The C.h.e.f.s Introduction
Written by
Edward Fava
May 31, 2016
Bon Appétite
This book comes out of 59+ years of life experiences and the 35 years of blood, sweat and tears of running a catering business, working with and for the best people and surrounded by the most supportive and loving family a guy could ask for. I am so proud of the wonderful reputation my sister Albina and I, along with a loyal and talented crew, earned over the years for the quality of food and service we always delivered with pride and joy.
I hope you enjoy the book and these recipes and get inspired to have wonderful parties for your family and friends, creating your own life-long memories.
The Early Days
I was born on a hot July day in Mount Vernon, NY and would move to Greenwood Lake when I was still a very young child. I started kindergarten in the Greenwood Lake Elementary School where I spent the next and happiest eight years of my life. Greenwood Lake in the late 50’s and 60’s was a little Peyton Place where everyone knew each other and you had better behave or someone would tell your parents. It was a great childhood in a beautiful town only an hour from my beloved Westchester County, where all my relatives and best memories lived, and New York City, the most exciting place a kid could imagine visiting.
The Woodlands Hotel in Greenwood Lake, NY, was owned and operated by Edward's parents and is where he and his siblings grew up.
Inspiring Teachers & Experience Abroad
Education was always a priority in our household, and I had the best and most inspiring teachers all through grammar school starting with Mrs. Burt, my loving kindergarten teacher who made every child feel special and smart. Every year to follow I was blessed with amazing and super talented instructors: Mr. Johnston (a patient 2nd grade teacher); Mr. Vernoy (the kindest and jolliest teacher); Miss Williams (a loving and gentle person who always listened to her students, even when we had nothing to say); Ms. Eagleston (my Spanish teacher from 3rd grade who encouraged me to live in a Spanish-speaking country from a very young age and started my love for foreign languages); Mrs. Wilner (a gentle mother-like figure who was always fair in everything she did); Mr. & Mrs. Hubner (a husband and wife team who tutored me and my brother in the summer of my 3rd grade and made an A student of me ever-after; my brother didn’t decide to bloom until college where he was a super student and became a brilliant architect); Mr. Sly (the teacher that taught me how to spell anything); Mr. Schreiber (who taught me how to print and write in script like a catholic nun); Mr. Bollenbach (a tall and stern figure of a man who was a great math teacher); Mr. Nadasky (a bright social studies and history teacher as well as a strict disciplinarian); Mrs. Wolbert (who helped her students rationalize that pizza was a complete and nutritious meal since it had bread, dairy, vegetables and protein if you added pepperoni or sausage – she was such a fun teacher and a team player); Mr. Langert (a brilliant scientist who taught his students how to think and reason for themselves); Mr. & Mrs. Wieber (by far my favorite teachers of all, they both took me under their wings and mentored me into a fine and solid young man by the time I left 8th grade– he was a math teacher who made doing math a joy and she was the most beautiful and talented art teacher you could want); Miss Cox (a school aid who cheerfully managed to be everywhere at all times helping and just making life easier); and in a league of her own Mrs. Quackenbush (a petit figure of a woman who was a giant in my eyes, perched on her stool reading Edgar Allen Poe to us as if she were teaching a college course, she was so smart and loved each and every one of her students and wanted nothing less than success for each one of us).
And finally, the man that held all this together, our Principal, Mr. Cole and his delightful wife, our school nurse who watched over us with kindness and understanding (I’ll never forget how gentle she was helping to stop my change-of-season nose bleeds by placing brown paper under my upper lip. I don’t know if it was science, but I believed it worked and it did: holding my head far back didn’t hurt either, but the brown paper was magic).
I won’t bore you with high school (Monroe-Woodbury) and college (Fordham University) but both were also filled with teachers and professors talented beyond belief and so generous with their time and knowledge that a student had no reason not to learn and succeed. I couldn’t have asked for a better education preparing me for a big and challenging world.
Part of my education included studying abroad, which completely changed my life. I had the wonderful opportunity to live in Spain, France and Italy and while there was able to see so much of the world. I loved and lived to travel and was obsessed with foreign languages, different cultures and all cuisines.
Edward in Paris in March of 1978 outside Notre Dame Cathedral.
