Courtesy of Augie’s Family Italian Restaurant
By Jill Nagy
Whether you are planning a party for 100 people or an intimate family dinner, local caterers can help out.
Augie Vitiello said that he can serve a party of 100 in one of the private rooms at his restaurant, Augie’s Family Style Italian Restaurant in Ballston Spa, without disturbing service in the main dining area.
Kenny Bourbeau prepares a family meal every week that customers can pick up at the Saratoga farmers’ market on Sunday or have delivered to their home on Monday. He works our of a commercial kitchen in his home, also in Ballston Spa.
Bourbeau, doing business as Kenny B, changes the dinner menu weekly. Recently, it was chicken enchiladas, roasted butternut squash, and a poblano soup. Menus serve four to six people and range in price from $45.99 to $65.99.
He also caters private dinners in homes or drops off meals. In those cases, he works with the customer to develop the menu. For Thanksgiving, he plans to offer “supporting sides” but not full meals. He does not do desserts. He is working on menus for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays but expects to include hors d’oeuvres and possibly a lobster macaroni and cheese.
If he prepares a dinner in a customer’s home, Bourbeau charges $40 an hour for shopping, cooking, serving, and clean-up. He buys most of his food at the Saratoga farmers’ market. And he does wash the dishes.
Vitiello offers catering trays customers can pick up or have delivered. He can also provide wait staff to serve at a party. Thanksgiving is the one day of the year that Augie’s is closed. However, people can pick up items for their Thanksgiving dinners beforehand. After Thanksgiving, things pick up with office parties at the restaurant or off the premises. The holiday season is as busy as August, he said, “a different kind of busy.”
“We decorate beautifully, everything is festive, good vibes,” he said.
Both caterers concentrate on the Saratoga area. Vitiello said that he typically will go anywhere within an hour of Ballston Spa but “We’re not shy. We’ll go anywhere.”
Bourbeau is newer at the business and, he said, “still feeling out the business plan.” Previously, he cooked for a non-profit Cuban restaurant in Worcester, Massachusetts, that was in business to help recovering addicts get back into the workforce. He moved to Ballston Spa in 2005. Since 2018 he has been a personal chef, cooking in people’s homes and developing his catering business.
Vitiello began in 1990 in New York City. In 2003 he sold his restaurant to a friend and moved north. He opened his Ballston Spa restaurant in 2004. He said he moved for the better quality of life”and a better environment for a young family. The children of that young family are now 16, 18, 22, and 24.
Further information, including menus and prices, is online. Bourbeau’s website is KennyBs.org. Vitiello’s is AugiesRestaurant.com.