Chef Tony & Ann, Hope Cafe & Catering

Tony-In November 2008, I was driven to Southern California by my brother, and dropped off with a change of clothes and a backpack. To start my life over again after a life long battle with Drug & Alcohol Addiction that was capped off of what I call 18 months of Hell.  I lost a business, multiple homes and ton of money in a business deal with my sister and others.  Eventually living on the streets and in the dessert for 8 months.  Of course, at the time I would tell you it was all “their” fault.  But, today I know I had a lot of responsibility in those relationships and outcomes.  I entered a Sober Living and began my life of Recovery.  Early on I wanted to get a job and realized that even with my 25 years of restaurant experience I was NOW Unemployable.  My record and current circumstances left me HOPELESS.  Then during my early recovery, I started seeking a relationship with a loving God, not the one I had as a child (damning) God put into my life a Christian woman that had multiple businesses that allowed me to work with her in several of them.  At the same time, she was reading the Bible and speaking into my life in a way that was foreign to me.  During one of those days at work we were doing a Wedding Shower for her now Daughter in Law and that is when I met Ann (my wife).  Shortly thereafter while I was riding a train up to Central California to do a Wedding for a family friend, I was praying to God that I just met, what do you want me to do with my life?  He said, start writing.  On that paper had our business name, “Hope Café & Catering” and our Mission: “To reach the outcast, outsourced and overlooked.  To teach them a trade, how to feed themselves, their family and the community.”  I looked down and said, clearly this is from God.  As I had no desire to get back into the restaurant business especially having employees.  I got baptized and in October 2009 asked Ann to marry me.  Much to my surprise she said yes! August 2012, we purchase 50% of an existing catering company as we were waiting on God to show us where and how this “Hope Café & Catering” was going to happen.  It was clear a short time later that God had a plan and it looked nothing like I imagined.  We took on our legal dba.  Hope Café & Catering and today operate out of our 6,000 sq. ft Commercial Kitchen centrally located in Pasadena serving all of Southern California.  Extending that HOPE I was looking for early on to those that feel HOPELESS. out of rehab, having just lost my business and all my money, I was without hope. I am intentional about using the business God has given us to employ people that many business owners may not choose such as the disenfranchised, recovering persons, veterans, people with mental and physical disabilities. HOPE Café has provided food for the Grammys, the Emmy’s, and the X-Games as well as Indy Car and NASCAR events.  Our corporate clients are in the hundred’s including:  Kaiser Permanente, The City of Pasadena, Southern California Edison, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Warner Brothers, and The Rose Bowl.  My family lives in the east San Gabriel Valley. 

 

Ann-I was raised in a conservative Christian home, married young and had two beautiful Children.  After 19+ years of marriage, my husband had an extramarital affair, And I found myself in the middle of a messy divorce. This was a painful and agonizing experience, as we were prominent members in Our church and community.  My world came crashing down. I didn’t have time to Wallow in self-pity. I knew that I had to find a way support myself and my two children, Because my ex was selfish and unpredictable. I enrolled in an expedited trade school course for Surgical Assistant and was hired within a year at a local hospital. It was a tough learning curve. At that point I didn’t have time to be focusing on my dating life, let alone want anything to do with men in general. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to trust a man again. Then I offered to help at a girlfriend’s bridal shower, and I met Tony.  He was charming and energetic and kept feeding me all kinds of tasty treats! I didn’t know about his past or his journey in recovery.  As we began to meet for coffee and spend time together, he began to share his past and his remarkable journey back to sobriety.  I was pretty discouraged however.  His baggage plus my baggage was just way too much baggage.  I was considering ending the relationship before it got any more involved. But my mom saw a great deal of potential in Tony and told me to give it a little more time.  He was very patient with me and knew my fear and uncertainty would be a challenge. But he was there for me and my kids, and we waded through life’s challenges together. I could see the incredible work that God was doing in his heart and mind.  I started to feel like this was truly God ordained. We got married in 2010 and have been running Hope Café together ever since. It has been an exciting and challenging journey. It can be really rewarding to help others get a second chance and rebuild their lives.  Like with having any employees it can get messy and costly. I am not a risk taker by nature, so this has been a big challenge for me to continue to extend grace and love to others along with all the demands of owning a business, especially in California.

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