Catering Ready Meals at Weekends
“I served for 27 years as a non-commissioned officer in the army, as the senior NCO of a huge kitchen. Over the years, I participated in courses and professional training and became a chef. I always had my eye on the events’ sector, before finally, three years ago, I took early retirement and opened a venue together with my partner, Dudu Alon. We took two event halls in the center of Dimona, one with space for 700800 revelers and the other with space for 350-400, and invested millions of Shekels. The renovation also included new menus and a new culinary approach that I introduced. For the first two years, things were running smoothly—we managed to establish a reputation for ourselves throughout southern Israel. Then COVID-19 struck, and the momentum was lost.
“The first lockdown reduced us to zero events at a stroke. Of our 50 employees, we retained the six full-time ones and furloughed the rest. It took us time to realize that we would not be reopening for the rest of the year and that we had to think outside the box. So we set up a catering service with a wide range of ready meals for the Sabbath and for holidays. At the same time, we continued to provide services for small weddings in open spaces, in accordance with the regulations, if only to keep the system ticking over and to ensure we did not lose our workers. We also launched a delivery service with a driver of our own, but at the end of the day most of the customers preferred to come to us, to see the food in the pots and trays and to choose for themselves.
“At the end of the third lockdown we worked for two weeks—then we had to close down again because of the start of the Omer, a period in the Jewish calendar where celebrations are forbidden. Now all of that is behind us and we are back to almost full capacity with weddings, Bar- and Bat-Mitzvahs and other celebrations. In August we are expanding, after investing a huge amount of money into a new boutique wedding venue in Yeruham, by the lake, to meet the needs of all the towns and villages in the area. The past year and the pandemic have given me a sense of proportion regarding the things that truly matter in life—that if you have work, you should seize it, and not sit at home waiting for grants and compensation.”
The writer is the co-owner of “Adora – Event Space” venues.
6 Jabotinsky Square, Dimona. Tel: 08-6554305