February 16, 2025 • 40 mins
(00:55) What if your passion project turned into a thriving business going 18 years strong? Roxanne Easley of Roxanne’s Catering joins us to share her incredible journey from her roots in Pittsburgh to becoming a key player in the catering world. We delve into her diverse menu options, popular brunch selections like red velvet waffles and deep-fried French toast, and her educational pursuits in culinary etiquette.
(11:31) Roxanne's fascinating experiences with 'on-camera' catering offer a unique glimpse behind the scenes, detailing her work on the sets of major films like "Fences" and "The Deliverance." Explore the hustle and creativity involved in film catering, where Roxanne's adaptability meets the high demands of Hollywood. She recounts the challenges of sourcing ingredients and collaborating with props departments to bring her authentic food to the big screen.
(29:10) Later in the show, we discover the Korean dishes and flavors of Nak Won Garden with Shelly Danko Day, and Chris Fennimore of WQED provides a recipe and culinary lesson with his grandson, Tobias, in Rome. Chris not only passes down the art of making a healthier Eggplant Rollatini but also celebrates the joy of cooking across generations.
Join us for an inspiring episode filled with stories of culinary innovation, and the bonds formed through food.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Doug (00:01):
Welcome to the Pittsburgh Dish.
I'm your host, Doug Heilman.
Ever wonder who makes thaton-screen food in a movie?
We talked to a local catererthat's in the know Craving a
kimchi pancake.
Shelly Danko Day takes us toone of her favorite Korean spots
(00:21):
.
And are you teaching a newgeneration how to cook?
Chris Fennimore shares a recipeand lesson in eggplant
rollatini with his grandson.
All that ahead.
Stay tuned.
If you have a food-relatedbusiness and want to advertise
on The Pittsburgh Dish, justdrop us a line.
(00:42):
You can send us a DM inInstagram or use our get in
touch form on the front page ofour website, www.
pittsburghdish.
com.
Now onto the show.
Well, thank you so much forcoming over and for being on the
show.
Would you introduce yourself toour listeners and what you have
(01:02):
going on right now in the worldof food?
Roxanne (01:05):
Okay, my name is Roxanne from Roxanne's Catering.
I also own a company calledEasley Event Staffing, which is
the staffing and bartendingportion of our company, and I
also own a training servicecalled Smiling Services, which
is etiquette and professionalismin the food industry.
Chris (01:24):
Oh my goodness yeah.
Roxanne (01:26):
So we do full service catering, so we're a one-stop
shop for any events.
We do film catering, we dosmall parties all the way up to
$1,500.
Whoa yeah, we do corporateAmerica nonprofit organizations
and we provide catering servicesfor private homes and private
chef services, and we also dotraveling services.
(01:46):
So there are times we travel toPuerto Rico and different
states to provide cateringservices.
Oh my goodness.
Chris (01:54):
Yeah.
Roxanne (01:56):
So we've been doing that for several years.
I began in 2006 with mycatering services'm just
traveling around the Pittsburgharea selling dinners, just
trying to make a name for myselfso and today we pretty much are
catering pretty much every day.
Wow, yeah.
Doug (02:15):
You're doing so much more than I even picked up on the
website.
Roxanne (02:18):
I tried to do a light little bit of research but that
is amazing.
Doug (02:21):
The one thing that you said which is really what piqued
my interest is that you saidwhich is really what piqued my
interest is that you've donesome movie catering.
So I definitely want to talkabout that because what an
interesting niche in the worldof catering.
But I do want to start with thefood.
I did take a look at yourwebsite and the menu is.
It's so vast.
I mean from chicken to fish tovegetarian lasagna, I mean
(02:44):
someone can get almost anything.
Roxanne (02:47):
Yes, that's why I make it.
I make it so that we can feedanyone.
Yes, so everyone can be mycustomer.
Doug (02:55):
I always love to ask our guests that are in the food
business what are some of themost requested dishes on your
website.
Roxanne (03:07):
Actually, the most requested dishes on our website
would be our small plates,really.
Shelly (03:12):
Yeah.
Roxanne (03:13):
And boxed lunches actually like sandwiches.
Yeah.
So when we get the opportunityto be creative, we go for it,
because on a day-to-day basispeople usually just order like
meals for their office meetingor they'll order things for like
an event they're having afterwork and they want small plates,
appetizer type dishes and it'sfun.
(03:35):
But we get to be creative whenpeople call us and say hey, we
have a party of 200 andbasically, can you make the menu
for us?
That's where it's really funfor us but we love what we do
every day.
Doug (03:46):
Yes, and your commercial kitchen is based over in the
north side, so you are localPittsburgh through and through.
Did you grow up?
Roxanne (03:53):
in the area.
Actually, I grew up in Homewood.
You did, yes.
I went to George WestinghouseHigh School.
I went to Edinboro University.
I also did online school forcatering and culinary, and
that's how I pretty much fellinto this business.
It was God given, though,because I believe that I did it
(04:17):
just to do something part-time,to make extra money.
Chris (04:20):
And.
Doug (04:20):
I tell people all the time God had a different plan for me
, Sure did You're getting closeto 18 years now, getting close
to 20 years doing this cateringthing?
Yes, and it's such an expansiveamount of things.
And did you just tell me offthe mic that you also teach a
class?
Roxanne (04:35):
Yes, so the Smiling Services, it's a book that I've
written.
It's available on Amazon.
We'll plug it.
Yes, is available on Amazon.
We'll plug it.
Yes, and I do.
There's a Catapult CulinaryProgram for Catapult Pittsburgh
and I come in towards the end oftheir session and I teach
etiquette and professionalism inthe food industry and it's this
(04:58):
six weeks course and I teachthem how you know, a lot of them
come in and they know how toprepare food, they know what
they want to do, but there arejust some etiquette things that
I try to teach them and thengive them a little secrets about
catering while they're in theclass.
Doug (05:14):
Well, it's such another side of the business, beyond the
food, that's super important.
Yes, you want to get thatcustomer and then you want to
win them back because you'vemade this great impression.
It's great relationship.
Do you have that in yourbusiness?
Do you have like repeatcustomers again and again?
Roxanne (05:28):
I have customers that I've still had since 2006.
Isn't that incredible?
Yes, I love it, because you'vegot the skills to know how to do
that.
Doug (05:36):
I do want to go back to that menu, so I was looking at
some pictures on your websiteand I would encourage anyone to
do so.
You do some like grazing tablespreads and some of those small
bite things look amazing.
There were one or two thingsthat I saw that I wanted to ask
about and this is not your smallbites, okay, red velvet waffles
, oh yeah, oh my.
Roxanne (05:57):
That's a big hit, but I'm going to tell you what's
even bigger it's our deep friedFrench toast.
It's a signature dish that weprepare, yes, and people love it
.
So they're red velvet waffles.
They're very popular on ourbrunch menu.
Doug (06:11):
Yes.
Roxanne (06:12):
With that we serve.
Sometimes we'll add a chickenbite to it.
Oh, like chicken and waffles.
Yes, chicken and waffles, butwith a little flair, because
it's red.
Velvet, yeah, real soft, realmoist waffles yeah, they're
delicious have you ever donethem with like a cream cheese?
Yes, we have, we have done themwith a cream cheese drizzle,
but a lot of times, um, peoplejust like to have like a pipette
(06:35):
like a syrup pipette with them,with the chicken with it, and
it's really good yes, I actuallyjust came from a cupcake
contest this past weekend
Doug (06:43):
oh, really a red velvet cupcake won the best traditional
.
Chris (06:47):
Yes, I think that's why it was on my mind and I saw that
today.
Doug (06:50):
The other one I wouldn't mind talking about is your
specialty baked mac and cheese.
Yeah, Is there any secrets youcan give us?
That's a differentiator.
Anything you do, that turns itup a notch.
Roxanne (07:01):
I probably use more cheese than anyone in Pittsburgh
.
Doug (07:06):
I think that's the right answer.
Roxanne (07:08):
Yes, it's the cheesiest macaroni and cheese that you'll
ever find.
My secret is more cheese, lessnoodles.
Doug (07:15):
Oh, that's sort of my key to like mashed potatoes more
butter, less potatoes.
Now you said the small biteswere also the most popular thing
.
Is there anything that we wantto mention in terms of a small
bite highlight?
Roxanne (07:30):
Yeah, so we talked about our specialty macaroni and
cheese.
So we actually have taken thatspecialty macaroni and cheese
and turned it into a deep friedmacaroni and cheese, and we deep
fried and we top it with amarinara sauce.
Oh my, so this is reallypopular this is like a cheese
stick beyond yes steroids and wecan also make that a vegan
(07:53):
option as well, so we do make avegan macaroni and cheese too.
That's becoming rather popularin this generation too, with
everyone going vegan yeah,whether they've got.
Doug (08:03):
You know it's the lactose thing or the just no animal
thing you know I it's thelactose thing or the no animal
thing.
I mean, there's a lot of goodoptions now for that, and I
noticed there is a huge amountof vegetarian items on your menu
.
Again, back to your pointyou're doing something for
everybody.
Roxanne (08:16):
Yes, and you know what we also offer.
So I always tell people.
If you don't see it on the menu, that's okay.
I can create one specificallyfor you and it's not an extra
fee or anything, it's justsomething to design it
specifically for the person thatI'm preparing food for.
Doug (08:34):
I want to dig in a little bit more to some of the other
culinary things you're talkingabout.
