Business: Dark Horse Grill and Catering
Address: 25 W. Jefferson Ave., Naperville
Phone/website: 630-570-0347, www.darkhorsegrillandcatering.com
Owner: Terrell Cole, 46, of Downers Grove
Years in business: 10
What does your business do? “We do full-scale catering for any number of people. We do pop-ups at breweries, things of that nature. That’s how I do my marketing. But the intimate home dinners are where we generally thrive. Private parties,” Cole said.
Why did you start this business? “I wanted to have something that was mine. I wanted to see the fruits of my labor benefit me. It’s different when you’re working for somebody else, building their business up. When you do it by yourself, it feels different.”
Why are you a chef? “When you’re a kid, everyone is in the kitchen. Holidays. Family getting together and everybody doing something to contribute. Watching my grandma and my mom cook. … Finding out my grandfather was the one who was really making a lot of the food. He didn’t want to steal (grandma’s) thunder. Come to find out all the things we loved were things he made. His collard greens. His stuffed clams. He was crushing it. Never said a word. We all gave grandma all the praise. He didn’t care. He wanted the family together and everybody happy.”
Where did you grow up? “Philadelphia.”
What brought you here? “Sullivan’s Steakhouse. I accepted the (executive chef’s) job 21 years ago in October.”
Why are you in Naperville? “Emily Cummings opened a (photography) studio (here) a few months back. We do dinners here. … I bring the food in. Summer time is nice because I can use the patio. … This is along the lines of what I’ve been doing (for) seven, eight years.”
What do you ask clients? “What’s your time frame? What scale do you want to go? How many courses do you want to have? We customize everything. I give a price point. We stay in that budget for you. … If I do corporate events, I give them three menus. They choose one. We go from there.
“Some people want to do steak and potatoes. You make sure you do the best steak and potatoes. Some people ask, ‘What do you think?’ (I may say) ‘We can do lambchops. We can do duck.’ You just go from there.”
What about prices? “It depends on what is ordered, how many courses.”
How did the virus impact your business? “During the pandemic, we could only do things outside. … I added a wood-fired pizza oven that we travel with. People love pizza.”
And they love fine dining? “Yes. That is a niche. My clients, at Sullivan’s Steakhouse, that’s where I was able to hone in. The clients were already familiar with me.”
Each job is different? “Literally. … Every kitchen is different, but you figure it out.”
What’s your favorite part? “I didn’t think I’d like to travel, but I do. When we go to a different town or house, we get to meet different people. I just came back from (downstate) Princeton, an hour and 40 minutes away.”
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Any negatives? “Everything for me is personal because it’s my business.”
How do you come up with recipes? “You just blend things together. There’s a lot of trial and error. There’s a lot of error, but nobody sees that.”
Is Naperville good for business? “Yes. Word of mouth travels. I’ve been in business for 10 years and never really advertised.”
Any hot trends? “I’ve been doing a lot more vegan items. It’s a very popular trend. … There’s so much you can do with just vegetables. … Eggplant meatballs. Zucchini noodles. Mini-burgers made with mushrooms, sweet potatoes and brown rice.”
Do you love your job? “I do. It’s hard at times. You worry about everything. … Scheduling is challenging. … It’s one of those jobs that is demanding when you are there. Not everybody is built to work like this. A lot of people need to have that Monday to Friday structure. … When I first started, I did a lot of baking overnight. If you ever work through the night, it changes everything. I’d never been in bed at two in the afternoon before.”
Any favorite stories? “Last year, I got flown to Florida to cook Christmas dinners for three days. That was fun. I didn’t want to come back.”
Why the name Dark Horse? “A dark horse is an underdog.”
What’s your advice for someone starting a business? “Think it through. … You have a circle now. When you do open your own business, you find out who’s really going to be in your circle.”
If you know of a business you’d like to see to profiled in Down to Business, contact Steve Metsch at [email protected].
Steve Metsch is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.