We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cory Waddell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cory below.

Hi Cory, thanks for joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My parents have always been super supportive in whatever I wanted to do. Luckily for me, they are always talking to people about me and my business which is actually how I started my private dining business. My dad was just talking to the right person at the right time and got me a shoe in the door to leave my line cook days behind me and I haven’t looked back.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Growing up I actually wanted to work as a zoologist or a veterinarian but throughout high school I was taking our “foods” classes and I really enjoyed them. One day my teacher, Mrs.Hildebrand took me aside and said “Cory, you are actually really good at this. You should think about pursuing it in the future.” I really respected her and I loved her classes so when she made time to pull me aside and tell me I was good at something it made my spark of interest in food become a raging fire. I basically took that and ran with it. I was already working at a fast chain restaurant at the time but I wanted to be in a “real” restaurant. At the time, there was a restaurant being built and they had a trailer outside that said “now hiring” on the outside and I walked in and said “I want to work in the kitchen”. I was only 17 at the time and the legal age to work in a “real” kitchen was 18 but I was not deterred. I told Eriksson Hill, my soon to be boss, that I didn’t care what I did but I wanted to be there to work in the kitchen. He hired me as a busser. I was so determined to be in the kitchen that every single day I annoyed Eriksson so much I was only a busser for about 2 weeks until he decided to make me the expediter right in the front of the action of the kitchen. I thrived here and I loved it. As time went on, my parents would always come to the restaurant and they would talk to E about me and he could see my passion and determination. He really wanted me to pursue this as a career and he told my parents to get me to the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. Once I heard about this, I was not going to take no for an answer. I applied, got accepted and left that August to get my Bachelors degree in Culinary Arts and Management. After my four years of schooling, I came back to Maryland, again determined to be in some of the best restaurants that I could. I worked really hard and worked for some incredibly talented chefs who helped me flourish and be creative in the culinary world. I worked for about 7 years in these amazing high end restaurants but towards the end I could feel myself becoming burnt out. The long days and hours were becoming harder and harder. I eventually left and decided that I wanted to teach people how to cook and how to love food like I did. I was doing a few lessons throughout the month while my mother in law let me work at her restaurant in my “down time”. I loved teaching people how to cook amazing food but I was always being asked to cook full dinners for parties and events so I decided to pivot to private dining. This was becoming successful and I was in desperate need of another person to help and luckily for me, my business partner Tom Viola took on the task and we have been working together ever since. We love the feel of high end dining but we also love the intimacy of private events.

How’d you meet your business partner?

Tom and I met in college at the Culinary Institute of America. We were a few classes away from each other and had a lot of mutual friends. After we both graduated with our bachelors degree, Tom pursued his passion for front of house, wines and beverage engineering while I was more interested in the back of house and cooking aspect. We kept in touch throughout the years and in 2020 Tom was moving back to the east coast and I was in need of someone who could help work front of house as well as menu development and production. Tom took the leap with me to create Cru dining and we have been working together ever since.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Our best source of new clients is and has always been word of mouth. Since our business is a little different than what most people do, hearing how private dining works from a trusted friend or colleague can make a “maybe” into “absolutely!” We are always asking our guests to review and share their experiences with us because it helps us tremendously with new clients!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Crudining.co
• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/crudining
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/crudining

Image Credits

Photography by Brea