So you're doing this localcatering from small to large
parties, but how did you getinto the traveling?
Did you say Puerto Rico?
Roxanne (08:49):
Yeah.
So what happened was there aresome of my clients that travel a
lot and one time someone askedme hey, would you be interested
in coming out to Puerto Rico?
We're going to be celebratingmy partner's birthday and I was
like sure.
So they paid for my Airbnb andpaid for the rental car, and in
(09:14):
Puerto Rico they have Walmart,they have Sam's Club, so I can
shop there as if I'm home, and Ilove Puerto Rico.
So, given that opportunity.
I took that and I startedsharing it on Instagram and
TikTok and those sorts of thingsand it brought me more
opportunity to go back and doprivate chef services.
(09:34):
Now the only hitch is you gotto pay.
Oh yeah, right, yeah, becauseyou have to pay for my airfare,
you have to pay for the rentalcar so that I can do the
shopping and you have to pay forthe.
Airbnb, so so that I can do theshopping, and you have to pay
for the Airbnb so that I canpre-prep before I come to your
Airbnb.
Yeah, you need a kitchen, yes.
And so in Puerto Rico there'snot a all-inclusive feel.
(09:59):
They have resorts, but they'renot all-inclusive, so you still
have to pay for restaurants.
So I sort of tell people Ibring the all inclusive when
you're there.
Yeah, so bring me with you,it's a great niche.
Doug (10:10):
Yes, so smart.
Yes, when you're back home, itsounds like you've gone there
mostly by yourself.
Roxanne (10:15):
Yes, I've went.
I've taken someone with me acouple of times, but mostly I go
by myself.
When you're back home, do youhave a staff of folks like
people that you've been?
Doug (10:30):
working with for a while.
I have a total staff of 47.
Roxanne (10:31):
Okay, I just like shook my head, so not all of them
prepare the food, so we havestaffing as far as servicing,
and the Easley Events staffinghas staffing services and
bartending.
So those are the bartendersincluded and the staff that
works in the kitchen.
So the chefs that work in thekitchen there are approximately
(10:52):
about seven of us total thatrotate in the kitchen to be able
to prepare the food foreveryone In 2006,.
Doug (11:01):
Would you ever have said, oh, I'm going to have over 40
employees in my life?
Roxanne (11:06):
Absolutely not, absolutely not.
I started it just trying tomake extra money.
I didn't realize that it wouldturn into a passion and a gift
that you know I wouldn't haveany other way.
It's a love that I have now.
Doug (11:22):
You had those skills of cooking which drew people in and
you have something else whichjust attracts them to come back
to you.
I do want to now move forwardto the reason.
You really caught my eye onInstagram.
Okay, you put a post on.
It was a scene from the 2024movie, The Deliverance.
This is the Lee Daniels moviethat was shot here.
(11:43):
And I hear you in thebackground as the folks in the
movie are eating at the tableand you're like that's my food
and I was like wait a minute anda little side note, my
husband's in film.
He worked on that film but hedidn't know you, so it just it
lit up for me this whole idea.
(12:05):
I know that in the food inPittsburgh we have a really good
food and TV scene and of course, there's craft services, but I
had never really thought abouton-camera edible food.
Can you just tell us a littlebit about how you got into the
movie scene like that?
Roxanne (12:26):
Yeah Well, I'll tell you.
First of all, I always thoughtwatching movies, that the food
wasn't real.
I didn't realize that this isreal food.
Someone is preparing.
They're actually eating thisfood.
So what happened was whenFences came to Pittsburgh to
film In 2016.
Doug (12:46):
Yes, Denzel Washington, Viola Davis.
Denzel was the director.
Roxanne (12:49):
Yes, yes, and they filmed it on the Hill District.
Chris (12:53):
Most of it was filmed, but it was all over.
Roxanne (12:55):
Pittsburgh.
I was given the opportunity towork with the props department.
That's what I work with.
Okay, so I work hand in handwith props and we provide the
food for on film.
So we have relationships withdifferent prop company or prop
masters.
I'll say, and that's how we gotinto the film industry.
(13:18):
And so what happens is they'llcall me and they'll say, hey, we
need food for this, this scene,this, this, this.
They'll call me and they'll say, hey, we need food for this,
this thing, this, this, this.
And then a lot of times we'rein the kitchen at 3 am Because
the call time is 6 am or 7 am.
Ridiculous.
And then sometimes they'll tellme hey, we need this meal, and
by 10 o'clock that night themeal has changed.
(13:40):
And so we have to be on ourtoes.
So when we're doing films, wehave to be on our toes.
So when we're doing films wehave to be actively ready for
any changes.
Yeah, um, but we have had theopportunity.
We did Fences, um, we've donethe deliverance is our most
recent but we've done manhunt,mind hunters.
We've done a lot of movies thatare on Netflix because they
(14:01):
stream yeah so, and we've donecommercial films like UPMC.
So there's different things thatwe do, because we do offer
craft services as well, but it'snot our number one thing with
film.
We like to be on the screen.
Doug (14:17):
I love that so much for you.
Roxanne (14:19):
Yeah.
So when I tell people, yeah,we're in that movie and they're
looking for me, I'm like no,it's our food.
Doug (14:23):
I know, oh my gosh.
Roxanne (14:25):
Yeah.
Doug (14:26):
So I know that this is maybe in the rearview mirror a
little bit, but when you werecooking on Fences, do you
remember what you had to cook,do you?
Roxanne (14:35):
recall any of the dishes so we made, and a lot of
the food that we prepared didn'teven make it yeah.
So if they said it, we hadprepared it.
So Viola said you want to comein here and get some collard
greens, baked chicken?
And there is a scene wherethere's a full meal on the table
On the table and pound cake.
And then there was a scene thatshe asked them that they want
(14:58):
breakfast.
So we had to prepare thebreakfast.
It was bacon and eggs.
And there was a scene wherethey needed okra because one of
the actors was on the back porchshucking okra.
And it never made the movie,but it made the trailer.
Doug (15:18):
I was searching around.
Roxanne (15:19):
Pittsburgh looking for okra, because okra is not a
popular thing in our area.
Yeah, because we're northerners.
Yeah, that's a southern, so Iliterally.
Doug (15:30):
You can find it in a can.
Sometimes, yeah, and that's notwhat they want.
Roxanne (15:32):
They want fresh okra because it needed to look like
it was being freshly prepared.
So you have me running aroundthe city I mean everywhere,
every Giant Eagle, every smallstore, co-op, anything just to
find okra for it not to make thescene.
And you never know.
Doug (15:53):
Yes, you just know, you don't know.
Roxanne (15:54):
It's.
Doug (15:55):
TV and movies.
It is so strange when scenesget cut, but it was in the
script so they need it, yeah.
Roxanne (16:00):
And then there was a time where they called me at six
o'clock in the morning and saidhey, is there a way you can
have eight sweet potato pieshere by 10 am?
Well, at that time my motherwas helping me in the kitchen
preparing pies, but that's toosoon for me to do that, so I
(16:20):
went to a local bakery in theHomewood area where I was raised
and it was called Dana's Bakery, and I went to them and I said
hey, I'm working on a film, I'ma caterer, I need some sweet
potato pies.
Their sweet potato pies are inthat film and Viola Davis is
carrying the pie walking downthe street telling them she's
going to a bakery for the church.
Doug (16:42):
I love it.
Roxanne (16:44):
Yeah, so, and it was very nice I was able to meet her
, viola Davis and I heard beforeI met her that they said she
would in between this shootingshe was eating the food and was
the first time they had actuallyseen her enjoying and eating
the food.
Wow.
Doug (17:03):
Yes, so when?
Roxanne (17:03):
I met her.
Yeah, when I met her she likehugged me and everything.
It was so sweet.
I loved it.
Doug (17:08):
Oh my gosh, I love that story.
Roxanne (17:12):
This is Chef Roxanne Easley and you're listening to
The Pittsburgh Dish.
Doug (17:18):
I think the scene you put up for The Deliverance I believe
there was like a white cake orsomething.
Roxanne (17:25):
I'm not a baker.
Doug (17:26):
Me neither.
Roxanne (17:28):
I can cook anything, but you asked me to bake
something.
That is like dreadful for me.
But they asked me to bakelayered cakes, coconut cakes,
coconut cake.
And then they told me to makeand there's a saying where the
birthday cake is there becauseit had to look homemade.
Yes, and I had to make a pinkbirthday cake with pink icing,
(17:50):
with a border, and I was like Iwas so nervous because I'm just
not a, I don't bake.
Doug (17:59):
You know, it's just not my passion.
Cooking and baking are totallydifferent skills.
Sometimes you have to do a lotof measuring when it comes to
baking, I know.
Roxanne (18:06):
So they tell me they want these cakes, and it's not
just one cake, because they haveto have many for the saints.
So I have to produce like 10coconut cakes and icing them,
layered and dressed, and it'sthe middle of the night, the
first saint that we had toprovide that coconut cake.
(18:27):
I did it by myself because atthe time I had to send the staff
home because it was literally11 o'clock at night and I was up
baking those cakes probablytill about three o'clock in the
morning.
They had to be on the set, Ithink, about six o'clock and I
was like, hey guys, I'm asleephere at the kitchen.
I didn't sleep there.
(18:47):
I eventually went home forabout an hour or two, came back,
delivered the cakes and youknow what?
The next day they said we needmore.
And apparently they said LeeDaniels loved the cake so much
that I kept making these cakes.
