The Hugh Groman Group

Hugh Groman's passion for simple, vibrantly flavored food, as well as his meticulous attention to detail, have elevated him to the top of the Bay Area catering industry. With roots dating back to 2001, Hugh Groman Catering has provided catering for events large and small throughout the Bay Area, including events honoring celebrities such as Barack Obama, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Nancy Pelosi, Laurence Fishburne (Sally Ride), Arianna Huffington, Harry Belafonte (Harrison Ford), Malcolm Gladwell (Malcolm Gladwell Foundation), and Gloria Steinem. Groman, who was born in Lafayette, California, grew up in a family that was enthusiastic about food and entertaining. He grew up as the youngest of four children, and he recalls helping his parents and siblings in the kitchen from the age of five. He recalls nearly destroying the house while making potato chips when he was seven. He was drawn to the food and hospitality industry and worked in restaurants throughout high school and college, where he majored in psychology at Yale University. While living in New York after graduation and "checking careers off the list," Groman learned of an opening at the newly opened Gramercy Tavern, where he interviewed with chef Tom Colicchio, who hired him on the spot as a cook. The following year he worked in garde manger, where he learned the ropes and progressed through the stations, eventually landing in the Tavern, a more casual section of the restaurant that focused on food prepared on a wood-burning grill. Following that, he embarked on an extensive culinary tour of the United States, where he performed in restaurants all over the country. In 1997, he relocated to New York, where he established a catering business out of the kitchen of his apartment building. Boerum Hill Food Company, located on Brooklyn's now-booming Smith Street, was founded by him in 1999. The delicious, made-from-scratch food and friendly service provided by Groman made Boerum Hill Food Company a smashing success from the start. Eventually, he determined that he needed to return to his hometown in the Bay Area and sold the company in 2001. Hugh Groman Catering was founded because it provided him with the opportunity to be creative, project-based, and work directly with clients. According to the County of Alameda, Hugh Groman Catering is an environmentally friendly business. With the launch of Greenleaf Platters, an online service that delivers high-quality party platters throughout the Bay Area, he made his entrepreneurial debut. Recent openings include Phil's Sliders, a delicious slider restaurant that is the love child of In n Out Burger and Chez Panisse, which opened in July of 2011. When it comes to creating menus and recipes, he draws on his creativity and passion for food. He cites Tom Colicchio as an inspiration for his aesthetic, commitment to freshness and simplicity, and aversion to "tortured food," as well as Danny Meyer for his business acumen and unwavering commitment to high quality in all areas of his restaurants, as examples of his influences. Currently, Hugh Groman resides in Berkeley, California with his husband Noah, and in his spare time he enjoys playing with his dogs, going to boot camp, reading in his hot tub, and watching the Real Housewives of...