The Hometown Chef Catering Co. opened in September 2012, but things really started taking off for owners Tiffany and Julio Avila when their business became the exclusive catering service for Atascocita’s event center The Overlook in January 2013. Julio, who graduated from the Culinary Institute of New York in 1997, had years of experience working in resorts and hotels in Puerto Rico, Arizona and Houston, but Tiffany was new to the industry. “[It was] very overwhelming because it was a lot of trial and error and learning as you go along, because with these types of events, you don’t get any do-overs,” she said. “We learned from our mistakes quickly.” The business catered its first wedding at The Overlook in May 2013, and it has catered hundreds of weddings there since then. Tiffany said the business’s average wedding event has approximately 150 guests. She said Hometown Chef also caters at venues and homes as far south as Galveston, as far west as Brookshire and as far north as Cleveland, Texas. “The celebration of love is what a wedding and union is about, so it doesn’t matter who it is,” she said. In June 2016, Tiffany and Julio moved their kitchen and offices to a 5,000-square-foot facility on Dennis Avenue in Humble. While Hurricane Harvey left no physical damage to the property, Tiffany said the weather event did have an effect on business. “Our damages came in the fact that people canceled all their events,” she said. “We still have staff who need jobs, and, in fact, we’ve gone on to hire some staff from other restaurants that were completely obliterated by the storm.” Tiffany said the business has plans to grow and expand, which includes putting a focus on corporate events that tend to be less cyclical than the wedding business. “We want to reach out to corporate executives where that is part of their responsibility,” she said. “We want to make them look good and make their job easy by catering hot delicious food.” The Hometown Chef Catering Co. 307 Dennis  Ave., Humble 832-304-1433 www.thehometownchef.com Hours: By appointment only