Wow, yes, over and over andover.
Doug (19:05):
Well, again you're doing something right and you're
getting better.
Roxanne (19:09):
So the dinner scene too .
You know they had the chickenthere and you know the collard
greens and everything.
And it was funny because wealso did a party scene and in
the party scene you'll see themeating Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Well, it was my job to go toKentucky Fried Chicken and get
all the buckets, but I fried allthe chicken that went in the
(19:30):
buckets.
Yeah, and the macaroni andcheese that they put in the
Kentucky Fried Chickencontainers is my macaroni and
cheese, goodness, my goodness.
So film is fun.
I've done a scene for I thinkit was Mindhunters and no
Manhunt For Manhunt.
There's a scene where they'resaying he's running and he's
(19:52):
hungry, so they show Taco Bellsign.
And he's hungry, so they show aTaco Bell sign.
Well, our job was to makegreasy taco meat so that they
can put it in a garbage bag, andhe's eating it out the garbage
bag and I'm like that's my tacomeat and it says Taco Bell, but
it's actually Roxanne's Catering.
Oh my gosh, yeah, that's fun.
Doug (20:15):
I mean, it's just so crazy and I think what you've
described is it's fun.
It's a little bit glamorous andit's a little bit not when
you're baking at three in themorning.
Yes, yes.
So for anyone out there that'sinterested in trying it out, you
know, I don't know if you'regoing to get into it Right.
Roxanne (20:32):
Lots of work, lots of sacrifices.
Doug (20:34):
Oh, my goodness.
Well, thank you so much forsharing that part of your huge
culinary adventure.
I would like to just take astep back.
You mentioned you grew up inHomewood.
You've been doing this since2006, but I'd like to even step
back a little bit more and talkabout food growing up.
Were you cooking at an earlyage, or were folks cooking for
(20:58):
you?
What was your food world like?
Roxanne (21:00):
then, actually, I started working in the food
industry as a teenager.
So my aunt was a short ordercook in a small diner in
Homewood and I worked there onSaturdays, so I would work there
from 7 am to 7 pm.
I was like one of the youngestpeople working there.
I was like my only teenagerhaving a 12-hour shift job.
(21:22):
But I did waitressing but Ialso prepared like short order
things.
I didn't realize then that itwas going to be a passion for it
like it is for me now.
Then I just needed to make somemoney.
You know, and my family, mygrandmother, she was a housewife
(21:43):
, so that's all she did was cookand clean, you know, and she
had five children and so Istayed with her a lot and I've
watched her and I, you know,just watched her cook every day
for my grandparents and for, youknow, for the household.
And you know I love that shecooks.
I don't think she loved it somuch Of course.
(22:03):
That was her.
Yeah, that was her.
You know, that was her job totake care of the family and you
know this doesn't happen veryoften now where someone can stay
home and take care of thefamily, but we did have that
opportunity.
So I was able to grow up seeingthat.
You know, like how passionatefood is and how food brings
people together.
(22:24):
If you notice, even in deathand life, people always gather
around food and I just have apassion for the people, the
service and and what food doesfor those moments, because if
you're gathering for a wedding,a funeral, a family event,
(22:45):
anything, there's always foodthat is centered around that and
I just love that because itjust brings people together.
Doug (22:51):
Absolutely.
I couldn't agree more.
I think that's probably part ofthe secret to your success is
that you really think about thepeople, and that community
moment that you're building andthe food is a way to bring all
that.
Yes, all right, I'd love totake us forward a little bit.
It sounds like you're not busyat all.
Of course not, so we're into2025.
(23:15):
Yes, it sounds like you're into2025.
Yes, it sounds like you'rebusier than ever.
Are there any big events, newgoals, something coming up ahead
here in the next couple monthsor this year?
Roxanne (23:28):
Well, I'll tell you a little bit about me.
Literally, 2024 was a very hardyear.
I had breast cancer.
Doug (23:36):
Oh.
Roxanne (23:36):
Yeah, so I went through a year where my staff had to
take the lead on just abouteverything.
I was there but I wasn't.
I worked through the wholeentire year but there were a lot
of moments where I wasn't ableto be there and my staff, they
just took over and made surethat Roxanne's Catering stayed
(23:58):
Roxanne's Catering and this year, you know, I'm trying to
elevate it into where you knowwe have more opportunities,
because when I started thebartending and the staffing
company, I started it but then Igot diagnosed so I couldn't
really push it like I needed to.
This year I'm going to refocus,I'm going to push that aspect
(24:22):
because we, you know, havingRoxanne's Catering, we're
serving everywhere.
We have a lot of differentvenues that we are a part of of
and now I want there's a lot ofcaterers out here that are up
and coming that sometimes needassistance or sometimes need a
(24:42):
server.
They might have the food, theymight have everything, but they
need the serving aspect of it.
So we offer that opportunity toother caterers.
We also offer it to privatesectors where, if you have a
party and you're just lookingfor someone to plate the food
that you prepared, or you'relooking for someone to come in
and just serve it and clean upit.
We offer those services for you.
Doug (25:04):
I've been to parties that are just like that.
They just hire a couple offolks and it elevates a party so
much If you want to enjoy yourown party.
Roxanne (25:11):
Yes, and that's our secret.
That's it.
Yes, like we want you, andthat's even with Roxanne's
Catering we want you to show up.
We just one-stop shop anythingyou need, from the linens, the
decorating, the music, theentertainment, anything you need
, we can provide.
So now we've added the serviceWell, we've always had the
service but the bartending, cashbars, open bars, all of those
(25:33):
things and we're licensed to doso cash bars, open bars, all of
those things and we're licensedto do so.
So those are the opportunitiesthat now.
I want to make sure that whenyou walk into an event and it
says Roxanne's Catering, you seewe've done everything.
And what I do is I partner withother companies small
businesses, small decoratingbusinesses or linen companies or
(25:54):
things like that and I put itunder one umbrella.
Bring us all into the house.
I'm the organizer of it.
I'm the planner and we plan ittogether, and so that one-stop
shop.
Doug (26:06):
I love this year that you are coordinating with those
other smaller folks too, becausethen you're raising everybody's
ship at the same time, I telleveryone there's enough money
out here for everyone to eat.
You know it is about.
It's not about competition.
It's really about just allowingeveryone to do their thing and
supporting them.
We talk about that a lot onthis show with other folks in
the food business, roxanne.
(26:27):
I want to make sure we thengive our listeners a moment to
know where they can find andfollow you.
If they've heard all thesereally cool things and they're
interested, could you share withour listeners your website and
any of your social handles thatfolks can find you?
Roxanne (26:44):
Okay, yes, so our website is www.
rsecatering.
com.
We're on Instagram Roxannes_Catering.
We're on Facebook Roxanne'sCatering.
We're on Facebook Roxanne'sCatering.
We are on Twitter, but I can'tget back in, so the things that
are there are just going to bethere.
(27:04):
I won't be able to update them,but you can still find us there
and you know we do have on ourwebsite.
There is a contact page.
You can just send us a you knowand contact information and
we'd be happy to service.
And you can call us at412-606-5938.
Doug (27:25):
All right yes, I think you're the first person that's
actually given out their phonenumber really, oh, I give it to
anyone.
I love that yes, well,especially with a catering event
, I'm sure the contact form isthe first thing sometimes, but
you always got to talk tosomebody.
Everybody's party or event is alittle bit different.
Roxanne (27:40):
Absolutely.
Doug (27:41):
Absolutely All right.
Chef Roxanne, it's been such adelight to talk with you and get
to know you.
I always like to end ourconversation with one final
question.
The name of the show is ThePittsburgh Dish.
What's the best dish you'veeaten this past week?
Oh, wow.
Roxanne (28:01):
I'll say I just prepared it yesterday.
Rasta pasta, rasta pasta it's aCaribbean jerk chicken pasta.
It was delicious and it was thefirst time I prepared it and I
might add it to our menu.
Doug (28:15):
Oh, what a great way to experiment and expand the menu
yes yes, tell me a little bitmore about what's in it.
Is there a sauce?
Is there veggies?
Roxanne (28:23):
You make a cream sauce but you add the jerk sauce to it
, and then there's peppers, bellpeppers, and I pre-cooked the
chicken, actually in a crock pot, okay, just so they make it
real tender so it can go all theway through that pasta.
So there's not just chunks, butthere's chicken every time you
(28:43):
have a bite.
Yeah, so yeah, it was delicious.
It was a little bite to it, butit was delicious.
Oh, I'm okay with that.
Doug (28:52):
What kind of noodle did you use?
We used a bow tie pasta.
Oh, I think that sounds great,yes, delicious.
So Rasta Pasta, best bite thisweek.
Chef Roxanne Easley, thank youso much for being on The
Pittsburgh Dish.
Roxanne (29:06):
Thank you for having me .
I'm so honored to be here.
Thank you.
Doug (29:11):
Up next craving some Korean food, especially a kimchi
pancake.
We talked to another localpodcaster for one of her
favorite spots Everybody.
We're joined today with ShellyDanko-Day of the With Bowl and
Spoon podcast.
Shelly, I know that you'realways talking to folks about
their own food evolution.
Shelly (29:37):
I was just wondering if you have gone anywhere recently
that's expanded your own interms of great restaurant to
visit hi Doug, hi.
Yeah, uh, actually I have.
I have gone to.
There's a Korean restaurant oncenter avenue in is it Shadyside
?
