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| Mayor of St. Paul Chris Coleman with Jackie |
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City Pages - Best of Twin Cities
Read about Abundant Bistro & Catering being honored for the Twin Cities' best soul food two years in a row!
2005 City Pages' Best of the Twin Cities
2006 City Pages' Best of the Twin Cities
Soul Food Heaven
Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal : June 11, 2004
Click here to read the article
Success comes one soufflé at a time
INSIGHT : Aug-13-2001
By Pamela Youngberg
Success hasn't come easy for veteran Twin Cities' executive chef Jackie Williams, but it has come. With the launch of her newest venture, Abundant Catering, Williams will take experience gained serving a large dossier of celebrities and in restaurants like Capers (Edina), Café Solo and Rosewood Room, both in Minneapolis, to an even broader clientele.
"I am blessed because many doors have opened for me. It's been going really well", said Williams. But it hasn't always been that way. When Williams took her interest in cooking to the culinary arts program at Alleghany Community College in Pittsburgh, she had to go through interviews, taste tests, a panel of chefs and a five-year waiting period – just to get in. After working full-time and attending school, her prize was the honor of being the first woman to graduate from the program.
"I was training in fine dining with a woman who said that she already had one strike against her when she started: she was a woman," Williams said. "I had two: I'm a black woman."
In the culinary world, particularly among chefs trained in Europe, the woman's place might be in the kitchen at home, she says, but certainly not in the kitchen of a fine dining restaurant.
"It took a very long time to get to where I am today and I'm proud of that. It wasn't easy and it wasn't handed to me. Most chefs who are women would agree with me on that," Williams said.
Once Williams was on her way, however, she had the opportunity to cook for a lot of big names.
"I was personal chef for a big promoter. The caterer he used to feed a lot of the big musical acts that come through town was really busy and he asked me to help out," Williams said.
Which is why she knows that Ozzy Osborne is a vegetarian and prefers a lot of fruit, vegetable trays and fine cheeses in his dressing room. Gene Simmons of Kiss is a big pasta fan. And according to Williams, while some of the Lilith Fair performers are vegetarian, Prince is a vegetarian, and won't eat anything with animal fat or dairy products in it. She even fed the King of Norway when he came to visit.
"Cooking for entertainers is really great. They are happy to have good food and happy that you are going out of your way to do things for them," according to Williams.
Lately, she has focused her talents on middle to large corporate events and private parties and can offer a broad array of menu options.
What's next?
It's my goal to open a banquet hall. It won't happen for the next few years, but that's the next project," said Williams.
For now, she will focus on her new catering venture. She specializes in French nouvelle cuisine, Southern specialties, hearty buffets and corporate lunches, with menus in every price range. For the holidays, she is working on creating Creole Christmas.
"My experience, especially when cooking for performers, has provided me with the opportunity to become fluent in the preparation of a wide variety of cuisines."
Master chef Jacqueline Williams: food for starsSkyway News: Sept-5 2001
By Tiara Williams
Editorial TeamA Twin Cities "chef to the stars" has gone independent and opened her own business, Abundant Catering, run out of the Wilder Foundation kitchen in St Paul. Jackie Williams is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she received her formal culinary training. There she attended a three-year chef's apprenticeship program of the American Culinary Federation based in St. Augustine, Florida. The program was administered through Allegheny Community College in Pittsburgh. She completed her chef's training there and earned a Associate's degree in the process.At the time Williams enrolled, there was five-year waiting list to enter the program. She was the first African American woman to graduate from the program, as well as the first African American woman to join the Pittsburgh's Cooks and Chefs Association.Williams was cooking in Minneapolis for a year before her formal training began, working under Chef Alaxander Dixon, who now runs Zander’s o Selby Avenue in St Paul. Under Dixon, Williams got her first taste of fine dining and was inspired by what she learned. "He would have me writing down recipes for new sauces all the time, and he really go me focused more on fine dining."
But "one year of this weather was enough," Williams said of her return to Pittsburgh. Despite the weather, something drew her back to the Twin Cities after her training. Since her return she has held executive positions in may fine restaurants. Williams has worked I executive chef at Café Solo’s in downtown Minneapolis, where she upgraded the lunch menu and designed their dinner and late-night menus. She has also served as executive chef for Caper, on 50th and Penn. She worked for Daytons, where she started in catering and was ultimately promoted to executive chef of the Boundary Waters Restaurant in Southdale.
Before opening her own catering business, Williams worked extensively with Eat Your Heart Out Catering. Eat Your Heart Out deals with local and national entertainers who come to the Cities. "I’ve cooked for Prince, BB King, U2, Ozzy Osborne, and the Rolling Stones. I’ve also cooked for the musicians at Ozz Fest, Edge Fest and he Lilith Fair."
But in her opinion, "The most famous person I’ve ever cooked was King Herald of Norway, when he came to Augsburg College in 1996.
Her work cooking for celebrities is far from over. Her association with Eat Your Heart Out Catering will continue this summer as she subcontracts to feed the musicians coming to the State Fair.
Williams loves cooking in French and Novell (contemporary artistic) styles and also specializes in Southern cuisine. "I don’t cook so much soul food; I can eat that when I’m with my sisters. But I like cooking more fancy Southern dishes like fried, smothered rabbit.
Of her future aspirations, Williams says, "The biggest problem with Minneapolis is that there is nowhere for people to host their events. Everything’s got to be at the hotels, because there’s really no nice place to go." She plans to buy a banquet hall within the next three years to accommodate parties, dances, receptions and banquets. She plans to market her business to middle-to –high-level corporations, event planning and private parties. .
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