Caterer has plenty on plate

Tania Mccauley
The caterer behind tomorrow night's Village Dinner Party, Sam Orton, says it's a common misconception that he is the chef in the business.
In fact he does the "selling" of the food to clients, and others behind the scenes, including his wife and fellow company director Mary, who he describes as having the "knack" when it comes to cooking and planning, catering manager Bridget Hyslop, and head chef Scott McGregor take care of it.
"I can't cook. Really, the success of Sam Orton Catering is that I've stayed out of the kitchen," he laughs.
Sam had been working in sales for a meat company in Wellington when disillusionment got the better of him in 1981. He quit and started his own company with a friend as a silent partner. Although he had an interest in food, he had already decided then he would be better on the logistics side of things.
They were saved, he says, by another friend, Mary Morrison, who had completed a cordon bleu course in London.
"I just decided I wanted to be my own boss. Not having any qualifications, well, it was kind of interesting," he chuckles.
Sam and Mary shifted to Hawke's Bay two years later. It was a conscious decision to come home for Sam, who grew up on a farm in the Tukituki valley and is an old boy of Hereworth. Catering didn't really take off until a few years later, says Sam. Things really started to happen for them when they opened a deli in Havelock North called Hampers, operating the catering business from there as well.
There's a big difference between what passed for catering in the 80s and now, he says. The company handmakes as much as possible, and uses only Hawke's Bay produce.
"People have an increasing appreciation of food and what it means, they're becoming more sophisticated in their desires for what they want and won't put up with a mediocre effort," says Sam.
The Ortons now employ the equivalent of 12 fulltime staff, and have a further 60 to 70 people they call on when they have big events to cover, such as sports matches.
So far this week they've catered for a small wedding, today they were catering for a 450-person dinner and the Esam Cushing Celebration of New Zealand Sculpture charity preview and auction at Black Barn as part of the Village Festival.
Tomorrow they cater for the Village Dinner Party, also part of the festival, for the first time.
Sam wants to keep the menu a surprise for the diners, so all he will say is that they will start with a selection of canapes, and that it's a two-course dinner.
The company has been based at Black Barn since the bistro opened in April 2003. The Ortons were asked to run it by winery owners Kim Thorp and Andy Colthart.
When his mates might be out playing golf on a Friday afternoon, Sam and the others are usually just gearing up for a weekend of work. He admits at those times he sometimes longs for a break. "It's a people game, and as businesses grow so do the worries but having said that, we've got extraordinary staff.
"But I think we're reliable, we always strive towards producing the best, and we're proud of that."