Yeah, Shadyside FriendshipFriendship area there um near
the Giant Eagle, but it's calledNak Won Garden Nak Won Garden
(29:59):
okay and it's phenomenal Koreanit's Korean and they do this
kimchi pancake which is amazingand I've been trying to recreate
it at home oh which I need moresamples you need to go back?
Doug (30:16):
I need more samples.
Did you go to go back?
I need more samples.
Did you go with your husband,brett, or by yourself?
Shelly (30:20):
I have been with.
I went with a co-worker when Iworked for the city a few years
ago, and then I finally took mybest friend Joy a couple weeks
ago.
Brett and I went with Chef Raf.
Doug (30:34):
Oh yeah.
Shelly (30:35):
Rafael Vencio.
Doug (30:36):
Uh huh, we both have had him on our shows, and he with
Chef Raf.
Oh yeah, Rafael Vencio, uh-huh.
Yeah, we both have had him onour shows.
Yeah, and he's done differentthings.
He was doing farming and thenhe was doing his pop-ups.
So I love him, yes, so you'vebeen there many times.
Shelly (30:47):
I've been there like three times.
Doug (30:49):
So, beyond the kimchi pancake, what else did you have,
or did others have that kind ofstood out?
Shelly (30:55):
they make really nice soups and they have a beef soup
and they come to your table andthey actually cut the meat off
the bones oh wow, you end upwith these two giant bones,
which is cool.
Um, they do a kimchi soup,which is really nice, and
whatever you get, like they havethe the bulgogi as well, but
whatever you get, they bring outa whole bunch of little bowls
(31:16):
of different types of fermentedvegetables.
Doug (31:19):
Yeah, Like garnishes or accompaniments or something it's
like a little salad.
Oh, love that, it's reallyamazing.
Shelly (31:24):
So you just you end up with like this table full of
food and a grazing feast, whichis just really that's my
favorite way to eat.
Doug (31:33):
Yeah, Did you share?
Everybody share things on thetable.
Love that.
Shelly (31:36):
Yep, and then it's just like you know you just keep
eating until you can't eatanymore.
Doug (31:41):
I think that sounds perfect.
All right, let's say the nameagain Nak Won Garden.
Let's say Shadyside.
Let's say Shadyside.
I think it's 15232.
So that works.
There you go, Shelly.
Shelly (31:55):
Thanks so much, and thanks for being on The
Pittsburgh Dish.
Doug (31:57):
Doug Shelly, thanks so much and thanks for being on The
Pittsburgh Dish, Doug.
Thank you, Shelly Danko Day isthe host and creator of the With
Bowl and Spoon podcast.
You can find With Bowl andSpoon anywhere you get podcasts
and on Instagram or her websiteat With Bowl and Spoon.
Are you teaching a futuregeneration how to cook?
Chris Fennimore of WQEDcertainly is.
(32:18):
Let's get a recipe and lessonfrom him on eggplant rollatini.
Hey everybody, we're joinedtoday with our friend Chris
Fennimore of QED Cooks from ourlocal station WQED.
Chris, I was wondering ifyou've been doing some new
cooking at home or cooking withany of your favorite relatives.
Chris (32:38):
Well, I think we might have mentioned at some point
that my two grandsons two of mygrandsons are in Rome with my
daughter, Marianne, that's right, and the older one, Tobias,
loves to cook.
So we've been doing theseThursday afternoon cooking
sessions where we time itbecause they're six hours
(32:59):
different.
So I'm doing it at noon andhe's just got home from school
and it's 6 o'clock and theyhaven't eaten dinner yet and we
cook for about a half an hourtogether online.
Doug (33:13):
Amazing.
Is it like a Zoom-type call or?
Chris (33:16):
something.
Yeah, I forget what it isWhatsApp.
Oh yes, Amazing.
Is it like a Zoom-type call orsomething?
Yeah, it's, I forget what it isWhatsApp.
Oh yes, yeah.
So we WhatsApp it and I sendhim the recipe beforehand, and
so he's got all the ingredients.
Marianne makes sure that it'sall there, and one of the things
that we made that he was sohappy with, and I was really
pleased with, was eggplantrollatini.
(33:36):
Now you have to understand thatpeople here eat eggplant, but
not like they eat it in Rome.
There's eggplants everywhere,and when I grew up, we ate
eggplant.
We thought of it as the otherdark meat.
My grandmother was alwaysfixing them, and she would make
(33:58):
a gabanadina salad out ofchopped up eggplant and other
vegetables and things, and wewould have that in the fridge
all the time.
She would make eggplantparmigiani with sauce and
cheeses and so on, and I thoughtabout this rollatini recipe
because it was one that wascomplicated enough to keep
(34:20):
Tobias's interest.
Yes, and it had a littlemechanics to it with the rolling
up of the eggplant.
Doug (34:27):
You literally are rolling it.
So this is different than aneggplant parm, because you are
stuffing it and rolling it.
Chris (34:34):
Well, I mean, the flavors would be very, very similar,
okay, and the ingredients wouldbe similar, but the process is a
little bit different.
Yes, One of the difficultiesabout eggplant is that it is
like a sponge.
It's absorbent, and the moreoil you put near it, the more it
soaks up, and to me it's notall that healthy or good for you
(34:57):
to like.
Just fried eggplant is going tobe like a mouthful of olive oil
.
Yes, so this recipe takesadvantage of a different form of
preparation, and that is thatyou take your eggplant and trim
off the top and the bottom andyou slice it into maybe quarter
(35:18):
inch slices.
And I wanted Tobias to learnthe knife technique as well and
how to do it safely, and so weworked through that, and so now
you have from each eggplant, youprobably get six slices.
Doug (35:35):
Long slices.
You're slicing from like top tobottom.
Chris (35:37):
Top to bottom, yes, and that's the safe way to do it,
because once you cut the bottomit's flat, and then you hold the
eggplant at the top and I hadhim use a fork and then just
slice down the whole way down,all the way down.
And so now you have thesepieces that are about two, three
inches by six inches dependingupon the size of the eggplant
(35:59):
and you paint them with oliveoil.
Doug (36:03):
Okay, so you're limiting the amount.
Chris (36:05):
Absolutely, you just use a.
I use a pastry brush, yes, andI just brush them and I put them
on a sheet, a baking sheet,with parchment paper.
Brush one side, turn them over,brush the other side, sprinkle
a little bit of salt, just alittle bit, and I bake that at
400 degrees until they start tobrown.
(36:26):
Now I take them out.
I make a mixture of ricotta,egg, grated Romano cheese.
I use always Pecorino, romanoLocatelli.
Doug (36:37):
Romano Locatelli.
Yeah, I do actually, it's thebrand.
Chris (36:39):
Locatelli.
It's just because that's what Igrew up with.
If you like Parmigiano, youknow Parmigiano is a cow's milk
cheese and it is softer andnuttier.
The Locatelli is a sheep's milkcheese, so it's got more bite
to it.
It's got a little more acidity,or something.
Doug (36:59):
Yeah, I always say it's sharper and a little saltier to
me than Parmigiano.
Yes, it should be.
Yeah.
Chris (37:06):
So you could use either, but I use the Romano cheese and
some fresh parsley, if you haveit.
It's like the same mixture thatwe would put inside of like a
manigata.
Doug (37:19):
Yes.
Chris (37:19):
So now, and you get mozzarella and you chop it into
sticks.
Now here's the fun.
You put on the small end of theeggplant slice, you put a blob
of the regatta, you take a stickof the mozzarella and you put
it there and you start rollingit, yes, and you roll it until
(37:41):
you get to the end, and then youput it in a pan where it meets
on the bottom yes, so that it'sa nice round top, yes, okay, now
you get some of your sauce, nota lot.
Doug (37:52):
Yes, just drizzle it over.
Chris (37:56):
Make sure that everyone has a little sauce on it.
Doug (37:58):
They're not swimming in sauce.
Chris (38:00):
No, that's not the way I do it.
And then more cheese on top.
You can either just use theRomano cheese or you could also
sprinkle some mozzarella.
But my feeling about mozzarella, once it's out cooked and it's
not covered or it gets hard andchewy, it does.
Just saying so, I leave themozzarella to the inside and I
(38:24):
just sprinkle it with somegrated cheese, gotcha, and that
adds a nice top flavor to it.
Put it back in the oven at 350to 375, something like that.
Doug (38:35):
Yeah, and you'd probably bake it for like 35, 40 minutes
to make sure that that's allcooked through, right?
But look for the mozzarellastick to start melting.
Melting through, yeah, I loveit.
Chris (38:45):
And you can put a thermometer in it if you really
want to be safe and just makesure that it's over 160 degrees,
and then I mean actually over135 for egg is safe, yeah, 60
degrees.
And then I mean actually over135 for egg is safe, yeah, um,
it's complicated enough that hewas just intrigued and he was so
(39:06):
proud of the tray that itcreated and, um, they ate it all
up.
Doug (39:09):
So suddenly they were eating eggplant and they had
never eaten it before he's madeit something a little bit more
complicated than I've ever madewith eggplant.
Chris (39:23):
How old is Tobias?
Well, now he just turned 11.
Doug (39:24):
Oh my goodness, so this was when he was nine at 10.
Yeah, I love it.
Yeah, eggplant rollatini.
Chris, thanks so much, you'rewelcome.
You can watch Chris on QEDCooks, usually airing Saturday
mornings on our local PBSstation, wqed.
