ERLANGER - Local chef Shannon Espey got the right dab of creativity and business savvy from previous employers to launch her own catering business.

She invested about $20,000 of her own money to open last month The Upper Crust Catering Co., which offers fine-food catering services to big and small companies and individuals for such things as birthday parties, weddings, anniversaries and other functions.

Espey, 31, is leasing 800 square feet here to prepare more than 100 dishes that include items like a Thai steak wrap, antipasto green salad, red-wine brazed short ribs, dijon mustard-glazed salmon and chicken leg quarters with a pumpkin mole sauce.

"We create a menu specifically for an individual's event," she says.

She opened the business after working as a chef at A Forkable Feast in Oakley for about six months and a chef at the Tousey House in Burlington for three years.

Espey says she helped the Forkable Feast do everything from build its kitchen to design its menu.

While at the Tousey House, which was a popular eatery before it closed in 2006, she says she helped it make Cincinnati Magazine's Top 25 Restaurants listing in recent years. She was also able to prepare her own dishes at both restaurants.

Those stops also helped Espey - a chef for 10 years - develop a loyal following.

She says Upper Crust has booked a 300-person party for February to former customers at the Tousey House who were familiar with her culinary skills. She also got requests for her services after leaving A Forkable Feast.

Since opening, she says, Upper Crust has provided catering to the likes of Procter & Gamble, Kao Brands, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and most of the region's major hospitals.

Espey says her Erlanger location gives her close proximity to a vast number of businesses in the region, and it has little competition from rivals that offer similar niche services.

"It's pretty much an untapped market in the Northern Kentucky area for what we do," she says.

Contact: 859-342-5073 or www.theuppercrustcateringco.com.

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