By Ally Morrison
When she was 7 years old, Joy Smith hopped into her mother’s car for a Sunday drive in her hometown of Romeo, Michigan.
During the drive, her mother, Corinne, pointed out of the car window to a nearby shed and told Joy it would make the cutest restaurant. As they drove by, Corinne explained how she would serve pot roast on Thursdays and chicken pot pie on Fridays. Both Joy and her mother have always had a passion for cooking.
From that moment on, an idea dwelled in Joy’s heart.
Years later, Smith has found herself in her dream position as the owner of Sorelle Catering in Homewood.
After graduating from the University of Alabama at Birmingham with a degree in psychology, Smith worked in real estate and then became a preschool teacher with Creative Montessori.
Smith stayed with Creative Montessori for 10 years before deciding to pursue her passion for cooking full time.
“Six years ago, I quit my job as a teacher and told myself to focus on feeding people,” Smith said. “I started doing farmers markets like West Homewood Farmers Market and eventually Pepper Place, along with corporate catering.”
“Right before COVID, I started to do more take and bake items to meet new people, test recipes and portion sizes, and just learn along the way. When COVID hit, it was really inconvenient for everybody.”
When asked how she learned to cook, Smith credited a lot of her knowledge to her mother.
“My mom was a single mom, and she worked at nights as a nurse,” Smith said. “A lot of times she would get dinner started and tell me how to finish it. She would peel and chop the potatoes and I would boil and mash them. I learned a lot from her.”
“I have been cooking for a long time,” she continued. “During my senior year of high school, I was in charge of our big art festival. Usually a group or committee made the food and, for some reason, they didn’t have anybody that year. My art teacher heard I cooked, so I handled all of the food for the festival.”
Smith’s joy for cooking continued well into her college career. She catered her first wedding by herself at 21 years old out of a tiny apartment kitchen.
Serendipity
Smith’s fantasy of having her own café came to fruition after she noticed a space for sale on Broadway Street in Homewood, a location she had driven by for nearly 20 years.
“I saw the space become available and I thought it was time to go for it,” Smith said. But just four days before her opening, her chef quit.
The anxiety-inducing development worked out in her favor.
“I met a man named Daniel Gregory at Restaurant Depot and told him about my business,” Smith said. “He wanted to come work for me but had never worked in
a kitchen before. I decided to give him a chance and hired him, and he has been my knight in shining armor.
“He has learned so many recipes and lends an extra set of hands around the café. He jumped in.”
Now serving as both a catering company and grab and go café, Sorelle offers a plethora of options, as Smith strives to please every customer.
“I love a buffet and I love to have something for everybody,” Smith said. “When people walk in, they see a lot of choices.”
Smith said that there’s a lot of recipe research that goes with having such a large menu, but it also incorporates an element of family.
“There’s a lot of research that goes into dishes that heat back up well, and I always try to make recipes my own,” Smith said. “My mom taught me how to make spaghetti sauce, so to me, our marinara is all her. There are a lot of things that are her to me. I keep her rolling pin in the café.”
Incorporating a grab ’n’ go cafe into the catering company has allowed Smith to make her menu and space versatile.
“Our café has comfortable seating for in-house coffee service, as well as items people can come in and grab for lunch, like salads and sandwiches,” Smith said. “For dinner, we have a lot of take and bake options like roasted vegetables, chicken parmesan and beef and veggie lasagnas. Our frozen favorites are chicken pot pies and soups.”
One service Smith provides in addition to formal catering is what she calls to-go catering, which allows people to call ahead and place large orders for weekend getaways or girl’s nights.
To welcome the spring and Easter season, Smith plans to offer a vegetable quiche or frittata with ingredients such as asparagus, squash, green peas and goat cheese.
As far as an Easter dinner, Smith knows she’ll be making apricot and thyme-stuffed pork loin with mashed potatoes, but other elements will be announced before the holiday.