Do you have a recipe?
Share it with us?
Just go to our website at www.
pittsburghdish.
com and look for our Share aRecipe form.
(39:48):
If you enjoyed the show,consider buying us a coffee for
this episode or supporting theshow monthly.
You can find links to thoseoptions at the bottom of our
show description and if you wantto follow my own food
adventures, you can find me onsocial media at DougCooking.
That's our show for this week.
Thanks again to all of ourguests and contributors and to
(40:10):
Kevin Solecki of CarnegieAccordion Company for providing
the music to our show.
We'll be back again next weekwith another fresh episode.
Stay tuned.
Welcome to the Pittsburgh Dish.
I'm your host, Doug Heilman.
Ever wonder who makes thaton-screen food in a movie?
We talked to a local catererthat's in the know Craving a
kimchi pancake.
Shelly Danko Day takes us toone of her favorite Korean spots
(00:21):
.
And are you teaching a newgeneration how to cook?
Chris Fennimore shares a recipeand lesson in eggplant
rollatini with his grandson.
All that ahead.
Stay tuned.
If you have a food-relatedbusiness and want to advertise
on The Pittsburgh Dish, justdrop us a line.
(00:42):
You can send us a DM inInstagram or use our get in
touch form on the front page ofour website, www.
pittsburghdish.
com.
Now onto the show.
Well, thank you so much forcoming over and for being on the
show.
Would you introduce yourself toour listeners and what you have
(01:02):
going on right now in the worldof food?
Roxanne (01:05):
Okay, my name is Roxanne from Roxanne's Catering.
I also own a company calledEasley Event Staffing, which is
the staffing and bartendingportion of our company, and I
also own a training servicecalled Smiling Services, which
is etiquette and professionalismin the food industry.
Chris (01:24):
Oh my goodness yeah.
Roxanne (01:26):
So we do full service catering, so we're a one-stop
shop for any events.
We do film catering, we dosmall parties all the way up to
$1,500.
Whoa yeah, we do corporateAmerica nonprofit organizations
and we provide catering servicesfor private homes and private
chef services, and we also dotraveling services.
(01:46):
So there are times we travel toPuerto Rico and different
states to provide cateringservices.
Oh my goodness.
Chris (01:54):
Yeah.
Roxanne (01:56):
So we've been doing that for several years.
I began in 2006 with mycatering services'm just
traveling around the Pittsburgharea selling dinners, just
trying to make a name for myselfso and today we pretty much are
catering pretty much every day.
Wow, yeah.
Doug (02:15):
You're doing so much more than I even picked up on the
website.
Roxanne (02:18):
I tried to do a light little bit of research but that
is amazing.
Doug (02:21):
The one thing that you said which is really what piqued
my interest is that you saidwhich is really what piqued my
interest is that you've donesome movie catering.
So I definitely want to talkabout that because what an
interesting niche in the worldof catering.
But I do want to start with thefood.
I did take a look at yourwebsite and the menu is.
It's so vast.
I mean from chicken to fish tovegetarian lasagna, I mean
(02:44):
someone can get almost anything.
Roxanne (02:47):
Yes, that's why I make it.
I make it so that we can feedanyone.
Yes, so everyone can be mycustomer.
Doug (02:55):
I always love to ask our guests that are in the food
business what are some of themost requested dishes on your
website.
Roxanne (03:07):
Actually, the most requested dishes on our website
would be our small plates,really.
Shelly (03:12):
Yeah.
Roxanne (03:13):
And boxed lunches actually like sandwiches.
Yeah.
So when we get the opportunityto be creative, we go for it,
because on a day-to-day basispeople usually just order like
meals for their office meetingor they'll order things for like
an event they're having afterwork and they want small plates,
appetizer type dishes and it'sfun.
(03:35):
But we get to be creative whenpeople call us and say hey, we
have a party of 200 andbasically, can you make the menu
for us?
That's where it's really funfor us but we love what we do
every day.
Doug (03:46):
Yes, and your commercial kitchen is based over in the
north side, so you are localPittsburgh through and through.
Did you grow up?
Roxanne (03:53):
in the area.
Actually, I grew up in Homewood.
You did, yes.
I went to George WestinghouseHigh School.
I went to Edinboro University.
I also did online school forcatering and culinary, and
that's how I pretty much fellinto this business.
It was God given, though,because I believe that I did it
(04:17):
just to do something part-time,to make extra money.
Chris (04:20):
And.
Doug (04:20):
I tell people all the time God had a different plan for me
, Sure did You're getting closeto 18 years now, getting close
to 20 years doing this cateringthing?
Yes, and it's such an expansiveamount of things.
And did you just tell me offthe mic that you also teach a
class?
Roxanne (04:35):
Yes, so the Smiling Services, it's a book that I've
written.
It's available on Amazon.
We'll plug it.
Yes, is available on Amazon.
We'll plug it.
Yes, and I do.
There's a Catapult CulinaryProgram for Catapult Pittsburgh
and I come in towards the end oftheir session and I teach
etiquette and professionalism inthe food industry and it's this
(04:58):
six weeks course and I teachthem how you know, a lot of them
come in and they know how toprepare food, they know what
they want to do, but there arejust some etiquette things that
I try to teach them and thengive them a little secrets about
catering while they're in theclass.
Doug (05:14):
Well, it's such another side of the business, beyond the
food, that's super important.
Yes, you want to get thatcustomer and then you want to
win them back because you'vemade this great impression.
It's great relationship.
Do you have that in yourbusiness?
Do you have like repeatcustomers again and again?
Roxanne (05:28):
I have customers that I've still had since 2006.
Isn't that incredible?
Yes, I love it, because you'vegot the skills to know how to do
that.
Doug (05:36):
I do want to go back to that menu, so I was looking at
some pictures on your websiteand I would encourage anyone to
do so.
You do some like grazing tablespreads and some of those small
bite things look amazing.
There were one or two thingsthat I saw that I wanted to ask
about and this is not your smallbites, okay, red velvet waffles
, oh yeah, oh my.
Roxanne (05:57):
That's a big hit, but I'm going to tell you what's
even bigger it's our deep friedFrench toast.
It's a signature dish that weprepare, yes, and people love it
.
So they're red velvet waffles.
They're very popular on ourbrunch menu.
Doug (06:11):
Yes.
Roxanne (06:12):
With that we serve.
Sometimes we'll add a chickenbite to it.
Oh, like chicken and waffles.
Yes, chicken and waffles, butwith a little flair, because
it's red.
Velvet, yeah, real soft, realmoist waffles yeah, they're
delicious have you ever donethem with like a cream cheese?
Yes, we have, we have done themwith a cream cheese drizzle,
but a lot of times, um, peoplejust like to have like a pipette
(06:35):
like a syrup pipette with them,with the chicken with it, and
it's really good yes, I actuallyjust came from a cupcake
contest this past weekend
Doug (06:43):
oh, really a red velvet cupcake won the best traditional
.
Chris (06:47):
Yes, I think that's why it was on my mind and I saw that
today.
Doug (06:50):
The other one I wouldn't mind talking about is your
specialty baked mac and cheese.
Yeah, Is there any secrets youcan give us?
That's a differentiator.
Anything you do, that turns itup a notch.
Roxanne (07:01):
I probably use more cheese than anyone in Pittsburgh
.
Doug (07:06):
I think that's the right answer.
Roxanne (07:08):
Yes, it's the cheesiest macaroni and cheese that you'll
ever find.
My secret is more cheese, lessnoodles.
Doug (07:15):
Oh, that's sort of my key to like mashed potatoes more
butter, less potatoes.
Now you said the small biteswere also the most popular thing
.
Is there anything that we wantto mention in terms of a small
bite highlight?
Roxanne (07:30):
Yeah, so we talked about our specialty macaroni and
cheese.
So we actually have taken thatspecialty macaroni and cheese
and turned it into a deep friedmacaroni and cheese, and we deep
fried and we top it with amarinara sauce.
Oh my, so this is reallypopular this is like a cheese
stick beyond yes steroids and wecan also make that a vegan
(07:53):
option as well, so we do make avegan macaroni and cheese too.
That's becoming rather popularin this generation too, with
everyone going vegan yeah,whether they've got.
Doug (08:03):
You know it's the lactose thing or the just no animal
thing you know I it's thelactose thing or the no animal
thing.
I mean, there's a lot of goodoptions now for that, and I
noticed there is a huge amountof vegetarian items on your menu
.
Again, back to your pointyou're doing something for
everybody.
Roxanne (08:16):
Yes, and you know what we also offer.
So I always tell people.
If you don't see it on the menu, that's okay.
I can create one specificallyfor you and it's not an extra
fee or anything, it's justsomething to design it
specifically for the person thatI'm preparing food for.
Doug (08:34):
I want to dig in a little bit more to some of the other
culinary things you're talkingabout.
So you're doing this localcatering from small to large
parties, but how did you getinto the traveling?
Did you say Puerto Rico?
Roxanne (08:49):
Yeah.
So what happened was there aresome of my clients that travel a
lot and one time someone askedme hey, would you be interested
in coming out to Puerto Rico?
We're going to be celebratingmy partner's birthday and I was
like sure.
So they paid for my Airbnb andpaid for the rental car, and in
(09:14):
Puerto Rico they have Walmart,they have Sam's Club, so I can
shop there as if I'm home, and Ilove Puerto Rico.
So, given that opportunity.
