Catering By Design, and Catering By Design Pantry

Catering By Design, and Catering By Design Pantry is a catering business in Rochester, MN. It handles weddings, corporate lunches, bereavement meals, graduation parties, and holiday meals, with menus built around entrees, sides, and salads, plus charcuterie, hot and cold hors d'oeuvres, and fruit and cheese platters. Signature dishes include stuffed chicken, roasted beef, vodka ravioli, and mac and cheese. The kitchen also prepares hot meals, frozen soups, and family-size dinners to take home, along with boxed lunches for office functions and team building events, holiday party spreads, and open-house menus for guests dropping in across an afternoon. Events range from a 1st birthday to an 80th, and the team also takes short-notice luncheons and comfort-food spreads.

Menus are organized into packages and a la carte options. The all-inclusive package pairs two entrees with three sides, dessert, and canned beverages, and includes rolls and butter, with a 30-guest minimum. A la carte ordering allows individual party trays and dishes priced per serving, with a 15-guest minimum on party trays; grilled chicken breasts come plain or in lemon butter, creamy cajun, or basil cream, and potato and cheese pierogies are sauteed with butter and onions. A fall menu of savory sausages, pierogies, and sides with apple strudel and cider is built for Oktoberfest gatherings. Orders can be changed up to seven days before an event date, and final details including guest count are settled at that point.

The business sits on 7th St NW, a short walk from Cascade Creek and about a block from 7th Street Northwest. Washington Elementary School is roughly a quarter mile away, Cook Park is about a third of a mile off, and Civic Center Drive Northwest and 11th Avenue Northwest both run nearby.

Catering By Design, and Catering By Design Pantry has built its reputation in Rochester on spreads that feed every generation in the room, from first birthdays to 80th celebrations.