The Casual Gourmet is a locally owned and operated diversified food service company specializing in Cape Cod weddings. Our professional staff possesses more than 70 years of combined event planning experience and will help our clients with everything from a continental breakfast for ten to a society wedding for 300. We are proud to be one of Cape Cod’s largest, oldest and most successful catering companies with a broad range of clientele that includes noted corporations and prestigious charitable organizations.
From Cookies to Catering
Olive Chase founded the Casual Gourmet in 1986 in a tiny Centerville storefront. The original shop, selling assorted gourmet delicacies, was an instant hit, but off-premise catering quickly became the mainstay of the business. By 1991, when the Casual Gourmet expanded into a larger facility, Olive was a local legend – known as “the caterer” to call for a memorable event with flawless service of creative and sumptuous food.
In 2006 the Casual Gourmet purchased the former Hearth n’ Kettle Bakery building in Centerville, doubling the size of our commissary and adding a line of special occasion cakes and pastries to our repertoire.
More than just a Caterer
In addition to our Centerville location, the Casual Gourmet also owns and operates The Casual Gourmet Express, with retail locations in the Cape Cod Mall and Cape Cod Hospital, as well as contract food operations at public golf courses owned by the Town of Sandwich and the Town of Brewster. The Casual Gourmet previously operated food service outlets at Cape Cod Community College, Infinium Software, Excel Technologies and Heritage Museums & Gardens.
Industry Expert
Olive is known throughout the catering industry as expert in the field, especially in the area of destination weddings. Always looking to bring the very best in cutting-edge catering to Cape Cod, Olive has been a longtime participant in the annual Catersource conference and tradeshow. Olive is frequently invited to present seminars, both at Catersource and other industry events across the country. Olive currently serves on the Board of Directors of the International Caterers Association and also the Caterers Committee of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association.
A Community Company
In addition to her work in the catering industry at large, Olive Chase and the Casual Gourmet are active members of the Cape Cod community.
Olive currently sits on the steering committee for the Arts Foundation annual Pops by the Sea summer event, is a member of the Falmouth Hospital Foundation Gala committee, and is a Lightkeeper of Cape Cod Healthcare. She is the past President of the boards of trustees at the Lighthouse Charter School and the Sturgis Charter Public School and is an active supporter of the Massachusetts Charter School movement.
The Casual Gourmet is a members of five Cape Cod chambers of commerce and proudly supports a number of local non-profit organizations and causes including:
Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association – www.ccchfa.org
CCHFA supports stewardship of coastal ecosystems through education, research, and policy programs. This great organization is helping protect one the Cape’s oldest businesses – fishing! Click here to donate or join.
Cape Cod Health Care – www.capecodhealth.org
We are fortunate to have one of the best health care systems in the country right here on Cape Cod. The Casual Gourmet is proud to support CCHC in all that they do. Click here to donate.
Hyannis Youth and Community Center – www.town.barnstable.ma.us/hycc
Olive’s husband Dave Chase is the President of the Hyannis Youth and Community Center Foundation and one of the driving forces behind the recently opened Hyannis Youth and Community Center. The facility, with two ice rinks and various other athletic and social activity areas, serves downtown Hyannis and the greater Cape Cod community. Click here to donate to the HYCC.
Arts on the Cape
“If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him.” -President John F. Kennedy
The Casual Gourmet supports the following organizations who are dedicated to fostering a strong and vibrant arts community on Cape Cod:
The Arts Foundation – www.artsfoundation.org
The Arts Foundation is committed to strengthening and promoting Cape Cod’s arts and cultural industry throughout the year. They also organize the annual Pops by the Sea summer concert on the Barnstable Town Green by the renowned Boston Pops orchestra. We are honored to have catered this event for a number of years. Become a member.
Heritage Museums and Gardens – www.heritagemuseumsandgardens.org
Heritage promotes and fosters the appreciation, preservation and stewardship of America’s culture and horticulture by connecting people, living collections, object collections and ideas. Check out one of Heritage’s latest fundraisers or donate here.
Cape Cod Museum of Art – www.ccmoa.org
CCMA collects, conserves, studies, interprets and exhibits works by outstanding artists associated with Cape Cod and the Islands. Join here.
