Catering Italian Cuisine

Milford resident Maria C. Forte has been cooking traditional Italian cuisine since she was young. Born and raised in Castelvetere in Campania, Italy, she studied the trade there. She started her catering service Catering Con Classe in 1993, and operated that business and her four star restaurant Cafe Italiano from 1997 until 2009, when her businesses had to close due to the worsening economy. In 2010, Forte shifted focus and now tailors meals for customers at their houses or at special events as the Tailored Chef, delivering traditional Italian cooking to their plates.

What inspired you to begin catering?

I am an artist and I was going to take art because I liked it. I liked to paint landscape and everything. But my family said no to it because they didn’t want me to be with boys. At that time it was not allowed for boys and girls to go to the same schools, so I had to do what my family wanted me to do. 

I was inspired by the fact I wanted to cook great food, my food of course. But at the same time I wanted to cook it with flair and with lots of class in terms of it looking good, because I’m very artistic. Food and artistry. The way to combine the herbs and design and put together food for a lot of people, it’s an art. If you don’t have it, you can’t do it.  The customer always wants good food along with the decoration and the presentation. The combination of great food and presentation inspired me in to catering. 

Can you explain the thought process in how you make a dish look decorative?

You also have to have the china. You have to have a lot of creativity about dishes. If you have light pasta, you bring it up with a color. For the summer, if you are having a picnic, I put some yellow, summer colors. You use colors for certain dishes. Green, that is summery. Colorful plates bring up the salad and bring up the food. You coordinate the colors, kind of like in photography. You use a lot of imagination with the fresh fruit, the fresh vegetables, and the fresh flowers. You do little things. For example, instead of putting the bottle on the table, you put it in something that carries the bottle. Those are all things that come from you because it is natural but at the same time you can be creative. Anybody can be creative if you just pay a little attention to just how you would like to see certain things. 

What types of food do you prepare?

Classic Italian cooking has always been my forte. It involves a little bit of Mediterranean, because we are Mediterranean. Classic Italian and flair of Mediterranean has always been my concept. When you say “classic” that is regional. You see the range of Italian cooking, touching every region [in Italy]. In my restaurant, we had different menus, and I did different dishes from different regions. 

Do you have a favorite region in Italy in terms of cooking?

I am Neapolitan. I am originally from Campania. Campania is the region that is on the Mediterranean. Campania is very rich with citruses, tomatoes, milk. We have mozzarella, we have a buffalo mozzarella in that area. The fresh mozzarella that you buy today, the original is the buffalo. It comes from Naples. That has been my inspiration all the time, Neapolitan cooking has been my number one. 

Do you have a special dish that you often make?

My special dish is very often seafood. Seafood is my specialty, along with beautiful dishes like veal. Veal is very popular in Italy. 

Can you explain the challenges of catering?

Catering requires lots of stamina. You have to be prepared for the customer. You have to be able to please them a lot. When you come in and give them a menu, you have to make sure you are giving them that. If you don’t you are going to be in trouble. Consistency is very important because when you are consistent, that’s when your client stays with you and recommends everybody to you. Consistency with the quality of the food and consistency with requests are very important. Give them the flair. They want that, you give them that, and nothing else. 

Do you cook at the customer’s house?

The customer’s can call me for a dinner party, like 10 to 20 people. I will make the menu for them and I will purchase the food for them, of course, if they don’t want to. I’ve done a few parties for a 100 at an estate for a wedding. I purchased everything, I made the menu, and we grilled everything at the site. I am open more for customized home chef and special location parties. 

Do you usually cater locally or do you travel?

I travel often. As a matter of fact, I did a little party in Newport (RI) recently. I did the menu and everything. I came home at one o'clock in the morning.

How do you decide on pricing?

When you have a custom menu, then the price goes accordingly. You charge for the food, and then you put in the labor intensive, and it depends what they want. If they want everything expensive, and they want the moon to be on the table, I will make the moon and bring it on the table. But they have to pay. It is just a saying, “bring me the sun.”  With catering, you are always able to do that. That’s the demand of the customers.