I took that and I startedsharing it on Instagram and
TikTok and those sorts of thingsand it brought me more
opportunity to go back and doprivate chef services.
(09:34):
Now the only hitch is you gotto pay.
Oh yeah, right, yeah, becauseyou have to pay for my airfare,
you have to pay for the rentalcar so that I can do the
shopping and you have to pay forthe.
Airbnb, so so that I can do theshopping, and you have to pay
for the Airbnb so that I canpre-prep before I come to your
Airbnb.
Yeah, you need a kitchen, yes.
And so in Puerto Rico there'snot a all-inclusive feel.
(09:59):
They have resorts, but they'renot all-inclusive, so you still
have to pay for restaurants.
So I sort of tell people Ibring the all inclusive when
you're there.
Yeah, so bring me with you,it's a great niche.
Doug (10:10):
Yes, so smart.
Yes, when you're back home, itsounds like you've gone there
mostly by yourself.
Roxanne (10:15):
Yes, I've went.
I've taken someone with me acouple of times, but mostly I go
by myself.
When you're back home, do youhave a staff of folks like
people that you've been?
Doug (10:30):
working with for a while.
I have a total staff of 47.
Roxanne (10:31):
Okay, I just like shook my head, so not all of them
prepare the food, so we havestaffing as far as servicing,
and the Easley Events staffinghas staffing services and
bartending.
So those are the bartendersincluded and the staff that
works in the kitchen.
So the chefs that work in thekitchen there are approximately
(10:52):
about seven of us total thatrotate in the kitchen to be able
to prepare the food foreveryone In 2006,.
Doug (11:01):
Would you ever have said, oh, I'm going to have over 40
employees in my life?
Roxanne (11:06):
Absolutely not, absolutely not.
I started it just trying tomake extra money.
I didn't realize that it wouldturn into a passion and a gift
that you know I wouldn't haveany other way.
It's a love that I have now.
Doug (11:22):
You had those skills of cooking which drew people in and
you have something else whichjust attracts them to come back
to you.
I do want to now move forwardto the reason.
You really caught my eye onInstagram.
Okay, you put a post on.
It was a scene from the 2024movie, The Deliverance.
This is the Lee Daniels moviethat was shot here.
(11:43):
And I hear you in thebackground as the folks in the
movie are eating at the tableand you're like that's my food
and I was like wait a minute anda little side note, my
husband's in film.
He worked on that film but hedidn't know you, so it just it
lit up for me this whole idea.
(12:05):
I know that in the food inPittsburgh we have a really good
food and TV scene and of course, there's craft services, but I
had never really thought abouton-camera edible food.
Can you just tell us a littlebit about how you got into the
movie scene like that?
Roxanne (12:26):
Yeah Well, I'll tell you.
First of all, I always thoughtwatching movies, that the food
wasn't real.
I didn't realize that this isreal food.
Someone is preparing.
They're actually eating thisfood.
So what happened was whenFences came to Pittsburgh to
film In 2016.
Doug (12:46):
Yes, Denzel Washington, Viola Davis.
Denzel was the director.
Roxanne (12:49):
Yes, yes, and they filmed it on the Hill District.
Chris (12:53):
Most of it was filmed, but it was all over.
Roxanne (12:55):
Pittsburgh.
I was given the opportunity towork with the props department.
That's what I work with.
Okay, so I work hand in handwith props and we provide the
food for on film.
So we have relationships withdifferent prop company or prop
masters.
I'll say, and that's how we gotinto the film industry.
(13:18):
And so what happens is they'llcall me and they'll say, hey, we
need food for this, this scene,this, this, this.
They'll call me and they'll say, hey, we need food for this,
this thing, this, this, this.
And then a lot of times we'rein the kitchen at 3 am Because
the call time is 6 am or 7 am.
Ridiculous.
And then sometimes they'll tellme hey, we need this meal, and
by 10 o'clock that night themeal has changed.
(13:40):
And so we have to be on ourtoes.
So when we're doing films, wehave to be on our toes.
So when we're doing films wehave to be actively ready for
any changes.
Yeah, um, but we have had theopportunity.
We did Fences, um, we've donethe deliverance is our most
recent but we've done manhunt,mind hunters.
We've done a lot of movies thatare on Netflix because they
(14:01):
stream yeah so, and we've donecommercial films like UPMC.
So there's different things thatwe do, because we do offer
craft services as well, but it'snot our number one thing with
film.
We like to be on the screen.
Doug (14:17):
I love that so much for you.
Roxanne (14:19):
Yeah.
So when I tell people, yeah,we're in that movie and they're
looking for me, I'm like no,it's our food.
Doug (14:23):
I know, oh my gosh.
Roxanne (14:25):
Yeah.
Doug (14:26):
So I know that this is maybe in the rearview mirror a
little bit, but when you werecooking on Fences, do you
remember what you had to cook,do you?
Roxanne (14:35):
recall any of the dishes so we made, and a lot of
the food that we prepared didn'teven make it yeah.
So if they said it, we hadprepared it.
So Viola said you want to comein here and get some collard
greens, baked chicken?
And there is a scene wherethere's a full meal on the table
On the table and pound cake.
And then there was a scene thatshe asked them that they want
(14:58):
breakfast.
So we had to prepare thebreakfast.
It was bacon and eggs.
And there was a scene wherethey needed okra because one of
the actors was on the back porchshucking okra.
And it never made the movie,but it made the trailer.
Doug (15:18):
I was searching around.
Roxanne (15:19):
Pittsburgh looking for okra, because okra is not a
popular thing in our area.
Yeah, because we're northerners.
Yeah, that's a southern, so Iliterally.
Doug (15:30):
You can find it in a can.
Sometimes, yeah, and that's notwhat they want.
Roxanne (15:32):
They want fresh okra because it needed to look like
it was being freshly prepared.
So you have me running aroundthe city I mean everywhere,
every Giant Eagle, every smallstore, co-op, anything just to
find okra for it not to make thescene.
And you never know.
Doug (15:53):
Yes, you just know, you don't know.
Roxanne (15:54):
It's.
Doug (15:55):
TV and movies.
It is so strange when scenesget cut, but it was in the
script so they need it, yeah.
Roxanne (16:00):
And then there was a time where they called me at six
o'clock in the morning and saidhey, is there a way you can
have eight sweet potato pieshere by 10 am?
Well, at that time my motherwas helping me in the kitchen
preparing pies, but that's toosoon for me to do that, so I
(16:20):
went to a local bakery in theHomewood area where I was raised
and it was called Dana's Bakery, and I went to them and I said
hey, I'm working on a film, I'ma caterer, I need some sweet
potato pies.
Their sweet potato pies are inthat film and Viola Davis is
carrying the pie walking downthe street telling them she's
going to a bakery for the church.
Doug (16:42):
I love it.
Roxanne (16:44):
Yeah, so, and it was very nice I was able to meet her
, viola Davis and I heard beforeI met her that they said she
would in between this shootingshe was eating the food and was
the first time they had actuallyseen her enjoying and eating
the food.
Wow.
Doug (17:03):
Yes, so when?
Roxanne (17:03):
I met her.
Yeah, when I met her she likehugged me and everything.
It was so sweet.
I loved it.
Doug (17:08):
Oh my gosh, I love that story.
Roxanne (17:12):
This is Chef Roxanne Easley and you're listening to
The Pittsburgh Dish.
Doug (17:18):
I think the scene you put up for The Deliverance I believe
there was like a white cake orsomething.
Roxanne (17:25):
I'm not a baker.
Doug (17:26):
Me neither.
Roxanne (17:28):
I can cook anything, but you asked me to bake
something.
That is like dreadful for me.
But they asked me to bakelayered cakes, coconut cakes,
coconut cake.
And then they told me to makeand there's a saying where the
birthday cake is there becauseit had to look homemade.
Yes, and I had to make a pinkbirthday cake with pink icing,
(17:50):
with a border, and I was like Iwas so nervous because I'm just
not a, I don't bake.
Doug (17:59):
You know, it's just not my passion.
Cooking and baking are totallydifferent skills.
Sometimes you have to do a lotof measuring when it comes to
baking, I know.
Roxanne (18:06):
So they tell me they want these cakes, and it's not
just one cake, because they haveto have many for the saints.
So I have to produce like 10coconut cakes and icing them,
layered and dressed, and it'sthe middle of the night, the
first saint that we had toprovide that coconut cake.
(18:27):
I did it by myself because atthe time I had to send the staff
home because it was literally11 o'clock at night and I was up
baking those cakes probablytill about three o'clock in the
morning.
They had to be on the set, Ithink, about six o'clock and I
was like, hey guys, I'm asleephere at the kitchen.
I didn't sleep there.
(18:47):
I eventually went home forabout an hour or two, came back,
delivered the cakes and youknow what?
The next day they said we needmore.
And apparently they said LeeDaniels loved the cake so much
that I kept making these cakes.
Wow, yes, over and over andover.
Doug (19:05):
Well, again you're doing something right and you're
getting better.
Roxanne (19:09):
So the dinner scene too .
You know they had the chickenthere and you know the collard
greens and everything.
And it was funny because wealso did a party scene and in
the party scene you'll see themeating Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Well, it was my job to go toKentucky Fried Chicken and get
all the buckets, but I fried allthe chicken that went in the
(19:30):
buckets.
Yeah, and the macaroni andcheese that they put in the
Kentucky Fried Chickencontainers is my macaroni and
cheese, goodness, my goodness.
