Our Story
the delectables story
More Than 30 Years of Food, Events and Hospitality in Tampa Bay
Delectables Fine Catering has been part of the Tampa Bay event community for more than 30 years, growing from a small local catering company into an established full-service caterer serving weddings, corporate events, galas and celebrations throughout the region.
I became part of that story in 2022, when I acquired Delectables through Define Hospitality. But I have always believed that owning a company with this much history comes with a responsibility: understand what made it successful, preserve what matters and continue building upon the foundation that came before you.
This is the story of Delectables; where we came from, how I became part of it and where we’re headed next.
Where it All Began
Every company has a beginning, and ours started with a small catering company called Delectables by Betty.
More than 30 years ago, chefs Jeff Simpson and Nick Adams saw an opportunity in that little company. Both were graduates of the Culinary Institute of America, and both went on to build their careers with Hyatt Hotels, where they met and discovered that they worked well together. They shared a culinary background, an understanding of hospitality and, eventually, an entrepreneurial spirit.
Together, they purchased Delectables by Betty and renamed the company Delectables Fine Catering.
What started as a small catering operation grew over the years into something much larger. Under the leadership of Jeff, Nick and Laurie Simpson, Delectables became an established part of the Tampa Bay event community, catering weddings, corporate events, galas, celebrations and large-scale events throughout the region.
Along the way, the company built relationships with generations of clients, venues and event professionals. Some families came back to Delectables again and again for weddings, anniversaries, milestone birthdays and the celebrations that followed. Corporate and nonprofit clients trusted the team with events year after year.
Those relationships became as much a part of the Delectables story as the food itself.
A New Chapter
By 2022, after decades in the catering business, Jeff, Nick and Laurie were ready to begin thinking about retirement and the future of the company they had built.
That is where I entered the story.
I had already spent years building Good Food Events + Catering in Tampa when the opportunity arose to acquire Delectables. What interested me wasn’t simply the opportunity to own another catering company. I saw something much more valuable.
I saw a company with history.
Delectables had an experienced team, strong culinary roots, longstanding relationships throughout Tampa Bay and a reputation that had been built one event at a time over more than three decades. There was a tremendous amount worth preserving.
In April 2022, through Define Hospitality, I acquired Delectables Fine Catering and became the next owner of the company.
From the beginning, my goal was never to turn Delectables into Good Food or erase the identity Jeff, Nick and Laurie had spent decades building. In fact, it was just the opposite.
I believed there was an opportunity to preserve what made Delectables successful while giving the company additional resources, systems and expertise to help carry it into its next generation.
Four years later, I believe that decision was the right one.
Delectables Today
Today, Delectables and Good Food work alongside one another as sister companies, but they remain two distinct brands.
There is a reason for that.
Delectables has its own place in the Tampa Bay catering market. We are a full-service catering company built around great food, experienced execution, straightforward planning and exceptional value. We serve everything from weddings and intimate celebrations to corporate events, galas and large-scale events serving hundreds—or even thousands—of guests.
Good Food has its own personality and approach, with an emphasis on highly customized, chef-driven and experiential events.
Behind the scenes, however, the two companies benefit from something neither had before:
Each other.
Our teams share knowledge, culinary experience, operational resources and decades of lessons learned from producing events throughout Tampa Bay. When one company develops a better way of doing something, both companies become stronger.
At the same time, we have been intentional about protecting the identity and strengths that make each brand different.
I believe that combination has made Delectables a better company.
Still a Culinary Company at Heart
One thing has never changed.
Delectables was built by chefs, and food remains at the center of what we do.
Catering presents a unique culinary challenge. It isn’t enough to create a great plate of food. We have to create food that can be prepared consistently, transported safely and served beautifully in venues, homes, tents, ballrooms and event spaces throughout Tampa Bay.
Sometimes that means dinner for 75 people. Other times it means feeding 750.
Both require thought, preparation and experience.
Our goal is to make food we’re proud to serve while giving our clients exceptional value for their investment. That philosophy has been part of Delectables for decades, and it remains an important part of who we are today.
We Define Hospitality
As Delectables entered its next chapter, we began using three words to describe the standard we want to hold ourselves to:
We. Define. Hospitality.
To us, hospitality is much bigger than service.
It is anticipating what someone needs before they have to ask. It is understanding that a bride and groom shouldn’t be thinking about the catering timeline during their wedding reception. It is making sure an event planner knows that when our team says something is handled, it is handled.
And it is remembering that every plate we serve is going to a guest who was invited there for a reason.
Much of what makes an event successful happens where the guests will never see it—in the kitchen, on the loading dock, behind the scenes and in the hundreds of small decisions made before the first guest ever arrives.
That’s our job.
The guest should simply experience a great event.
More than 30 years after Delectables began, the company continues to evolve. We have new people, new ideas, new systems and an entirely new generation helping write the next part of the story.
But we are still building on the foundation that came before us: make great food, take care of people, do what you say you’re going to do and leave every event better than you found it.
That’s the legacy we inherited.
It’s the standard we’re continuing to build upon.
And it’s what we mean when we say:
We Define Hospitality
Kevin Lacassin
Owner, Delectables Fine Catering
Founder, Good Food Events + Catering
Define Hospitality
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