Flavors of Your Palate Brings New Twist to Catering

Salem, MA — Coming from a background in social services, Chef Jonil Casado started Flavors of Your Palate in 2019 — just a few months before the pandemic — as a way to bring together two of his ultimate passions: food and community.

“I’ve always had this love for building community, and I said ‘well, what better way to build community than to break bread,’” Casado said. “People are always interested in food and culture, and I said, ‘let’s fuse the two things,’ and that’s how Flavors of Your Palate was born.”

Before the pandemic incited nationwide lockdowns, a hallmark of Flavors of Your Palate was a community food event called “Dining With Strangers.”

“I would book halls and sell tickets,” Casado said. “While I was cooking and preparing the dishes, we used to have conversations on certain topics, very difficult conversations around diversity, equity and inclusion.”

But when the pandemic struck, Casado quickly realized two things: “Dining With Strangers” could no longer function in its present form, and Flavors of Your Palate would have to adapt if it was to survive the lockdowns.

“We quickly shifted into doing in-home catering,” Casado said. “Now, we go into people’s homes, we utilize their kitchens and we prep the food, we do everything there. What’s beautiful about it is through the pandemic, people were really interested in this type of service because they don’t have to leave the safety of their home. That’s how we gained traction as a business.”

Beyond the in-home catering, Flavors of Your Palate has also expanded into the instructional field, running virtual cooking classes for a variety of functions through Zoom.

“I set up my laptop and my cellphone so I can easily show folks what I’m doing. I purchased a portable prep table and what I do is I turn on the camera and we have these engaging conversations, whether it is about the dish that I’m cooking, or we talk about different eating lifestyles, we have these very organic conversations while we’re cooking,” Casado said. “It’s very similar to what I used to do in person, but now it’s virtual.”

With lockdowns largely lifted but the pandemic still a threat, Casado has found that people are just more comfortable doing activities either virtually or with their close friends and loved ones, cementing the conclusion of his original “Dining With Strangers” concept.

“I think there’s a new normal and I think that we’re forever letting go of “Dining With Strangers,” Casado said. “I think we’ve shifted into something permanent; this personal, in-home catering type of service; dessert tables, virtual and in-person cooking classes. But now it’s more intimate.”

And even as Casado works to establish his new company in the catering field, his goals stretch far beyond his own company — Flavors of Your Palate recently rolled out the first phase of its new application, one that is designed to expand beyond his specific service.

“The first phase is like a booking app, basically,” Casado said. “These services are currently just for Flavors of Your Palate. We plan on rolling out the second phase of the application — it’s going to be a booking app that’s going to compete against giants in this industry. What I’m attempting to do here is create a comprehensive booking app for clients and chefs that is going to cover the entire United States.”

“I’m trying to create something that is beyond just our company,” Casado added. “I’m trying to help other personal chefs develop, learn about these services, how to determine price-points, certain aspects of the industry. It’s a very personalized service, so I’m trying to have other folks mirror what we’re doing through the use of this new app as a platform.”

Even through the pain and uncertainty of the pandemic, Casado is grateful that he has been able to find an opportunity to keep creating.

“I know the pandemic has caused so much pain and chaos, but in the midst of it there’s always a silver lining,” Casado said. “While it’s created a lot of pain for some — such as myself, too — it’s also been an opportunity to revisit what we were doing before the pandemic and move away from that and reinvent yourselves.”