A catering service and a personal chef in one, Lunch Tree Catering in the cool hills of Hatfield, Mandeville, Manchester, promises aesthetics and a satisfying meal.

Despite having a passion for cooking from a young age, owner and operator Laura Sadé didn’t consider cooking as a profession until 2016. “I just got back from Kingston and I was in search of a job. Every Sunday friends and family would drop off groceries and ask me to make their meals. I was doing that for free for a long time and then I decided: ‘Why not just start a restaurant?,’ ” Sadé told the Jamaica Observer. During the moments of voluntarily cooking for others Sadé was reminded of her love for cooking and how much it brought her joy.

A small location at her home, in an area where her aunt used to have a shop, was converted by her into a cookshop. Lunch Tree cookshop started with an initial investment of $50,000 which was funded by another restaurateur, and the shop began operating seven days a week. With each meal prepared Sadé’s love for cooking grew and so did her vision for the business. As a cookshop, Lunch Tree was hand-picked to be the caterer for a baby shower in Mandeville, and the excitement from that activity redirected Lunch Tree’s attention as Sadé now found herself using every opportunity at family events to perfect her event planning, catering, and presentation skills. “For me, presentation is very important. I really try my best to make the food look as presentable as it tastes because seeing the food is just as important as how it tastes, and if the food doesn’t look good to me, I won’t eat it,” she expressed.

The vision of Lunch Tree did not stop at catering as soon the business evolved into incorporating weekly events for the community. Sundays were for cravings, initially a day of desserts, then “Craving Sundays” turned into a themed event each week, with a kids talent show, games night, wine and dine, and bond fire. The weekly hosting gained traction in Manchester in 2020, with people looking forward to attending. “When it came to Craving Sundays I was getting 40 per cent profits. I had more customers for that than a Friday pop-up lunch because I had no delivery service,” Sadé explained.

But much like other restaurants and hotels, Lunch Tree’s standstill was abrupt during the COVID-19 pandemic as the business had major setbacks, some of which were as a result of Sadé’s own fears as well as the reputation of her business operating throughout a pandemic. “I was personally afraid of preparing meals for people and giving them, and then someone would end up being sick and someone would say, “You know I got the food from Lunch Tree and I got COVID,” she expressed to Sunday Finance.

After a while, Craving Sundays would come to an end. Subsequently, LunchTree would travel to Kingston to do pop-up shops, earning as it could wherever it could. Profits during that time fell drastically, and it wasn’t until the end of 2020 approached that corporate entities started to hire Lunch Tree to cater their events. Where’s the Food Show also propelled Lunch Tree even further when more awareness of the business from Manchester was brought to Kingston, and its social media presence got a boost.

Now her focus is on personal chef jobs, date nights, and the gatherings of friends, which started because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I currently have two different services under personal chef, and its Date Night and Dine With Us,” she explained. “For Date Night I set up a package for them where clients get a three-course meal and wine or cocktail, a personalised menu, and a set-up.”

Sadé also redecorated her home to facilitate date nights and Dine With Us clients, and these services have been growing in popularity since January of this year. This year brought booming service to Lunch Tree, and Craving Sundays recently made its comeback. Now, Sadé is kept busy between catering jobs, personal chef requests, and event planning — but she still aspires to achieve even more.

“I do want to have a Craving Sunday café. I want to get [employ] people that have the passion for food. I don’t want to hire anybody just because they want a work — I want to find people who are passionate about food and food presentation. I want to also put my sauces in supermarkets and stores and also at the Craving Sunday café,” Sadé revealed.