vendor reviews: catering

Danforth café Three's Company busy with some of Toronto brides' smaller wedding events and parties

Reviewing Carolyn Hogg & Teri Cordileone, Owners and Head Chefs of Three’s Company Catering Inc.

Three's Company Catering is a warm, welcoming café on Danforth that has a distinct family feel to it when you walk through its doors. The café is owned and operated by Carolyn Hogg and Teri Cordileone, who also act as the Head Chefs when it comes to the long list of events Three's Company caters for.

Three's Company focuses on smaller, interactive events such as showers, post-wedding brunches and engagement parties. They also cater to brides who love the idea shared platters or having food stations set up throughout their wedding space instead of the traditional sit-down meal.

With their twenty years of experience in the food industry and the fact that their phone is often ringing off the hook, staff at The Ring sat down with Teri and Carolyn to find out how they've managed to build a loyal clientele and a great restaurant, all from a love for cooking. Here's what we found...

Personally speaking...

Carolyn and Teri met almost twenty years ago in 1990 while working together at the Delta Chelsea Inn. Without realizing that ten years later they would form a company together, they went down different paths.

Carolyn stayed with Delta Hotels and moved with them to Whistler, B.C. before going to the Northwest Territories, where she worked as the personal chef for Max Ward, founder of Wardair Airlines. When she returned to Toronto, she worked with Teri again at Wayne Gretzky's restaurant (which Teri also helped open) then again a few years later at sister restaurants in Toronto's entertainment district.

Teri jetted off to Hong Kong in 1997 where she spent three years opening a chain of Italian restaurants. Both ladies grew tired of working for others and desired the freedom and control of doing their own thing. So, they communicated long distance about starting their own catering company. When Teri arrived back in Canada in 2001, Three's Company was born. They worked out of a variety of locations before launching their first café and restaurant at 1331 Danforth Avenue in 2003 where they also ran the catering side of the business. "The hard work and struggles seem effortless only because of all of the support of friends, family and customers who helped make it possible to move to a bigger, and more centrally located venue," explains their website. Now, they’re located at 673 Danforth with a more modern look, but they say that it is very important to both of them "to retain a sense of what they had created at 1331 Danforth and that was a warm, comfortable and welcoming environment for everyone."

Family at work

Three’s Company’s welcoming environment holds true not only for their clients, but also for their working relationships with their staff. When we met with Carolyn and Teri, we found out that they have a community of staff that has been with them from the beginning. Their professional catering and wait staff work together like a family, which is evident in the stories they both told us about the fun times and laughs they have all shared together.

Tim Montgomery along with his now husband Joel, had Three’s Company cater their backyard garden wedding reception in June 2008. They told The Ring that they "can honestly advise anyone that Three’s Company will assist in ensuring the reception suits the needs of the happy couple." They even helped Tim and Joel rent a tent two days before their wedding! "The staff was delighted with the venue, and cheerful through what was a very long, hot summer’s day," Tim told us. He adds that "Clean-up was good, and much appreciated."

Stationed for your needs

Carolyn and Teri also told us that a trend they have noticed in recent years is clients wanting to host small, more intimate gatherings with cruising stations (cruiser tables set up with food platters and displays) instead of a full sit down dinner. "We've found that more interaction with guests is what couples want."

Three’s Company offers just such a trend for couples who desire this type of interaction with Cold Stations, Hot Stations and After Dinner Stations. Some of the stations even have food in appetizer or meal sizes. Here’s a sampling of some of the tasty treats that Three’s Company’s stations can offer your guests (but visit their website for more menu items):

The Cold Stations can have salmon with traditional garnishes, or what they call a Grazing Table complete with veggies and dips, assorted salads, a roasted vegetable platter, a relish tray and a variety of breads. Prices ranger per person from $6.95 to $12.25.

At the Hot Stations you could offer a Carving Station with your choice of beef striploin, rack of lamb or Moroccan spiced chicken. Three’s Company also offers a Pasta Bar with a selection of prepared pastas where guests can choose their own sauce (tomato, cream or basil aioli) plus an array of garnishes. Or, offer guests a taste of the Orient with one of their most popular stations, the Asian Station, which offers spicy Thai-Cantonese noodles, steamed Asian dumplings, salad rolls and sushi. Hot Stations are also prices per person at $7.50 to $12.95.

