Versatility is the key to success for Masterpiece Cuisine, a food service management company based in Las Vegas, Nevada, and with a strong presence in Santa Fe. For example, if you recently attended a preview dinner at the Santa Fe Opera or a reception at the Drury Plaza Hotel, you ate food prepared by the talented team at Masterpiece Cuisine.
The team is led by co-founders Scott Mahan and Tim Welc, each contributing their unique skills to the business that they founded in 2007. Tim is a chef and brings his creative side to the table and Scott has a business and administrative background that helps keep all the plates spinning.
In Nevada, they have a wide range of clients and are the contracted food service management company for locations such as the Southern Nevada State Veterans Home and for special events at Nevada State University.
What is a Food Service Management Company?
A food service management company is one that can handle meal preparation and service for a wide range of needs, such as being the ones who prepare all the meals at a school, senior facility, or someplace like the Santa Fe Opera. They determine the menus, order the food, ensure food safety, prepare and serve the meals, and do the dishes. In short, they manage the kitchen and everything to do with it.
“Foodservice management is not only about food, but the building of relationships,” said Tim. “We believe Masterpiece Cuisine provides experiences that exceed expectations that make dining remarkable.”
At the Santa Fe Opera, Chef Jason works with the opera team to plan food for events like the preview dinners, which are themed to go with each opera. If it’s set in Paris, he’ll create a menu of fantastic French food to tempt the taste buds of up to 300 diners. Masterpiece Cuisine also handles all the other food and drinks offered at the opera, including tailgate dinners, the open-air cantina, and for the performers and staff.
For 10 years until the pandemic changed things, Masterpiece Cuisine provided the corporate dining for Thornburg Investments in Santa Fe. Their success at Thornburg eventually led to the partnership with the opera.
Partnering with the Drury Hotel
Masterpiece Cuisine is also the partner of Drury Plaza Hotel in Santa Fe, handling all the events at the hotel. From small meetings to large weddings and conferences, Masterpiece works with each client to ensure they have exceptional food and beverages that work for their event, from plated meals to buffets.
Matthew Martinez is the catering operations manager and oversees all of the operations at the Drury, the Santa Fe Opera, and off-premise catering, ensuring every job runs smoothly.
Alicia Sedillo, who works onsite at the Drury for Masterpiece and handles both sales and event coordination, says, “We specialize in making our presentations the best you’ve seen or tasted. Our presentation matches our quality in food.”
The Drury Plaza Hotel has meeting spaces from the Palace Ballrooms that can host very large groups, to detached spaces like the Lamy and Meem conference rooms and the O’Keeffe room, which can host a dance floor and DJ with plenty of space for buffet and dining tables. Masterpiece handles the food service management for all these events, including reunions, weddings, cocktail receptions, conferences, and tea parties.
Catering is on the Table, too
Continuing with the theme of versatility, Masterpiece Cuisine also works with off-premise clients to provide catering services. They recently catered an event in Pecos with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and a breakfast at the Museum of International Folk Art, for example. They’re also on the preferred list of caterers for the Santa Fe Community Convention Center.
Masterpiece Cuisine is available for a wide variety of catering services, including providing a private chef, hosting a chef’s action station at a reception, or creating a meal for a very special gathering at your home. They’ll even bring what they need to prepare the meal!
“Everything is very customized for what our clients want,” Alicia said.
“It’s rare for a company to do both food service management and catering,” Scott says. “We really focus on our presentations. There’s a clear difference between a restaurant catering a meal and a caterer who specializes in making food for 100 people. Our displays are the most elevated. We shine!”
Someone who recently attended an event where Masterpiece Cuisine was just one of the caterers presenting food said, “What Masterpiece Cuisine presented looked and tasted like a work of art! They really stood out.”
The Masterpiece Cuisine Team in Santa Fe
Chef Jason Smith is the lead chef in Santa Fe. His love for food began with his grandmother Kikue, who took him to Japan at the age of 10 where his uncle, a restauranteur, impressed him with a beautifully presented meal. His path as a chef began right then.
Jason is very particular about the quality of the food he uses and that he sources as much food locally as he can. Jason is also able to use the versatility for which they are known to ensure diners with restrictions enjoy a meal as delicious as that being served to the rest of the guests.
“We strive to make every event we do, no matter how large or how small, a truly unique and exceptional experience through our love of food culture and our passionately creative expression of it,” Jason says.
Alicia is the first person a client will work with to help plan the meals. She says, “Being a hybrid role of supervisor and sales associate has been incredibly educational for me. Masterpiece Cuisine encouraged me to not only provide quality food and hospitality, but also define the difference between catering and taking care of people.”
So, whether you’re looking to hold an event at the Drury, enjoy a meal at the Santa Fe Opera, or host a special gathering at a location of your choice such as your home or the Santa Fe Botanical Gardens, reach out to Alicia at Masterpiece Cuisine. They’re ready to create something that’s just right for you and your guests.
This article was posted by Jesse Williams
