B2BMonday, October 1, 2007 9:28 PM CDT

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5 MINUTES: Caterer enjoys the exotic

By Sharon K. Wolfe

BLOOMINGTON – Rick McCormick absolutely relishes being a caterer. Feeding people and making them happy makes him happy.

“We’ll do anything and everything,” said McCormick, owner-operator of Redbird Catering, 1507 N. Main St.

One of the things McCormick wished they could do more of is break from the typical Midwestern fare.

He relishes coming up with creative and exotic dishes and theme parties like Mexican fiestas or a Hawaiian luau. Just one a week would be enough for him due to time and energy involved. “I would love that—these things wear you out big time.”

There is always the internet for recipes for the unusual, but McCormick has traveled widely and goes beyond what the usual traveler seeks out.

“I go to grocery stores and look at the foods.”

Often, he and his staff don’t see the people’s reaction to the food they’ve prepared.

“Seventy five percent are just drop offs,” he said. But the job is not over—they return later to get the serving equipment and other items used. Sometimes, though, customers put the food into their own containers immediately so guests will think they prepared it themselves.

Events have included:

A party themed with foods from Peru—but sausage was substituted for llama meat.

A movie theme party with the menu drawn from movies such as “Fried Green Tomatoes” and “Mystic Pizza.”

All organic food with biodegradable containers so the meal was as ecologically responsible as possible.

Ongoing business includes providing food for the café and day care center at Heartland Community College and for Chestnut Health Systems residential centers.

They generally do four or five catering jobs a day—their all-time record was 23 in December 2004. The largest event Redbird ever catered was 1,000 and the smallest was 10. People can sometimes be funny when it comes to money. “Weddings—they spend a ton of money. Funerals—they’re so tight. They say ‘Bring cold cuts.”’

“I do work seven days a week—my employees don’t.” But that doesn’t mean he spends his whole life surrounded by oversize cans of black olives sitting on shelves.

“I love life. I’ve got a ton of friends. I travel a lot.”

Catering jobs are scheduled according to staff available. So if McCormick, for instance, is on vacation, the business might have to turn down jobs if they cannot rescheduled.

Unlike some small business owners, he isn’t worried about leaving his business for vacation because of his employees, which he described as incredibly capable.

McCormick has traveled to England, France, Spain, Mexico, Germany, Italy, all over the Caribbean, China, Tibet, Alaska, Canada, Peru and Mexico, among other countries.

His current career began 19 years ago when his mother needed help “one time” at Redbird Catering and never left. He was working at a body shop at the time. His parents, Dick and Linda McCormick, currently own and operate Parkview Inn restaurant near Miller Park.

The business was named Redbird because of the amount of business it originally did with Illinois State University. .

“He doesn’t ask the staff to do anything he doesn’t do also,” said longtime friend Bloomington attorney Alice Smalley. And that includes dishes, mopping floors and taking out the garbage. “Sometimes he’s there (at work) before 4 a.m.”

With him being around food all day, he really doesn’t want to cook at home.

He enjoys restaurants.

“It’s so nice to have someone wait on you and sit and relax.”

Rick McCormick

44, Hudson

Owner-operator Redbird Catering

1507 N. Main St., Bloomington

Seven fulltime, four part-time employees

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Rick McCormick, co-owner of Redbird Catering, delivers lunch at the softball tournament in Normal. (CARLOS T. MIRANDA)

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