Hummingbird Serves Up High Tea and Sweets

At a future date, Jen Vincent likes to envision herself set up in a small storefront in downtown La Grange. As patrons leave the local food joints with a craving for something sweet to end the night, they'll stop in for a treat. With a menu featuring an assortment of beautifully crafted dessert items, it could be just the place to stop by with a date before a movie at the .

But for now, Vincent is starting small and doing what she loves with a new online business she recently opened called Hummingbird Cakery, specializing in intimate gatherings with an artist's touch.

"I really prefer the smaller, more intimate events," Vincent said. "When they get really big, you lose the artistic side of it."

Vincent has worked in the culinary industry for many years, beginning when she got a job in the student cafeteria at Eastern Illinois University. She watched in amazement as the women who worked the line made everything by hand and marveled at the beauty of rows of angel food cakes turned upside down on old Coke bottles.

"We always had very basic cooking at home," Vincent recalled. "But seeing all the different food items and the way they were made, just opened up a whole new world."

Since her days as a college cook, Vincent has worked in Oklahoma, Alabama and Georgia as a head chef and manager of catering companies. When she decided to go back to school at Kendall College in Chicago, she returned home to La Grange and currently works in catering at Wheaton College. 

Vincent said with a laugh that she manages a full-time job with Hummingbird on the side by, "not sleeping very much." But she's passionate about what she does and is looking forward to continuing to grow her business.

Hummingbird is currently making its mark in La Grange serving up small parties with finger sandwiches, sweet treats and high tea parties.

"Lots of caterers aren’t interested in high teas," Vincent said, due to the relatively small number of guests. "But when it's done and set up in the room and you walk in it just looks beautiful and elegant. It's so visually appealing."

Vincent said that by staying small and keeping a family's budget in mind, she's been off to a good start with Hummingbird. A new concept she's been shopping around that's about to take off is her, "Party in a Bag."

It's tough to be a "supermom," Vincent said, and work full-time while also being able to bake treats for a school party, birthday celebration or office gathering. Vincent makes it easy by bringing the treats, plates, cups and everything else you'll need all wrapped up in a beautiful package. Just $20 will serve 12 guests, according to Hummingbird's price options.

Starting small doesn't mean thinking small to Vincent. Soon she hopes to expand her options to include dinner parties and wedding receptions for small groups.

For more information about Hummingbird Cakery, visit their website at www.hummingbirdcakery.com.

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