Who taste tests the food?
thing for me was putting my recipes on paper and giving an actual
In the beginning, family and friends without dietary restrictions
measurement. I never used to measure, now I have to.

taste tested the meals and said, “You can sell this stuff.” Now, we
let staff members taste test the meals. Sometimes regular customers
come in for taste testings when we develop new meals or desserts.

What are the most popular menu items?
The most popular items are pizza, cheese steak sub, grilled Reuben,
meatball sub, chicken Parmesan, eggplant Parmesan, spaghetti and
garlic toast, Italian cold cut sub and all soups. Oh, and our breads
and anything in the dessert case.

What’s been your favorite customer reaction to being
able to eat out at a restaurant?
Wow, where do I begin? I have seen some very interesting “happy
dances” as well as hugs, tears and the shock and awe of a child
staring at me with his mouth open when I tell him he can eat
anything on our menu and in our bakery case! Probably the one that
hits home and made me cry the most is the 5-year-old boy whose
Have you always liked to cook?
mom told me that in the car on the way home he said, “Mom, that
Yes, I have family that has been in the restaurant business for 50
was the best thing that is ever going to happen to me.”
years on my mom’s side, so I guess it’s in my blood. I loved to cook
with my Aunt Kathleen as a child and adult. She was a gourmet
cook by hobby, and once I graduated from my Easy Bake Oven, I
would spend a whole weekend with her in Washington, D.C. just
cooking. She had every issue of Gourmet and Bon Appétit magazine,
and I could pick some items and we would have so much fun
cooking them up! She taught me it’s not about each ingredient
that goes into a recipe, it’s about how all of the flavors from those
ingredients work together and make the food taste great.

What’s been the most satisfying part of your
restaurant’s success?
The most satisfying thing for me and my husband is being able to
welcome families back to the table where they can relax and feel
the difference while eating top-notch food that is safe for them. Our
success proves there is a need for what we do, when many said it
would never work.

Do you prefer cooking or baking ?
Definitely cooking. Baking is not very forgiving. Baking is a science;
Debbie Williams is a freelance writer and editor based in Northern
it has to be exact. Cooking is an art. You can freely change flavors
Virginia and managing editor of Washington FAMILY Magazine.

and measurements. When I opened the company, the hardest
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