Michael's On East Catering - Restoration Catering

Restoration Catering is a division of Michael’s On East offering emergency response catering and services after natural or man-made disasters. Since 1992, in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew, our team has been deployed to every major storm in Florida. In 2005 Michael's ran five sights in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. We are capable of providing man camps, catering and tech support. Michael's has formed alliances in strategic locations across the country with tent manufactures/rental companies, catering companies and tech support.

Our organization facilitates internal decision making, which in turn mean quick response to our client’s needs and objectives. Michael’s On East’s award winning reputation for over 20 years provides the infrastructure to handle several locations simultaneously via Culinary Teams, Management Teams, Logistic Specialists and hands on Working Partners. The culture of the company is based on team work, participative management style and empowerment program. Thus, creating an atmosphere that encourages increased productivity, job satisfaction and excellent client services.

Mara Routh was always told she should get into the catering business. Never an impulsive person, she took a chance on that advice and started Celebrations Catering. Now, with nearly two decades of experience under her belt, Mara is the President of the International Caterers Association, heads up Restoration Catering, a division of Michael’s On East, as well as serves as a partner to Phil Mancini and Michael Klauber.

A LETTER FROM MARA:

Dear Friends,

I am sure you expect this letter to be filled with pearls of business wisdom – new ideas and current trends in the restoration catering world.

Instead, I want to share with you something much more personal. Upon returning home from six months in New Orleans doing restoration catering, I have found that my life has changed in every aspect. The experience made me come to terms with a question I had been struggling with – what is happiness and how do I define it for myself?

Recently, a friend of mine sent me an article about a new and very popular course at Harvard University that teaches happiness. I found it funny that people thought they could be “taught” happiness and then it occurred to me that we are always being taught happiness in one way or another. My experience in New Orleans was a lesson in the simple truth that life is sweet and instead of out day-to-day complaining, we should be relishing out successes large and small, accepting our mistakes (large and small) and taking responsibility for our own personal actions as well as those of our companies.

We can’t learn "happiness" unless we can recognize it and then act on it, even though our first reaction to it might be fear of the unknown. The time in New Orleans taught me that great love and achievement involves great risks, and that there is no risk greater than no risk at all.

Mara Routh