Lenore Nolan-Ryan offers culinary events & catering

Posted on 17 June 2018 by JLusk

 

 

Lenore Nolan Ryan

Lenore’s World Class Catering and Cooking School is in Galt Ocean Mile.

Muffaletta sandwich.

By Rachel Galvin

Walking into Lenore Nolan-Ryan’s location on Galt Ocean Mile is like a breath of fresh air. There is a sense of openness and intimacy at the same time. Filled with high and low tops and decorated in different shades of blues and whites, this locale is home to her Bubbles & Brunch, and Live2Travel, Love2Eat pop-up dinners, her cooking classes and other events.

This reporter “headed to the Bayou” last month for her Destination: New Orleans dinner. Seated with people I had never met, the experience was not only one of enjoying great food and getting a sense of the culture gastronomically, but also imbued with friendship and the creation of a culture of our own. Each item Lenore served up was inspired by her favorite restaurants in The Big Easy. The first brought to the table was the Central Grocery’s Muffaletta Sandwich. Now, I am not an olive fan, but something about the olives in this sandwich really made its flavor pop. The richness of the meat and cheese had a tangy kick that I could not stop eating. Next was Willie Mae’s Scotch House fried chicken, which was cooked well and left with a crispy skin. It was sided with red beans that tasted like they were flavored with sausage, a slightly sweet rice and some tomato and corn topping, as well as Upperline Restaurant’s fried green tomatoes and shrimp remoulade. At the end, she handed out some Cafe Du Monde beignets. Of course, she offers up specialty drinks as well, which make a nice addition to the meal. Every dinner she has has a different theme. Now, besides these dinners, she also has Bubbles & Brunch every Sunday. Want to learn how to cook up some of her specialties? She offers cooking classes as well.

If you are not up for meeting new people, bring some of your own to her next event. It is the perfect place for everything from a mother and daughter meet-up or date night, to a girls’ night out, a birthday party, bridal shower and more.

As I sat chatting with the people at my table, people kept coming over wanting to meet me and tell me about how much they love Lenore and the events she creates… one, right after another… saying they come again and again, each time bringing new people.

We have a wonderful group of customers and friends,” explained Lenore, adding that she also does catering… People can have events within her space or she will come to them.“Catering is about me catering to you. It is my job to make you the hostess look like a million bucks, whether it is here or in your home. It is all about food, fun and friendship.”

Lenore is a force to be reckoned with. In addition to catering, cooking classes, dinners and brunches, she does cooking classes on a cruise ship and, off season, she heads to the Pacific Northwest to work on a charter yacht manned by all women.

Her history is just as interesting as her present. Her father owned the Cal-Neva Hotel and Casino in Reno, Nevada and went on to operate several casinos in Havana, Cuba. Lenore spent time there, as well as in her birthplace – Miami– before moving to Indiana with her mother following her parent’s divorce.

She did not start out thinking she would end up in the culinary world. She studied voice and piano at Butler University. But she asked the owner of a small restaurant if she could start doing brunch because she loved it so much and he obliged. She was only 19 years old. She brought in her own food and staff and ended up also starting her own catering business. She ended up moving to San Francisco and working at a friend’s restaurant doing the same thing before opening her own locale, Ryan’s, in 1980. This three-level location had not only a restaurant with lunch, dinner and weekend brunch, but also a charcuterie selection, gourmet take-out market, wine bar and cooking school.

Eventually, her heart took her back to South Florida shores and here to Ft. Lauderdale to be with family in 1998. She turned an Italian take-out location into Gina Lenore’s in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea and two years later started Lenore Nolan Ryan Catering & Cooking School. Of course, now, she is in this new location (at 3311 N. Ocean Blvd. In the Galt Ocean Plaza in Galt Ocean Mile, and is busier than ever.

For more information, call 954-491-2340 or visit www.lenorenolanryan.com.

Fried chicken, red beans, rice, fried green tomatoes and shrimp remoulade.

Don’t forget to add a cocktail!

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