So film is fun.
I've done a scene for I thinkit was Mindhunters and no
Manhunt For Manhunt.
There's a scene where they'resaying he's running and he's
(19:52):
hungry, so they show Taco Bellsign.
And he's hungry, so they show aTaco Bell sign.
Well, our job was to makegreasy taco meat so that they
can put it in a garbage bag, andhe's eating it out the garbage
bag and I'm like that's my tacomeat and it says Taco Bell, but
it's actually Roxanne's Catering.
Oh my gosh, yeah, that's fun.
Doug (20:15):
I mean, it's just so crazy and I think what you've
described is it's fun.
It's a little bit glamorous andit's a little bit not when
you're baking at three in themorning.
Yes, yes.
So for anyone out there that'sinterested in trying it out, you
know, I don't know if you'regoing to get into it Right.
Roxanne (20:32):
Lots of work, lots of sacrifices.
Doug (20:34):
Oh, my goodness.
Well, thank you so much forsharing that part of your huge
culinary adventure.
I would like to just take astep back.
You mentioned you grew up inHomewood.
You've been doing this since2006, but I'd like to even step
back a little bit more and talkabout food growing up.
Were you cooking at an earlyage, or were folks cooking for
(20:58):
you?
What was your food world like?
Roxanne (21:00):
then, actually, I started working in the food
industry as a teenager.
So my aunt was a short ordercook in a small diner in
Homewood and I worked there onSaturdays, so I would work there
from 7 am to 7 pm.
I was like one of the youngestpeople working there.
I was like my only teenagerhaving a 12-hour shift job.
(21:22):
But I did waitressing but Ialso prepared like short order
things.
I didn't realize then that itwas going to be a passion for it
like it is for me now.
Then I just needed to make somemoney.
You know, and my family, mygrandmother, she was a housewife
(21:43):
, so that's all she did was cookand clean, you know, and she
had five children and so Istayed with her a lot and I've
watched her and I, you know,just watched her cook every day
for my grandparents and for, youknow, for the household.
And you know I love that shecooks.
I don't think she loved it somuch Of course.
(22:03):
That was her.
Yeah, that was her.
You know, that was her job totake care of the family and you
know this doesn't happen veryoften now where someone can stay
home and take care of thefamily, but we did have that
opportunity.
So I was able to grow up seeingthat.
You know, like how passionatefood is and how food brings
people together.
(22:24):
If you notice, even in deathand life, people always gather
around food and I just have apassion for the people, the
service and and what food doesfor those moments, because if
you're gathering for a wedding,a funeral, a family event,
(22:45):
anything, there's always foodthat is centered around that and
I just love that because itjust brings people together.
Doug (22:51):
Absolutely.
I couldn't agree more.
I think that's probably part ofthe secret to your success is
that you really think about thepeople, and that community
moment that you're building andthe food is a way to bring all
that.
Yes, all right, I'd love totake us forward a little bit.
It sounds like you're not busyat all.
Of course not, so we're into2025.
(23:15):
Yes, it sounds like you're into2025.
Yes, it sounds like you'rebusier than ever.
Are there any big events, newgoals, something coming up ahead
here in the next couple monthsor this year?
Roxanne (23:28):
Well, I'll tell you a little bit about me.
Literally, 2024 was a very hardyear.
I had breast cancer.
Doug (23:36):
Oh.
Roxanne (23:36):
Yeah, so I went through a year where my staff had to
take the lead on just abouteverything.
I was there but I wasn't.
I worked through the wholeentire year but there were a lot
of moments where I wasn't ableto be there and my staff, they
just took over and made surethat Roxanne's Catering stayed
(23:58):
Roxanne's Catering and this year, you know, I'm trying to
elevate it into where you knowwe have more opportunities,
because when I started thebartending and the staffing
company, I started it but then Igot diagnosed so I couldn't
really push it like I needed to.
This year I'm going to refocus,I'm going to push that aspect
(24:22):
because we, you know, havingRoxanne's Catering, we're
serving everywhere.
We have a lot of differentvenues that we are a part of of
and now I want there's a lot ofcaterers out here that are up
and coming that sometimes needassistance or sometimes need a
(24:42):
server.
They might have the food, theymight have everything, but they
need the serving aspect of it.
So we offer that opportunity toother caterers.
We also offer it to privatesectors where, if you have a
party and you're just lookingfor someone to plate the food
that you prepared, or you'relooking for someone to come in
and just serve it and clean upit.
We offer those services for you.
Doug (25:04):
I've been to parties that are just like that.
They just hire a couple offolks and it elevates a party so
much If you want to enjoy yourown party.
Roxanne (25:11):
Yes, and that's our secret.
That's it.
Yes, like we want you, andthat's even with Roxanne's
Catering we want you to show up.
We just one-stop shop anythingyou need, from the linens, the
decorating, the music, theentertainment, anything you need
, we can provide.
So now we've added the serviceWell, we've always had the
service but the bartending, cashbars, open bars, all of those
(25:33):
things and we're licensed to doso cash bars, open bars, all of
those things and we're licensedto do so.
So those are the opportunitiesthat now.
I want to make sure that whenyou walk into an event and it
says Roxanne's Catering, you seewe've done everything.
And what I do is I partner withother companies small
businesses, small decoratingbusinesses or linen companies or
(25:54):
things like that and I put itunder one umbrella.
Bring us all into the house.
I'm the organizer of it.
I'm the planner and we plan ittogether, and so that one-stop
shop.
Doug (26:06):
I love this year that you are coordinating with those
other smaller folks too, becausethen you're raising everybody's
ship at the same time, I telleveryone there's enough money
out here for everyone to eat.
You know it is about.
It's not about competition.
It's really about just allowingeveryone to do their thing and
supporting them.
We talk about that a lot onthis show with other folks in
the food business, roxanne.
(26:27):
I want to make sure we thengive our listeners a moment to
know where they can find andfollow you.
If they've heard all thesereally cool things and they're
interested, could you share withour listeners your website and
any of your social handles thatfolks can find you?
Roxanne (26:44):
Okay, yes, so our website is www.
rsecatering.
com.
We're on Instagram Roxannes_Catering.
We're on Facebook Roxanne'sCatering.
We're on Facebook Roxanne'sCatering.
We are on Twitter, but I can'tget back in, so the things that
are there are just going to bethere.
(27:04):
I won't be able to update them,but you can still find us there
and you know we do have on ourwebsite.
There is a contact page.
You can just send us a you knowand contact information and
we'd be happy to service.
And you can call us at412-606-5938.
Doug (27:25):
All right yes, I think you're the first person that's
actually given out their phonenumber really, oh, I give it to
anyone.
I love that yes, well,especially with a catering event
, I'm sure the contact form isthe first thing sometimes, but
you always got to talk tosomebody.
Everybody's party or event is alittle bit different.
Roxanne (27:40):
Absolutely.
Doug (27:41):
Absolutely All right.
Chef Roxanne, it's been such adelight to talk with you and get
to know you.
I always like to end ourconversation with one final
question.
The name of the show is ThePittsburgh Dish.
What's the best dish you'veeaten this past week?
Oh, wow.
Roxanne (28:01):
I'll say I just prepared it yesterday.
Rasta pasta, rasta pasta it's aCaribbean jerk chicken pasta.
It was delicious and it was thefirst time I prepared it and I
might add it to our menu.
Doug (28:15):
Oh, what a great way to experiment and expand the menu
yes yes, tell me a little bitmore about what's in it.
Is there a sauce?
Is there veggies?
Roxanne (28:23):
You make a cream sauce but you add the jerk sauce to it
, and then there's peppers, bellpeppers, and I pre-cooked the
chicken, actually in a crock pot, okay, just so they make it
real tender so it can go all theway through that pasta.
So there's not just chunks, butthere's chicken every time you
(28:43):
have a bite.
Yeah, so yeah, it was delicious.
It was a little bite to it, butit was delicious.
Oh, I'm okay with that.
Doug (28:52):
What kind of noodle did you use?
We used a bow tie pasta.
Oh, I think that sounds great,yes, delicious.
So Rasta Pasta, best bite thisweek.
Chef Roxanne Easley, thank youso much for being on The
Pittsburgh Dish.
Roxanne (29:06):
Thank you for having me .
I'm so honored to be here.
Thank you.
Doug (29:11):
Up next craving some Korean food, especially a kimchi
pancake.
We talked to another localpodcaster for one of her
favorite spots Everybody.
We're joined today with ShellyDanko-Day of the With Bowl and
Spoon podcast.
Shelly, I know that you'realways talking to folks about
their own food evolution.
Shelly (29:37):
I was just wondering if you have gone anywhere recently
that's expanded your own interms of great restaurant to
visit hi Doug, hi.
Yeah, uh, actually I have.
I have gone to.
There's a Korean restaurant oncenter avenue in is it Shadyside
?
Yeah, Shadyside FriendshipFriendship area there um near
the Giant Eagle, but it's calledNak Won Garden Nak Won Garden
(29:59):
okay and it's phenomenal Koreanit's Korean and they do this
kimchi pancake which is amazingand I've been trying to recreate
it at home oh which I need moresamples you need to go back?
Doug (30:16):
I need more samples.
Did you go to go back?
I need more samples.
Did you go with your husband,brett, or by yourself?
Shelly (30:20):
I have been with.
I went with a co-worker when Iworked for the city a few years
ago, and then I finally took mybest friend Joy a couple weeks
ago.