At the After Dinner Stations guests can satisfy their sweet tooth at a Sweet Table full of delectable desserts or a Chocolate Fountain that Three’s Company offers in conjunction with Amore Chocolate Fountains. Desserts can also be paired with a coffee and tea table. Then, after guests have worked up a late night appetite on the dance floor, you can offer them the Midnight Table for additional snacking options.

Food for thought...

Aside from the new and trendy food stations, Three’s Company also offers traditional plated meals complete with your choice of hors d’oeuvres, salads, a main course and desserts. Ordered by the dozen, some of the cold hors d’oeuvres are sesame tuna, crab nacho, smoked chicken, salmon lollipop and sushi. Hot hors d’oeuvres can include mushroom pillows, pecan crusted chicken, mini burgers and goat cheese soufflé. Three’s Company also offers salads ranging from the traditional spring greens to Asian slow or roasted potato and three-bean.

Cold and hot hors d’oeuvres are ordered by the dozen and range in price from $18 to $30, depending on what you order. For example, the goat cheese soufflé is $18, crab nacho and mini burgers are $22 and the sesame tuna is $30.

For smaller, buffet-style weddings, late night snacks or even pre/post-wedding events like bridal showers or morning after brunch, Three’s Company makes platters. Breakfast Platters come in four different styles: breakfast pastries, mini pastries, bagels and continental breakfast, and range in price from $1.95 to $5 per person. The Lunch Platters offer three options for combining sandwiches and sides like salads and desserts and they start at $6.50 and go up to $12.50. Grazing Platters of imported and domestic cheese, roasted vegetables, antipasto, garden veggies, fresh fruit, and a sweet tray allow you to customize or add-on to any menu. They start as low as $2.50 (for the garden veggies platter) and go up to $7.50 (for the antipasto platter). Main Course Platters would be perfect for a buffet-style event and can consist of lemon chicken for $6.95 per person, beef tenderloin for $8.95 per person or smoked salmon for 5.95 per person.

"The food (having gone through multiple telephone and email discussions and one tasting session) was universally declared fantastic," says Tim, who had Three’s Company make snacks, dinner, a cake and beverages for his wedding reception.

Specialty services...

With such a connected relationship with their surrounding community, Three's Company can recommend or hire additional services for your party. They work with several rental companies throughout the GTA who can help cover all of your rental needs, including place settings, tables, glassware, tents, ovens and linen.

To help make your wedding a great success, Three’s Company can supply bartenders, servers and chefs. All staff is booked based on a four hour minimum and a base cost with an additional cost for travel time outside of the Toronto area.

Or, if you want to have an intimate wedding reception but don't have enough room, Three’s Company can also offer you the venue by reserving their restaurant (complete with backyard patio).

Walking you through it...

Once you’ve decided to book Three’s Company to help with your catering needs, Carolyn or Teri will sit down with you to discuss all of the details – times, location, potential food allergies, likes and dislikes, special requests and payment plans. Both ladies are very organized and use this information in order to set up an agenda prior to your special day so that everyone knows what their job is the day of and things can run smoothly.

Prices for catering services vary depending on the size of your event and the food choices you make. To get a personalized quote that fits your event and needs, be sure to check out their online catering quote request system. When you book the staff at Three’s Company to work at your reception the base cost is $28 per hour. After you receive a quote for your event, 10% of the estimated bill is required to book Three’s Company, with 50% due one month before the wedding and the remaining balance due one week before, along with the final guest count.

At a time that's convenient for you between booking Three’s Company and your wedding day, Carolyn and Teri sit down with you to sample your menu selections so you know ahead of time what will be served, and whether or not you’re satisfied with it.

Though, if Three’s Company’s reputation precedes them, the latter is unlikely; just ask Tim who told us that "The feedback from [our] guests was astounding – the party was, and still is, the talk of the neighbourhood!"

Getting your fill...

Email is often the best way to get a hold of Owners and Head Chefs, Carolyn Hogg and Teri Cordileone, at Three's Company Catering. Contact them at chefs@threes-company.com or phone their café and restaurant at 673 Danforth Avenue in Toronto at 416-406-3233. More food and price details, as well as an online quote request form can be found on their website at www.threes-company.com.

- The Staff at TheWeddingRing.ca

* Photos submitted by Carolyn Hogg & Teri Cordileone for use in this review. Any questions regarding copyright or permissions to use should be directed to Carolyn Hogg & Teri Cordileone at 416-406-3233 or chefs@threes-company.com.  * Prices are all approximate and are subject to change and verification by authorized staff and management of Three's Company Catering Inc..