First Taster Evening in a Year

“I come from a family with deep roots in the events’ industry. A decade ago, I set up a catering company specializing in homecooked-style comfort food, together with two childhood friends of mine, Dotan Levi and Avi Gonen. The business started with a food market offering a range of 200 dishes for private customers as well as companies and organizations. Five years ago, we also opened a venue for events with space for up to 500 people, with the aim of offering something different and unique. For example, if the clients come from a Persian family, we will offer dishes from that part of the world, to give their guests a taste of home. It is very important to us that our clients have a positive and meaningful experience with us—whether that is with the catering or the venue.

“On the eve of the outbreak of the pandemic, we were employing dozens of staff at the venue and the catering, but we furloughed almost all of them during the first lockdown. Luckily for us, the catering side of the business kept working, albeit with restrictions, so we focused on that—upgrading our delivery service and focusing our advertising on our target markets in Petach Tikva and the Gush Dan region. Some of our clients closed down or transitioned to remote working, so we experienced a drop in our income. You could say that the food market of the catering side of the business helped us to keep our heads above water.

”Since the end of the Counting of the Omer and the recent tensions, there has been a welcome stream of event bookings, but it’s important to understand that the picture has changed in the sector. Many businesses did not survive the pandemic, and there is a situation now where there is significant demand, but the cost of events has also increased. Couples that cancelled weddings received their money back. COVID-19 was a sucker punch for all of us, and we didn’t want to place the burden on young couples taking their first steps. So in recent months we renovated and upgraded the venue, and a few weeks ago we held our first taster evening in more than a year for couples getting married. It’s encouraging, but the last year has taught us to be cautious and not to get ahead of ourselves.”

The writer is the co-owner of Bishulim Catering and La Paloma Blanca.

Ben Tsiyon Galis 44, Segula Junction, Petach Tikva. Tel: 03-9506040