Journal Staff
These days, not everyone cooks for christenings, weddings, funerals, holiday parties, or other gatherings, whether hosted at home or in community venues. Many turn to caterers, restaurants, or hotels for prepared meats, baked goods, and complete buffet spreads.
Caterers told the Journal more families and businesses are relying on them than ever before, not only for birthdays and weddings, but also for funerals, rosaries, corporate meetings, and team-building events.
“Funerals, yes,” said Joey Atalig, general manager of Capitol Kitchen. “I mean, it sounds bad, but honestly, it’s the reality of life. Families want to be hospitable; they want to make sure their friends and family are fed. With funerals… it’s a big part of what we do, especially since COVID.”
Atalig said the company adapts depending on family needs, including grab-and-go meals where churches might not allow full sit-down setups. “For example, for 300, all I would need is four servers,” he said. “During full service, we’re just maintaining the food table, refilling, making sure the table looks presentable and chasing flies. Sometimes I can actually do it with two to three people.”
Island Cuisine owner Jason "JB” Blas said his kitchen also runs with lean but experienced teams. “Usually when we’re with our seasoned team, I would just need one cook, which would usually be our manager, and one kitchen assistant cook,” Blas said. “We have on board right now, a total of six cooks to do the turnover, because our volume’s been so great.”
Blas said his company has catered many events that catered to thousands of people, sometimes with shifts starting as early as 2 a.m. “Recently we had 200 services, so I think 1,500 people that day,” he said. “We have the openers, and then we have the closers.”
At Mary Q’s Catering, owner Herman Quichocho said his team sizes also depend on the crowd. “For events of 300 or 400 people we staff two or three people,” Quichocho said. “Our biggest clients can go up to 4,000, which we are expecting to do soon again in November at the UOG fieldhouse for the Guam National Guard. We will fully staff that event with about 10 people and have two settings.”
The tradition of “balutan,” or food for take-home plates, is something all three caterers say families handle differently.
“We never interfere,” Quichocho said. “We will have staff that watch over the tables to keep flies away so the families don’t have to worry about that. But families usually control the amount of leftovers they want to give away.”
“Atalig said Capitol Kitchen works out portions by platters, not headcounts. “Let’s say you have 300 people planning to come to the funeral, but only 208 people came,” he said. “We know how many platters will be needed to feed 100 people so that’s how we calculate it. And then anything left over, we’ll bring it over to your house for the merienda.”
“Blas said his approach is shaped by online orders. “Ninety-nine percent of our bookings don’t come in through the door. They come in as e-commerce purchases,” he said.
When it comes to favorite dishes, the menus are rooted in Guam’s traditions but also branching out.
“Our most requested dish? Everything,” Blas said. “Fried chicken and pot roast. Or red rice. Hågon suni (spinach in coconut milk). And there’s quite a few barbecue chicken orders. Because we barbecue on tangantångan wood. I refuse to barbecue on gas or charcoal.”
Quichocho said Mary Q’s customers always go back to two favorites. “Our most popular tray is our tinala’ kåtne (dried meat), and our fried chicken,” he said. “They always run out fast and we always get orders for those.”
Atalig said Capitol Kitchen balances local and international tastes. “Obviously our popular dishes are our local dishes,” he said. “But there are times where we like to express to our clients the things we can do outside from that. For example, we like to do a lot of finger food. We do everything from regular buffet, to pass around, to live stations, like having someone roll the sushi right in front of you or flambe the sugar crème brûlée.”
All three said supply chain challenges and rising costs have forced them to adapt, but they continue to focus on quality and service.
“Some ingredients are seasonal, but when we had the typhoon back in 2023, that really hit us hard,” Blas said. “Scallions, eggplants, long beans, especially the hot peppers, [were] super scarce. But the great thing about being in the business this long is that I’ve created relationships with our vendors that continue to work with us.”
Quichocho said supply chain issues are affecting Mary Q. “We’re doing our best and sometimes that means we omit some ingredients but always maintain quality and customer service. That’s why we still do what we do and are still in business for the island.”
Atalig said Capitol Kitchen looks to local farmers and grows its own herbs to use when items aren’t available. “We’ve got to be innovative in what we do,” he said. “If we know we cannot get it, we will give our clients a heads up… but otherwise we try to have it continuous and consistent.”
Capitol Kitchen has raised herb garden beds setup on its property as well as a controlled environment greenhouse, ensuring fresh produce year-round.
For families, budgeting is often the deciding factor.
“There are some clients that do come in and say, ‘This is what we have to work with. Are you able to accommodate?’ And we are,” Blas said.
Quichocho said Mary Q’s sees more requests for basic platters. “We do our best to accommodate because we understand costs have gone up everywhere,” he said.
Atalig said Capitol Kitchen takes the same approach. “We ask them honestly, what’s their budget? And then we work it out,” he said. “We will work with people, but a lot of our returning clients know us for our consistent service and elevating everything we do.”
For these caterers, the work is about more than food, it’s about being present at life’s most important moments.
“I wouldn’t be here, Island Cuisine would not be where it’s at today if it’s not for our community,” Blas said.
“We’re (Mary Q’s) doing our best… and still in business for the island since 1991,” Quichocho said.
Atalig said, “Capitol Kitchen prides ourselves on our service and our dishes that bring people together.” mbj
