Annemarie Silva, an Ardsley native and Abington High School graduate, launched a Glenside-based catering business—Annemarie’s Cuisine—in 2009.

“I finished high school and started working at a market. I learned a lot there and my mom was a really good cook,” she said. “I started catering and took care of sales and customers. We started slowly and grew through word of mouth.”

Silva said her business does off-premises catering and event coordination, including rentals like linens, flower arrangements, and glassware, tables and chairs. Over the years, Annemarie’s Cuisine has catered anything from weddings to bar and bat mitzvahs, cocktail parties, dinners, funerals, memorials, holidays, showers, birthday parties, and corporate events.

“For bigger events, we’ll do a walk-through to try to improve functionality. We pretty much do any type of party,” she said.

Silva personalizes all of her menus with her clients and said the business’ taglines are “Be a guest at your own event” and “Entertaining made easy for you”.

“We’re a scratch kitchen so I want to be mindful of everything I’m offering,” she said. “We always create a timeline with our guests so we know exactly what they want. We want them to enjoy their party, and our job is to take care of everything else. I try to think about if I were the guest and how I’d like to be treated. We make sure everything’s cleaned up and back to normal after the event.”

In addition to events in greater Glenside, Annemarie’s Kitchen has catered in Philadelphia, Maple Glen, Upper Dublin, Horsham, as well as areas outside of Pennsylvania. Silva’s husband, sisters, sisters-in-law, daughter, daughter-in-law, son, son-in-law, nieces, and nephews all help with the business.

“I’m very thankful to have been in business this long. I have people who’ve been with me since we opened, including a chef and catering manager. I only use people that I know who are trustworthy,” she said. “For many of them this is a second job, and it’s good to know that we’re helping them. Many of our customers are repeats. Small businesses are important and we appreciate all of the support over the years.”

For more on Annemarie’s Cuisine, located at 235 Limekiln Pike (Cheltenham Township), you can visit their website and Facebook page.

“Always book ahead, that’s probably one of more important pieces of advice,” she said. “Call us to hold the date, and then you can schedule a time to go over everything.”

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Photos: Annemarie’s Cuisine