Rising Stars: Meet Maggie & Tyler Kates (Clare) of Denver

Today we’d like to introduce you to Maggie & Tyler Kates (Clare).

Hi Maggie & Tyler, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Tyler started cooking in highschool and was cooking to support himself through college when he decided that his passion for the culinary arts outweighed his academic goals. After 6 years of being a professional cook, Tyler decided to follow his dreams of being a wildland firefighter earning a fire science degree and working for the forest service for 9 years. The passion for culinary arts was never far from his mind, so he decided to leave the forest service, and attend culinary school to knock off the cobwebs and jump from the fire to the frying pan. He has been a professional chef again now for the past 6 years. His greatest achievement before becoming an entrepreneur was the title of Executive Chef at a glamping resort in Big Sur, California. Upon meeting his wife, Maggie Kates, a serial entrepreneur, he was overwhelmed with Maggie’s drive and tenacity and decided to start a catering business with her.

Maggie was always obsessed with food but it wasn’t until she studied abroad in Salamanca, Spain, her sophomore year of college, that she accepted this was her passion. She graduated with a Communications degree, which little did she know would be key in managing her future businesses. She dabbled in every food service job you can imagine from managing a Denny’s, opening a Red Mango franchise, serving at a wine & cheese bar, baking, apprenticing at the Colorado Convention Center, a line chef at Denver’s popular Linger Eatuary. But it wasn’t until she was managing a non-profit cafe and catering on her off days that she realized she just kept reaching the ceiling and needed to be set free. She boostrapped her first catering business “Mezcla Maggie Catering,” after graduating from the American Culinary Federation as a certified sous chef. After 4.5 successful years, she sold the business (which is still operating today under different ownership), to travel the world. Tyler and Maggie united during that time to travel and cook all around the world– Texas, Big Sur, Antarctica to name a few places. She decided she wanted a formal pastry education and attended social media famed Pastry Chef, Amaury Guichon’s academy in Las Vegas “The Pastry Academy,” Afterwords, Tyler and Maggie moved together to create a foundation in Denver and started ViDa Eats Catering (‘Vida’ means life in Spanish and the “D” was capitalized the emphasize the focus on local Denver products).

The story continues on the next slide:)

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We first started our catering business, ViDa Eats Catering, in February of 2022, SAME Cafe graciously allowed us to use their space after hours, as a commissary. They stayed with their participation based model, which allowed us to thrive while giving back to our Denver community. The catering business grew and into another community driven commissary, La Victoria Healing Kitchen, when there was the need for more space.

After 2.5 successful years, we decided to explore the idea of having a storefront to follow our passion and skills for pastry arts. We were deep into consulting and planning a buildout in an empty space when the turn key opportunity presented that we are now in. We sprinted 2.5 months getting retail licenses, doing recipe development and conceptualizing the opportunities and partnerships we wanted to include in our brick and mortar space.

The biggest struggles were eased by the help and support we received from our community.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
We have a patisserie, which specializes in sweet and savory eclairs, petite gateaux and entremets! We are most proud of our ability to bring complexity and beauty to our creations. For example, our pistachio eclair uses real roasted pistachios, cardamom, pink peppercorn and dried apricot; this brings a depth of flavor that is both sweet and savory. Another, our “Sobolo” was inspired by Maggie’s trip to Kumasi, Ghana, from a hibiscus tea that she shared with a local family and loved so much she created a hibiscus pineapple mousse with african nutmeg and cloves, passionfruit jelly insert and coated with a bright red mirror glaze and topped with candied hibiscus and candied ginger; the profits from the dessert are donated to an underfunded technical college in Kumasi in a way to give back to the community that inspired us!

What sets us apart is that we are a husband and wife team, everything is made from scratch and assembled each day to ensure quality and love is put into each item. The items not made in house are hand picked from other small artisans in Denver that we love to enjoy. We believe that we can all rise together and we are excited to share our space with them! From the food to the teas, plants, jewelry, art and drinks, they are all local businesses.

Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Supporting and collaborating with local small businesses. Creating joy and experiences through food.
Bringing our travel adventures to life through our food we create and share with guests.
Experiencing new cultures, especially through eating and tasting! There are so many unique flavors and stories and preparations.

Pricing:

• $3.50-$14

Contact Info:

• Website: www.leclaresdenver.com
• Instagram: @leclaresdenver
• Facebook: @leclaresdenver
• Other: www.vidaeatscatering.com