Jennifer Hanna switches gears

Written by JENNIFER LONDON  |  Photographed by SARA MOORE

Jennifer Hanna knows firsthand how food is relationship building. She ran Contemporary Catering Inc. with her brother John Hanna as equal partners for 31 years before retiring last April.

The brother and sister team established the business in 1992, inspired by their Lebanese culinary lineage.

“I was always at my mother’s side when she was in the kitchen cooking for our family of seven,” says Jennifer. “She was well rounded in her ability to produce meals that were robust and flavorful, producing meals that kept our family not only well fed but looking forward to the next meal. From a small girl, it interested me. It was something that captivated me, and I wanted to do the same.”

It should come as no surprise that her first badge as a girl scout was in cooking.

“As I grew older and I began to entertain on my own, people would always say to me, ’You should be a caterer,’ and I thought, ‘What? I just like to cook.’”

Then in 1992, after catering for her brother George Hanna’s 35th birthday, her cousin Jill McKnight approached her about catering for her parents’ 40th anniversary party of 140 people. After that party, Jennifer says she was propelled to entering the catering business.

After choosing a company name, their team created a menu and sent out letters of introduction to a procured list of 300, according to Jennifer. Within three days, Contemporary Catering’s phone began to ring, and it didn’t stop for the next three decades.

“Food makes people happy,” says Jennifer. “Whether it’s the slightest of appetizers or some grand feast, food makes people happy. And no matter what the situation is, there’s always going to be interest in what is being served. Food absolutely pulls every event together.”

Contemporary Catering evolved over the years as clients’ tastes and dietary needs changed, according to Jennifer, who recalls, “We did every type of event that you could ever think of, and what we based our knowledge on and our learning curve was trying to successfully produce different types of cuisines from different countries.”

Wedding receptions became an opportunity to cater foods that represented the different cultures uniting in matrimony, connecting and honoring their families. The Contemporary Catering team held tastings with their clients ahead of time.

“We would prepare it and have them come in and do a tasting to make sure that we were getting it right,” says Jennifer. “We wanted their critique and their feedback, so they could be sure that at their wedding we did it exactly the way their grandmother would have done it.”

Jennifer considered her staff as “the greatest in the industry.” A management team that was with them for years included their chef Caroline Carr, baker Walter Bellisle, and executive director Teri Hill. Jennifer credits her brother John and this dedicated staff in creating the many successful events they catered over the years.

“We were very diverse in our talents,” she recalls. “John is a great business mind and I have a sales and marketing mind, and we had the ability to bring the two gifts together and form a successful partnership. It’s the reason that we could be successful for three decades, because we brought our respective talents together.”

Contemporary Catering survived the challenges of COVID-19 with their meals-to-go menu.

“People were lined up in our parking lot to get curbside meals to go, no touch service,” Jennifer says.

During that difficult time, having pre-packaged food that was freshly prepared with high nutrition content comforted their customers who sought healthier meal options and also filled a niche that kept their customers coming back.

Having worked all across Georgia and out of state, Jennifer says nothing has meant more to her than serving their hometown of Newnan, the place her and John’s grandparents, Ellis and Effie Mansour, moved to in 1905 from Zahle, Lebanon, bringing with them generations of culinary expertise.

“One of the greatest examples of being able to service our community was the opportunity presented to us in June of 2021 to cater 45 VIP tents for the Alan Jackson ’Where I Come From’ concert benefiting those affected by the tornado,” Jennifer says. “While it was the hardest and most challenging undertaking of our career, it was by far the most rewarding thing we had ever done.”

After closing Contemporary Catering and semi-retiring, Jennifer has shifted gears, now working from home as a private event manager and coordinator. She says her goal is to work with people who want to entertain at home without the stress, so she provides a team to manage these occasions so the entertainer can simply enjoy the event.

“We present the food that they either prepare themselves or procure, present it well, maintain it, do their other services they might need for the evening, and help them clean it all up, which is a huge part of it because most people don’t want to clean up at 11 o’clock at night after 50 people just left their home,” says Jennifer.

She’s also been managing and coordinating weddings and corporate events along with consulting.

“I feel very fortunate and honored that there are people in the food industry who called upon me to guide them through different parts of the industry, and it’s my pleasure to do that,” says Jennifer. “You can’t be in this business for more than three decades and not accumulate a good bit of knowledge, so I’m honored when that happens.”

From advising on a single recipe to accomplishing a 250-person catered luncheon, she can help with it all. And she has some advice for those thinking of starting a career in the industry.

“Food is such a gift to people, and I can understand individuals who want to have a talent and who want to propel that talent into a business,” says Jennifer, advising: “Research the competition, business location, and crunch the numbers with a financial advisor before setting off. The biggest thing about being in the food industry is consistency.”

Her keywords are: strategy, planning, management and execution.

“It’s never a good idea to diversify too much,” she says. “Stick with what you know, hone those skills, and get really good at it.”

For Jennifer Hanna, food is an exciting and beautiful thing.

“It’s obviously something that we have to have to live, but it contributes so much to scenarios, to situations, to celebrations,” she says. “And we have had a lifetime of being honored to produce good food for people on their very happy occasions. Catering is not a business for the faint of heart as it certainly comes with its ups and downs, but for us, it has been the gift of doing what God paved the way for us to do.” NCM