A 'Blooming' Beginning
I had the privilege of working for Bloomingdale’s in the late ’70’s and ’80’s and got to see more of the world and meet terrific and talented people who taught me more than they realized. I have always been a sponge for knowledge and anything new. I took away from Bloomingdale’s a tremendous sense of style which has served me well in business as well as my personal life. My catering business was born while I was still at Bloomingdale’s. Often coworkers (who knew of my love and passion for cooking) would call and ask for suggestions for menus for their parties and by the end of our conversation I was making it for them. They finally convinced me that I had to charge them for my time and that’s how my business started.
The favorite part of my catering business was planning the event with my incredible clients. This included the first and essential question of color scheme, which started the whole process, followed by creating the perfect and appropriate menu and finally selecting the linens, china, flatware and stemware.
Influencing My Style
My love and appreciation for china certainly comes from my Aunt Lilly, who cultivated my understanding of china, and everything tabletop from a very young age with trips to Ann’s Art Corner on Main Street in New Rochelle, NY, and visits to the china, glass and silver departments of the finest stores in Westchester County. My first real purchase of china, after saving allowances and gifts for almost a year, was a beautiful set with blue and green flowers for my mom on her 20th wedding anniversary. I still have and use them today. My aunt was such a great mentor. The passion I have for setting a table certainly comes from her and helped me in my career to create the most beautiful tables and displays for my clients.
My love for design, interior and fashion, has been influenced by many people. My maternal grandmother had a sense of style that was so ahead of her time and certainly her generation. She had an early eye for mid-century modern Danish. Her style was clean, sophisticated and would be very fashionable today. My aunts followed my grandmother’s lead and amassed a collection of the most beautiful blond-Danish furniture which they still enjoy. My mother always put together a beautiful and comfortable home. Beautiful window dressings were her trademark. My mom’s best friend, Vera, had a stylish modern brick ranch home with lovely furnishings and a focal point in the living room, a sleek wall of a fireplace with a pink marble hearth and a mantel. I had never seen anything more beautiful and have never forgotten it. Those are just a few of my early influences.
My Clients Were Truly Special
In my professional life there are three homes of long-time clients that have spoken to my taste and sense of style the most. The home of Bonna and Joel Finkelstein is a majestic home so beautifully decorated and well-appointed for gracious living and elegant entertaining. It was always a pleasure working in such a grand environment and for such wonderful people.
The second home is the magnificent Tudor of Kim and Paul Huchro. I started working for them when Kim was pregnant with her third daughter and continued our relationship until the girls were off to college and I became ill. Kim was truly the hostess with the mostess and knew how to entertain with ease, class and stylish hospitality. Her parties were always a huge success where the guests never wanted to leave.
My third memorable home is the grand stone mansion of Carol and John Cornwell, a traditionally decorated home filled with warmth and charm. The impeccable landscaping and gardens are truly a reflection of Carol, who is also a classically trained pianist.
More impressive than these spectacular homes were the impressive families that lived in them. These clients never flaunted their position and status but quietly and generously gave to and supported many important causes both local and global while instilling sound values through their actions in their bright, caring and socially aware children. Not an easy task in today’s world.
I have had the privilege of working in some of the most gracious homes in the New York Tri-State area over my 35 years of catering and have the fondest memories of all my events and very special clients. I have learned so much and have taken away with me something from each person I came in contact with and from every dinner party, gala, wedding, bar mitzvah, etc. that I had the honor of being a part of.
Catering To My Passions
When I left Bloomingdale’s, my brother convinced me to start my own interior design business. It was a wonderful idea. He was an established architect and was able to introduce me to potential clients. My design business flourished and consumed my life. I was still nurturing a young catering business as well as teaching Spanish part-time. I was working non-stop. My very wise sister finally talked some sense into me and said you can’t do three things well without something suffering. The catering business won, and I finally gave it 100% of my attention and good things began to happen.
Bloomingdale’s certainly survived without me when I left. The beloved school I taught at unfortunately closed its doors a few years later (I will forever cherish those happy years and all the students I knew). My design business quietly faded but my dear friend and colleague, Marybea, was able to start her own business. She dedicated her business to her late mother Domenica Collis and DC Designs was born. Like her strong mother, Marybea’s charming personality, determination and hard work paid off as she is today at the helm of an exciting and thriving design concern.
I knew that by choosing catering I could do all the things I loved. I could design parties (enjoying working with colors and fabrics), decorate venues (creating themes and fantasy worlds) and teach and nurture along the way (clients and coworkers alike). It was a perfect solution. I ran this amazing, challenging and hectic (at times) business for over 35 incredible and memorable years.
