She is not just Vera, she is Very Vera. The entrepreneur who turned her catering business into an empire is on tap as the next presenter at the Chattahoochee Valley Libraries Food & the Soul of America Series.
She’s a chef, a caterer, an author, and a star of the syndicated “VeryVera Show” in 71 TV markets from coast to coast. Vera has received numerous accolades for the brand she’s built through more than 40 years of hard work. Her show originated in 2011 after winning Throwdown with Bobby Flay.
Vera’s success can be attributed in part to her engaging personality, her love for mentoring kids as a Home Economics teacher, and through the VeryVera Cooking Camp she started more than 20 years ago. Her expertise in cooking and love of presentation of those very dishes can be traced back to her own childhood.
“I would visit my grandmother in Atlanta, for whom I am named, when I was about eight years old. She would cut the crust from the bread and make tea sandwiches. She cut grapefruit into sections and put a cherry in the middle for breakfast,” Stewart explained.
It was the beginning of a love for not only cooking and prepping a meal, but her love of presentation and how everything looked on a plate and on the table. It made such an impression on young Vera that even today, she thinks about her table setting and the vessels she’s cooking in to determine her menus.
Aside from her mother and grandmother’s cooking skills, it was another celebrity chef, Martha Stewart, who laid the foundation for Vera and many others. Vera studied under her in 1986 and says, “Martha literally wrote the book on food presentation.”
Martha Stewart certainly built a brand over the years, but so has Vera Stewart. Passion for anyone’s craft takes center stage, and you can hear the passion in Vera’s voice when she talks about what inspires her.
Vera also caters for the Masters golf tournament in Augusta. She and her team start preparing a year in advance for the PGA’s first Major. This year’s tournament will be held from April 9 through April 12. By the time the tournament rolls around, she’ll have worked with a few hundred people to perfect catering for hundreds of guests.
“I bring in chefs from across the country. Prior to the tournament, we do Zoom meetings and discuss every single detail and every meal, most of the recipes are mine that are highlighted on my show and in my cookbooks.”
Stewart and her team also coordinate drivers, bartenders, waiters, floral arrangements, cocktail parties, private corporate dinners, and in-home catering. It’s a commitment of about 175 to 200 people she hires to ensure guests are well-fed and happy with their Masters’ experience.
Think of it as a hospitality tradition like no other. Make no mistake, Vera Stewart is a 70+-year-old bundle of dynamite, a Steel Magnolia if you will, with a big heart for creating dishes and leading by example for the next generation of cooking entrepreneurs.
Her presentation at the Columbus Library at 3000 Macon Road begins at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, February 17. It will also feature some Southern-inspired bites, direct from Vera’s own kitchen!
