Who is Papa Mark?
My grandfather came to the United States after World War II as an immigrant and a Holocaust survivor. With the help of his brother, Papa Mark settled in Chicago. As a boy Mark spent more time working for his mother on the family farm than studying in school. It was here, at this early stage of life, that he learned the importance of an honest and hard work ethic. He carried this virtue with him to America and into the grocery and butcher shop business that he opened with his brother’s sponsorship.
Soon after, my Papa met my grandmother, Harriet, and started his family. Three boys, all brought up to become enormous successes in their own right, made Mark proud in so many ways. When the boys were not in school or on a baseball diamond, odds were that they were working a shift in the family store or out making a delivery to a customer.
Papa instilled in his boys the same work ethic that he carried with him since he was a boy in Europe. My father did the same for me. Devotion to hard work has become a family trait, something that I am extraordinarily proud of.
Papa would be proud too. When I began a career in the hospitality field he warned me about how difficult the work can be. I smile thinking about that talk, realizing now that this career has allowed me to serve others with the same passionate drive that runs in our family. The years of working in restaurants and hotels, cooking for people that have become my friends, sharing my knowledge and experiences, have all led me to growing a new family business. I could not think of a better way to honor my grandfather than to name this business Papa Mark Catering - after him.