“Cooking for one another is how we show love.”
That was how Tangie Gould-Temple, co-owner of Cassie’s Kitchen, an exclusive mobile food vending company, explains it.
Tangie and her husband Eric Temple, who is from New Orleans, started Cassie’s Kitchen—named after Eric’s mother—in 2010, as a way to continue her legacy after her passing.
“We would always get together at her (Cassie) house for dinners and other family events, and she was a great cook,” said Tangie. “After she passed, my husband and I wanted to keep the dinners going so we started cooking her recipes, and hosting at our house. We just kept getting such positive feedback from it that we decided we had to take it on the road.”
Cassie’s Kitchen specializes in Soul, Cajun, and American food and makes its rounds at festivals and fairs across the country.
But, before the business got heavily into food, it got its start serving alcoholic beverages at different events.
“We were successful with the beverages because we offered something different; specializing in frozen daiquiris and margaritas,” said Tangie. “At these festivals you would see beer and wine and sometimes maybe a vendor selling traditional margaritas on the rocks, but no one else had the commercial machines that enabled us to mass produce and create new flavors and classic favorites from New Orleans.”
Cassie’s Kitchen used that same strategy to stand out when it came to food, and strives to go the extra mile when it comes to menu selection.
“Typically when a vendor offers a seafood option it’s the usual shrimp or some other kind of fried fish,” she explained. “So when we offer a seafood option, we will sometimes have alligator or frog legs, so it sets us apart.”
The mobile restaurant’s signature dishes include crawfish pasta, and red beans and rice, and the company prides itself on always making everything from scratch.
“We spend a lot of quality time making our food. It’s never prepackaged,” she said.
Although Cassie’s Kitchen has only been in business three years, it has already seen a tremendous amount of success. Without the digital footprint that many of today’s up-and-coming businesses have come to rely on, Cassie’s Kitchen thrives on word of mouth and referrals.
Tangie identified the company’s biggest challenge as making sure they always have enough food to meet the demands of the events they cater.
“We have served at festivals where there are 20,000 people attending, so we always have to be ready for that,” said Tangie. “If there is an event going on at 11 a.m., we are likely up and prepping at 6 a.m. if not earlier. Sometimes we even have to bring in more staff to help with prepping, cooking, and running; we have even flown in chefs from New Orleans on occasion, so we do what we have to do, to get it done.”
Cassie’s Kitchen has also just recently been offered a contract to tour with a production company through 2014.
“We are very happy about the contract, and I have to attribute it to the fact that our food just tastes really good.”
Although the company specializes in large events like festivals, Cassie’s Kitchen also caters for private parties of 200 or more guests.
For more information on the company, or to request them for an event, call (562) 207-7302.
