Today we’d like to introduce you to Rabbiyah Muhammad.
Hi Rabbiyah, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
Off Menu Catering was what I named my Capstone Project (in culinary school this is the name of the graduation project). I chose a catering company not because I thought I’d want one at the time, but because I thought it would be easier than the other choices; which were a food truck or a restaurant (I was wrong). Fast forward years later after working my way up in restaurants and food service establishments from prep, to line cook, to Sous and then Exec Chef, I found myself at the illustrious Mastro’s Steakhouse in DC; I thought I’d be there longer than 2 years- maybe 10 or until I made Corporate or Regional Chef, but then Covid happened. The restaurant industry fell on its face. I was furloughed along with 90% of the newest management staff. I didn’t know what I would do without a job, especially with a fairly new mortgage, a CLS 550 Mercedes, a teenage daughter and my other very grown-up bills/expenses. Scared to death with absolutely no sustainable faith in the universe, I voiced my worries to my friend Brian who recommended “do what you do best… cook”! I went to Costco the next day, shopped to feed 20 imaginary customers and posted my menu to my newly formed Instagram account (@offmenucatering)! I sold out through just my DM’s alone in about 3 hours and proceeded to deliver everything myself in small insulated bags my sister Muslimah and Brian gave me. I repeated this consistently 2-3 times a week for 3 months. I then formed my LLC, got QuickBooks, renewed all of my food manager certifications and health department requirements and I was a real business. The weekly customers became faithful clients, and I began getting actual catering gigs! Today the weekly dinners are more sparse because of all the catering jobs, but I will always offer weeklies when possible; It’s my bread and butter hustle and a way for people to enjoy or sample a menu for less than $50 that they aren’t able to usually access without booking an event. We have multiple events/contracts for government agencies under our belt in DC and are a preferred caterer for Veteran Affairs. I like to collaborate with chef friends and celebrity food folks for their big events (100 plus) and vice versa. I have a delivery driver, two line cooks, a marketing manager, and an assistant (my little sis Raqibah). I’ve completed social media and commercial paid partnerships with brands like Imarku Kitchen and a couple print media- articles like this one, television is the next step. We aren’t where we started or where we foresee ourselves as a company but we are well on our way! Off Menu Catering is now a formidable, and consistently booked, DMV catering company, thanks to some grit, Google five-star status, and an upscale- word-of-mouth clientele.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Smooth? Absolutely not, but my experience in restaurants, the food industry, sobriety, and LIFE allows me the privilege of not being surprised or crippled when obstacles arise. They all look, smell, and feel familiar because I’ve wrestled with them before and won. The newer challenges don’t come from miscounts and miscalculations of food amounts and equipment needed, but from my new role as FOH and BOH (restaurant language; FOH is front of house and BOH is back of house) Manager. Also, being my own bookkeeper, social media, and payroll manager! Especially painful is drawing up estimates only to realize that many people with catering inquiries have no idea that hiring caterers is not cheap!
Being an Executive or Sous Chef at a restaurant, you deal with everything relating to the food; food safety, sourcing, inventory, running/training a kitchen line from the BOH perspective, anything else- you bring in a FOH manager to assist. As a catering chef and owner you have to perform beyond that- and you start to really understand that you need those previously outsourced customer service skills for yourself. I had a few incidents, but I chose to learn from them and grow! I also reach out to my friends and peers that have been in business as entrepreneurs and Chefs and Caterers longer than myself for advice. Put it like this; as BOH we throw plates as FOH we explain the plate throwing to earshot guests and now I’m both.
I have been sober for almost 11 years now (2/20/12); I learned to face challenges head-on after I got sober and am still learning to live life in recovery. Most people go have a drink to relax after work or sometimes at work, especially in this industry, while I stay focused and disciplined and painfully aware of my station. It’s not easy but neither is being under the influence and out of control. But all in all I believe learning to live life on life’s terms has translated into the way I approach everything including my work. I’m not perfect but I’m very proud of my ability to clearly see what others may not. Sobriety comes with focus, and discipline and with those attributes you can really really jumpstart the path to not just overcoming daily obstacles but those potentially debilitating life occurrences. If you’d like to learn more about my recovery journey, go listen to my interview for Connie McMillans podcast Sober Sessions #105 on all listening platforms, the link is listed in my contact information at the end of this article.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My background is -everything food related on a professional, corporate, and/or restaurant level, I’m a Chef. I’ve become known for steakhouse food, however, I’m well-versed in regional and international food preparation. It’s always a treat for me when a client asks for items that are not on the menu-but off menu (pun intended)!
I’m super proud of what it takes and what we had to go through to earn the title CHEF; I’ve been rigorously trained to keep in mind food safety and the guidelines set forth by the health department (and freaking science- let’s be clear)! This is how we keep customers and clients from foodborne illnesses and outbreaks. You can own a whole restaurant, but you need a Chef to prepare for and pass a health inspection. This is one of the main attributes that sets my company and myself apart from a lot of the people in my industry. I know what I’m doing on an objective and classically trained level; you cannot just be able to cook well and be considered a “Chef”or name yourself a “Chef”-it’s disrespectful. Do nurses call themselves doctors? Absolutely NOT. Do nurses know a lot of the same information as doctors? Absolutely! Yet in my industry especially post Covid everyone is a “Chef”, I’m grateful for the romanticizing and the celebrity level that this occupation has reached but please show some respect to the folks that worked for this title. I require Servsafe handler certificates and extensive professional experience from my cooks because to receive and maintain certification means that you at least have at least a basic understanding of how not to kill someone with food.
Off Menu Catering is a certified catering and Chef-run company by an African American woman with an AA staff. There are few of us (Exec Chefs), this is a white male-dominated industry so to make it to Executive Chef level at restaurants is an accomplishment I’m very proud of! I will make it crystal clear, you have to be beyond reproach in your abilities to command/run a professional kitchen! This is my background and I bring all of those experiences into running Off Menu Catering.
We’re obsessed with everything quality; from sourcing…to outsourcing if it is necessary to meet our standards. We use fresh and sustainably organic foods whenever possible, we also create rouxs, stocks and sauces from scratch, and we curate our own seasoning blends. My food won’t be the same as someone who cuts corners and uses Velveeta or cream cheese in their mac & cheese but be mindful of who you call for an event! We don’t want to just appear to be good, like an optical illusion or great photography on social media. We want to actually be great, and we are only getting better, because we actually respect your ingredients and our craft.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
It’s important to forge relationships with people that will support you along this entrepreneurial journey and life’s journey, and kitchen work especially is a hard job physically and mentally. There is no stable biweekly check (unless you put yourself on payroll), there sometimes are no likes on social media and zero leads and events for weeks, sometimes there is no business coming in at all. But it’s you against you fighting to financially maintain your lifestyle, and your mental headspace while simultaneously attempting to manifest an abundance mindset and attitude every single day. It’s very lonely at times and you will be your biggest critic and to offset that you also have to be your biggest supporter, and a self-starter-it’s rewarding and scary. Reminds me of my sobriety, of love, of parenthood, of parenting yourself and most importantly OF LIFE! Entrepreneurs especially in food service: Be proud of yourself; you jumped off a cliff with no safety net and attempted to soar baby! That alone should be your motivation to keep going.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.offmenucatering.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/offmenucatering?r=nametag
- Other: https://linktr.ee/chefrabbiyahomc
