A Little Chute catering business has taken on a new venture with the opening of Little Tomato Venue & Dining Hall.
The business, 1721 E Main St., had its first event on New Year’s Day. The venue space is an extension of Heirloom Kitchen Catering, which has been serving the Fox Cities area for 11 years. Owner Tracy Darling, who runs the business with her daughter and son-in-law, Hannah and Christopher Fenn, said the venue is focused on the meal as the experience.
“Our foods are made with high quality ingredients – nearly everything is made from scratch,” Darling said. “We pride ourselves on displaying an evolution of local tastes, and that combined with our caring staff is our strong suit.”
The venue can host up to 120 people and is available for any occasion – Darling said they’ve already booked corporate meetups, celebrations of life, birthdays, weddings and more – and features a country aesthetic.
Outside of being able to rent the space for any occasion, the business also holds community events for holidays, such as the New Year’s Day brunch the business had on its first day. Darling said as it was their first event in the space and everything went off without a hitch. Combined with a strong client base from catering, she said they had a great turnout. “We’re really pleased with the amount of interest and we’re grateful for the support,” she said.
The venue features food from Heirloom Kitchen Catering, offering a diverse and flexible menu, and a full bar. Each event is personalized to fit the budget and needs of the client, Darling said.
“We’ve made many kinds of cuisines such as Haitian, Peruvian, German and so on,” she said. “The way we enjoy it the most is by incorporating the local tastes into those dishes, especially as they change over time through the way this area grows food and what’s popular. It’s always really interesting to me, especially since I grew up on a farm, and we really want to share that with everybody.”
Heirloom Kitchen Catering formerly had a tasting studio in Kaukauna, but Darling said they quickly outgrew the space. For the past few years, she had been searching for a venue that could accommodate more people and provide a larger commercial kitchen.
“We came across this building in September and it was a really good option for the kind of gatherings we wanted to do,” Darling said. “Not to mention it’s just down the street from our catering business and the building has this overall charm we really loved.”
The space was formerly home to Village Limits Supper Club, which closed on Aug. 28 according to a post from its Facebook page. The former supper club operated for 26 years.
“I think this business is filling a big need in the community,” Christopher said. “We hear a lot of folks are looking for unique, cool spots that aren’t just designed for massive events. What separates us is the food is the focus, so we’re looking forward to giving people that experience.”
For more information and updates, visit Little Tomato Venue & Dining Hall’s Instagram page.
Faith Huey is a business reporter for The Appleton Post-Crescent. You can reach her at fhuey@usatodayco.com or view her Instagram profile at @Faith.Huey
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Little Chute catering business expands with new dining hall | The Buzz
Reporting by Faith Huey, Appleton Post-Crescent / Appleton Post-Crescent
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