“We opened Bay Gourmet Catering in 2001. I had a business partner for 16 years who didn’t want a liquor license or event space. When she moved out of the country, I bought her out and started to look for an event space. Two weeks later, a friend showed me this building and that was it. That was two years ago. We opened Crown Hall last June. The rest of the building opened in stages.

Crown Hall was built in the 1950s as a car dealership. It was later an appliance store until people moved to the mall area and West Mobile and, leaving downtown. The Red Cross moved in for about 30 years and it was known as the American Red Cross Building. The building had been empty since Katrina.

Mobile lacked a place with one big party room that can fit everyone in one space. We are at 12,000 square feet and have a parking lot. After we opened, some of my employees told me they had thought I was crazy to take this on. Crown Hall is modern and fresh and has a great look. I named it Crown Hall because there is a crown of windows in the ceiling where the chandeliers are. It is also a small, modern nod to Mardi Gras. Things fell into place, so well that I knew it was right.

We had our first Christmas and Mardi Gras, then March began wedding season. We were so booked, often with multiple weddings on weekends, that there was no break until fall. We had a great reaction from the community and were constantly getting confirmation we were on the right track. I love to throw parties and it was so good to do this in our own venue. We had two weeks of weddings and then the Coronavirus shut it down. We watched the dominoes of cancellations. We put so much into this and were supposed to be hitting our windfall moment to start making up our investment. The renovations, the furniture, the dishes, the hiring. Who could have foreseen this? There was no insurance to cover a pandemic. Canceling and postponing weddings has been hard for the brides.

My employees are the most important part of our business, and I have people who have been with me since the beginning. I wish I could send everyone home with a paycheck, that is the most stressful part. We had 13 on payroll, but had many bartenders and people helping with events. About 44 people collected a check from us. There was no way to keep paying them all.

We are a catering company with a takeout business, so it was easy to move into curbside service. It is not going to pay for a building this big for an extended period of time, but it is getting us through and we are thankful for everyone who is supporting us. I went through the webinars and spent weeks on the paperwork for the loans. The information is confusing and kept changing by the hour. It was overwhelming. Then they said there is no money left.

The silver lining of the Coronavirus is that I have gotten to cook again. Handling contracts and the business side had become the majority of my job. We had been on a big growth spurt and hiring people to do some of that work so I could get back into the kitchen. We are still cooking from local ingredients and it feels good to do what I love.

I got my degree in criminology and thought I wanted to be an attorney. I worked as a paralegal and didn’t like it. I cashed in my 401K and started cooking with my partner. Catering grew from there. I was raised on a farm and we always had a garden. We cooked what we grew and canned and everything made from scratch. We also had chickens, goats, and horses.

I am an optimist. I do yoga and meditate. I turn off the news, calm down, and realize things are going to be okay. There is a higher power looking out for us. I have been in business for 20 years and we have made it through the ups and downs. People are booking for the fall. We have Fizzy Fest on June 12. I hope things clear up by then. What better way to celebrate coming back to normal than with a glass of champagne.

You learn who supports each other during difficult times, and who doesn’t. When this is over, people will remember how you treated them. We are so appreciative of everyone who is helping us through.”