Covington caterer partners with local businesses for food endeavors

After moving to Covington a few months ago, Four Seasons Catering is embedding itself in the local community by partnering with emerging businesses.

On Jan. 15, Four Seasons will take over the food service at Gateway Community & Technical College and create a gourmet but affordable menu for students and faculty. They’re also working on a menu for Braxton Brewery, which is slated to open this spring. And soon customers will be able to stop in at Four Seasons' storefront location and try items from Braxton’s upcoming menu.
 
The new location is 11 W. Seventh St. in downtown Covington, after Four Seasons opened in Florence two and a half years ago. The caterer did over 100 weddings, corporate events and private parties last year and has even more in the works for 2015.
 
“When we moved to Covington, we saw the renaissance happening here and wanted to be part of that,” says chef and owner Michael Gayon. He graduated from Le Cordon Bleu, where he studied to be a saucier, and has worked in a number of high-end restaurants in NYC and Seattle.
 
The storefront contains a 1,200-square-foot commercial kitchen, a front-of-the-house meeting room for clients and a to-go-only deli and bakery. The menu features soups, salads, sandwiches and baked goods made by Gayon’s wife, Melinda. Her specialty is a cinnamon roll that Gayon says is "to die for."

Four Seasons is also working on creating other local partnerships, including with a local limousine company for VIP jet service, and will continue creating pastries and soups for Left Bank Coffeehouse, with the hopes of expanding the shop’s food offerings. 
 
Gayon also plans to host two "flash kitchen" dinners. The first, Chill, is on July 31 and will feature a 10-course meal of gourmet iced foods. The second, Dark, is set for Dec. 31, when guests will be seated and then all the lights turned off. Servers will have on night vision goggles, and all of the food will be eaten without utensils.
 
“These dinners are a blast,” Gayon says. “It’s fun to mess with people’s minds and to serve something like grilled watermelon cut into different shapes.”
 
Four Seasons’ deli is currently open 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday. During the summer, it will be open on Saturdays, too, with expanded hours when Braxton opens.