Client Name: Jay & Liz Curcio
Business Name: The White Apron
Business Website: https://www.thewhiteapron.com/
Industry: Catering
Location: Dover, NH
SBDC Advisor's Name: Warren Daniel
He always wanted to be a businessman. That’s what Jay Curcio, Co-owner of The White Apron, would tell his mother growing up. He didn’t know what type of businessman, but when he went to college, that vision started to come into focus.
Jay and his wife Liz own The White Apron together. It’s a catering and event company based out of Dover with a new event space to open soon in Exeter. Jay & Liz work with their team to organize and prepare beautiful, fresh food and great service for every event. Whether a corporate drop off lunch or an elegant wedding, the process for them and their crew is simple – to make great food, and provide great service, every time.
Jay worked his way through college by working in restaurants and fell in love with the industry, prompting him to go to culinary school in New York. Coincidentally, it’s the same school Liz went to, although they didn’t meet there.
While teaching as a culinary instructor at Mcintosh College in Dover, Jay started catering lunches out of his house to make extra money. He mainly served pharmaceutical reps who would “woo” doctors’ offices with delicious lunches. He started with one rep, and then the word got out. “He told some of his friends about me, and then all of a sudden, I had this little business going on in my house. And it just turned into this thing where I started making more money doing that than I did working and as a teacher,” says Jay. Lunches then grew into weddings and other small events. He opened the White Apron in 2004.
Jay and Liz met through one of Jay’s clients and funnily enough, they met because Liz was initially trying to convince her friend not to use Jay’s services. She was in the same field, but on a higher level in New York City. Admittedly, Jay says, “I was wearing a lot of hats, and none of them really fit. The food was always good. It was just the follow through, the email, the stuff that actually is the business part.”
Discovering they had like minds for hard work and passion for culinary, Jay and Liz fell in love first and partnered up later. “She really handles the day-to-day operations, and I handle the food, and we do this with a team of people,” says Jay.
Liz adds, “It ended up working out great, because I had the culinary background so it was easy for me to explain what we offer. And then, in addition, raise the standards of our service. So now we have this great marriage of excellent food with excellent service.”
NH SBDC last told our followers about The White Apron in September 2020. Pandemic closures hit them hard, but they were starting to bounce back from that incredibly challenging time. Liz and Jay were just seeing that they would be able to remain in business, and they were grateful for PPP and EIDL funds. For that story, visit https://www.nhsbdc.org/blog/2020/09/catering-covid-19-back.
They weathered the COVID storm so successfully that since then, they say they’ve come out better on the other side. Through it all, they had support from NH SBDC business advisor, Warren.
In the past year, as Liz and Jay worked to purchase a property to service on-site events, Warren was instrumental. “Mila by the White Apron” as it will be called, is located at 1 Franklin Street in Exeter. With help from Warren, Liz and Jay were able to get an SBA 504 loan to help with financing the purchase.
“Warren was a key person throughout the process,” say Jay and Liz. “He helped us correspond with the SBA, with our lender (Kennebunk Savings Bank), and with others associated with the project.”
Warren helped them get all the details in order so they could get the financing necessary for the project. They add, “We literally could not have accomplished all that we did (and as quickly) without his expert help.”
The new event venue, “Mila,” which means “miracles,” is named after Liz’s grandmother, and as Jay describes it, “is an absolute dream come true for us.” Mila will host high-end weddings, corporate events, meetings, and the like. Event hosts and goers can expect Mila events to offer a fine dining experience with a modern chic vibe. It’s set to open later this year.
Thrilled with their latest venture and continued growth, Jay and Liz describe the future of The White Apron as “quite bright.” They go on to say, “We are excited by all the possibilities that the future holds, and we will continue to work with the SBDC as we strive to make our new venture a successful one.”