies Alimento’s meat, and Darrell Peach delivers all his packaging. All his kitchen equipment he uses and sells comes from Terra Verde, which is former Liverpool resident Jonathan Chandler’s company. “Jonathan and I sat in high school talking about starting our own businesses. How cool is it to call my buddy (for an order). It makes working a lot of fun.”

However he says local is more than just buying from the local baker. It’s about making connections.

An example he uses is how he offered Kobe beef last summer at less than half price. Neil Raymond offered him that deal if Williams would pass the savings along to his customers. It’s local connections that made it possible to offer that, he says.

Williams was born and raised in Queens Co., and went to the Culinary Institute of Canada in Prince Edward Island. After working at several hotels on the island, such as Delta and the Rodds Crowbush, he realized Queens Co. was where he wanted to live. “I have children. I wanted them to live and grow up here. I have friends here, and I know how things work here. I accepted there might be some compromises by moving here. But the opportunities really exceeded everything I thought, which is really exciting.”

He says right now about 80 per cent of his business is from Liverpool, and he wouldn’t even think of moving it to a big city. “It wouldn’t be as rewarding if I was doing this in Toronto.”

For example, the music festival is something everyone knows about in Queens Co., and it just happened to coincide with the first day of the meat and grilling season. Alimento was closed for the first hour and half while Williams was there. He says people around here know how important the music festival is, and are not put off by being closed for a couple of hours.

Williams says he is very fortunate to have the community support he had while going through the business’s “growing pains.”

He says he always encourages feedback, even if it’s negative, in order to provide the best product possible. Alimento is a gourmet shop, and says for the price customers are paying they should expect a quality product. By fostering that relationship with the customer, he finds they are comfortable coming in and letting him know if it wasn’t what they expected, or not up to standard.