Brett and I went with Chef Raf.
Doug (30:34):
Oh yeah.
Shelly (30:35):
Rafael Vencio.
Doug (30:36):
Uh huh, we both have had him on our shows, and he with
Chef Raf.
Oh yeah, Rafael Vencio, uh-huh.
Yeah, we both have had him onour shows.
Yeah, and he's done differentthings.
He was doing farming and thenhe was doing his pop-ups.
So I love him, yes, so you'vebeen there many times.
Shelly (30:47):
I've been there like three times.
Doug (30:49):
So, beyond the kimchi pancake, what else did you have,
or did others have that kind ofstood out?
Shelly (30:55):
they make really nice soups and they have a beef soup
and they come to your table andthey actually cut the meat off
the bones oh wow, you end upwith these two giant bones,
which is cool.
Um, they do a kimchi soup,which is really nice, and
whatever you get, like they havethe the bulgogi as well, but
whatever you get, they bring outa whole bunch of little bowls
(31:16):
of different types of fermentedvegetables.
Doug (31:19):
Yeah, Like garnishes or accompaniments or something it's
like a little salad.
Oh, love that, it's reallyamazing.
Shelly (31:24):
So you just you end up with like this table full of
food and a grazing feast, whichis just really that's my
favorite way to eat.
Doug (31:33):
Yeah, Did you share?
Everybody share things on thetable.
Love that.
Shelly (31:36):
Yep, and then it's just like you know you just keep
eating until you can't eatanymore.
Doug (31:41):
I think that sounds perfect.
All right, let's say the nameagain Nak Won Garden.
Let's say Shadyside.
Let's say Shadyside.
I think it's 15232.
So that works.
There you go, Shelly.
Shelly (31:55):
Thanks so much, and thanks for being on The
Pittsburgh Dish.
Doug (31:57):
Doug Shelly, thanks so much and thanks for being on The
Pittsburgh Dish, Doug.
Thank you, Shelly Danko Day isthe host and creator of the With
Bowl and Spoon podcast.
You can find With Bowl andSpoon anywhere you get podcasts
and on Instagram or her websiteat With Bowl and Spoon.
Are you teaching a futuregeneration how to cook?
Chris Fennimore of WQEDcertainly is.
(32:18):
Let's get a recipe and lessonfrom him on eggplant rollatini.
Hey everybody, we're joinedtoday with our friend Chris
Fennimore of QED Cooks from ourlocal station WQED.
Chris, I was wondering ifyou've been doing some new
cooking at home or cooking withany of your favorite relatives.
Chris (32:38):
Well, I think we might have mentioned at some point
that my two grandsons two of mygrandsons are in Rome with my
daughter, Marianne, that's right, and the older one, Tobias,
loves to cook.
So we've been doing theseThursday afternoon cooking
sessions where we time itbecause they're six hours
(32:59):
different.
So I'm doing it at noon andhe's just got home from school
and it's 6 o'clock and theyhaven't eaten dinner yet and we
cook for about a half an hourtogether online.
Doug (33:13):
Amazing.
Is it like a Zoom-type call or?
Chris (33:16):
something.
Yeah, I forget what it isWhatsApp.
Oh yes, Amazing.
Is it like a Zoom-type call orsomething?
Yeah, it's, I forget what it isWhatsApp.
Oh yes, yeah.
So we WhatsApp it and I sendhim the recipe beforehand, and
so he's got all the ingredients.
Marianne makes sure that it'sall there, and one of the things
that we made that he was sohappy with, and I was really
pleased with, was eggplantrollatini.
(33:36):
Now you have to understand thatpeople here eat eggplant, but
not like they eat it in Rome.
There's eggplants everywhere,and when I grew up, we ate
eggplant.
We thought of it as the otherdark meat.
My grandmother was alwaysfixing them, and she would make
(33:58):
a gabanadina salad out ofchopped up eggplant and other
vegetables and things, and wewould have that in the fridge
all the time.
She would make eggplantparmigiani with sauce and
cheeses and so on, and I thoughtabout this rollatini recipe
because it was one that wascomplicated enough to keep
(34:20):
Tobias's interest.
Yes, and it had a littlemechanics to it with the rolling
up of the eggplant.
Doug (34:27):
You literally are rolling it.
So this is different than aneggplant parm, because you are
stuffing it and rolling it.
Chris (34:34):
Well, I mean, the flavors would be very, very similar,
okay, and the ingredients wouldbe similar, but the process is a
little bit different.
Yes, One of the difficultiesabout eggplant is that it is
like a sponge.
It's absorbent, and the moreoil you put near it, the more it
soaks up, and to me it's notall that healthy or good for you
(34:57):
to like.
Just fried eggplant is going tobe like a mouthful of olive oil
.
Yes, so this recipe takesadvantage of a different form of
preparation, and that is thatyou take your eggplant and trim
off the top and the bottom andyou slice it into maybe quarter
(35:18):
inch slices.
And I wanted Tobias to learnthe knife technique as well and
how to do it safely, and so weworked through that, and so now
you have from each eggplant, youprobably get six slices.
Doug (35:35):
Long slices.
You're slicing from like top tobottom.
Chris (35:37):
Top to bottom, yes, and that's the safe way to do it,
because once you cut the bottomit's flat, and then you hold the
eggplant at the top and I hadhim use a fork and then just
slice down the whole way down,all the way down.
And so now you have thesepieces that are about two, three
inches by six inches dependingupon the size of the eggplant
(35:59):
and you paint them with oliveoil.
Doug (36:03):
Okay, so you're limiting the amount.
Chris (36:05):
Absolutely, you just use a.
I use a pastry brush, yes, andI just brush them and I put them
on a sheet, a baking sheet,with parchment paper.
Brush one side, turn them over,brush the other side, sprinkle
a little bit of salt, just alittle bit, and I bake that at
400 degrees until they start tobrown.
(36:26):
Now I take them out.
I make a mixture of ricotta,egg, grated Romano cheese.
I use always Pecorino, romanoLocatelli.
Doug (36:37):
Romano Locatelli.
Yeah, I do actually, it's thebrand.
Chris (36:39):
Locatelli.
It's just because that's what Igrew up with.
If you like Parmigiano, youknow Parmigiano is a cow's milk
cheese and it is softer andnuttier.
The Locatelli is a sheep's milkcheese, so it's got more bite
to it.
It's got a little more acidity,or something.
Doug (36:59):
Yeah, I always say it's sharper and a little saltier to
me than Parmigiano.
Yes, it should be.
Yeah.
Chris (37:06):
So you could use either, but I use the Romano cheese and
some fresh parsley, if you haveit.
It's like the same mixture thatwe would put inside of like a
manigata.
Doug (37:19):
Yes.
Chris (37:19):
So now, and you get mozzarella and you chop it into
sticks.
Now here's the fun.
You put on the small end of theeggplant slice, you put a blob
of the regatta, you take a stickof the mozzarella and you put
it there and you start rollingit, yes, and you roll it until
(37:41):
you get to the end, and then youput it in a pan where it meets
on the bottom yes, so that it'sa nice round top, yes, okay, now
you get some of your sauce, nota lot.
Doug (37:52):
Yes, just drizzle it over.
Chris (37:56):
Make sure that everyone has a little sauce on it.
Doug (37:58):
They're not swimming in sauce.
Chris (38:00):
No, that's not the way I do it.
And then more cheese on top.
You can either just use theRomano cheese or you could also
sprinkle some mozzarella.
But my feeling about mozzarella, once it's out cooked and it's
not covered or it gets hard andchewy, it does.
Just saying so, I leave themozzarella to the inside and I
(38:24):
just sprinkle it with somegrated cheese, gotcha, and that
adds a nice top flavor to it.
Put it back in the oven at 350to 375, something like that.
Doug (38:35):
Yeah, and you'd probably bake it for like 35, 40 minutes
to make sure that that's allcooked through, right?
But look for the mozzarellastick to start melting.
Melting through, yeah, I loveit.
Chris (38:45):
And you can put a thermometer in it if you really
want to be safe and just makesure that it's over 160 degrees,
and then I mean actually over135 for egg is safe, yeah, 60
degrees.
And then I mean actually over135 for egg is safe, yeah, um,
it's complicated enough that hewas just intrigued and he was so
(39:06):
proud of the tray that itcreated and, um, they ate it all
up.
Doug (39:09):
So suddenly they were eating eggplant and they had
never eaten it before he's madeit something a little bit more
complicated than I've ever madewith eggplant.
Chris (39:23):
How old is Tobias?
Well, now he just turned 11.
Doug (39:24):
Oh my goodness, so this was when he was nine at 10.
Yeah, I love it.
Yeah, eggplant rollatini.
Chris, thanks so much, you'rewelcome.
You can watch Chris on QEDCooks, usually airing Saturday
mornings on our local PBSstation, wqed.
Do you have a recipe?
Share it with us?
Just go to our website at www.
pittsburghdish.
com and look for our Share aRecipe form.
(39:48):
If you enjoyed the show,consider buying us a coffee for
this episode or supporting theshow monthly.
You can find links to thoseoptions at the bottom of our
show description and if you wantto follow my own food
adventures, you can find me onsocial media at DougCooking.
That's our show for this week.
Thanks again to all of ourguests and contributors and to
(40:10):
Kevin Solecki of CarnegieAccordion Company for providing
the music to our show.
We'll be back again next weekwith another fresh episode.
Stay tuned.
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