We were lucky to catch up with Cardine Jean-Philippe recently and have shared our conversation below.
Cardine, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.
In culinary school, you are taught that your prime seasoning base is salt and pepper, But as I started to build my catering menus I not only saw, but felt the effects that heavily salted and pre processed ingredients had on my own health and well- being. Once I was able to reset and rebuild my flavor profiles I saw a change and I wanted that for my clients as well. I think a lot of chefs in my industry love to follow trends and focus on “pretty” or “social media” worthy dishes without thinking about the benefits of the ingredients that they use. For example, I believe that salt is an addition and not a necessity in the culinary arts. Which is why I’ve created my own salt-free spice blends. No one wants to eat a great meal and leave the table with high blood pressure or diabetes! Food is meant to be enjoyed, not a reason you need to go see your doctor once a month.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
As a first generation Haitian daughter, my life was prepping food in the kitchen for my mother to cook when she got home. I’m not sure how much you know about Haitian children, but your life was summed up into the 3 Ls : Lekòl, Legliz, Lakay. Which basically meant you went to school, church, and then took your behind home! Now as a teenager this was the equivalent of being in juvie for me. But there was a certain peace I found in the kitchen that I still can not quite explain. I found myself hosting dinners, cooking what my mom still calls “American Food” and watching my favorite cooking show of all time “Yan Can Cook”. As I got older, I found solace in the kitchen, it was my own brand of therapy, but the thought of being a chef wasn’t a career that I would/could bring up in my household, I was expected to be a nurse or lawyer as all Caribbean children were. I remember the day I told my mom that I wanted to go to culinary school. She looked at me like I lost my mind! “So you want to go to school to cook?” she asked. But after a few days or convincing, I dropped out of college and applied to culinary school and until this day its the best decision I’ve ever made.
Fast forward nine years later and my mother was the very first person to invest in my company fresh out of culinary school. She has supported me blindly and I owe a lot of my early milestones to her. In the past nine years that I have owned Cater By Cards LLC. I’ve gone from selling plates to being the Head Chef for many movie productions. If you told me as a chef I would have my name in film credits I would’ve thought you were crazy!
I provide a personal and tailored service to all my clients, Whether its your child’s birthday party, a private dinner, movie set or even a wedding: all of my menus are tailored to your personal vision! I have dedicated my career to providing my clients a delicious menu made with fresh ingredients. If I had to brand myself, I would say I’m a Caribbean-Fusion Chef. I set myself apart by blending cultures on plates and giving clients an experience on a plate. I pride myself on working with all budgets, I mean let’s be real have you seen the cost of eggs? Not every client will come to me with thousands of dollars and it’s my job as a chef to give you the options you need to bring your vision to life, without sacrificing the flavor or quality.
Although it’s still in the testing phase, early reviews have come back extremely positive, I believe I’m creating something that will change the spice game.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Now this is a lesson I’m still learning if I’m being honest. Although I understand the need to build an audience I promise you I forget to post and at times forget to record the dishes I make or even the events that I cater. The name of the game is consistency: you have to be purposeful in posting and sharing your craft. No one knows what you’re doing if you’re not sharing. I can see the difference in my algorithm when I post three times a week as opposed to when I only post once. You have to be intentional about responding to your comments and DMs. If you’re just starting out especially when it comes to posting food, I would say it’s important to set time aside to create dishes, edit, and preschedule your posts.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
When I started doing craft service on movie sets, at the time I was unprepared for the amount of work it would take and the lack of sleep that comes with it. Recently I did craft services for a film where I had to work my normal nine to five and then would need to be on set at 4am on the weekends, You have a team that is looking at you for guidance from the moment you pull up to set, until the director says its a wrap. Being a team leader means that you are the compass for the energy for your team, when they see that you are tapping out they tap out right along with you. The name of the game is to delegate, I take my craft very serious and in order to engage my team I need to make them feel like they cooked the meals as well, Make sure they are knowledgeable about the product and they will work just as hard as you do because they see your passion and not your fatigue.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @cards_caters
