Heart and Soul Catering & Events is a licensed, certified, and insured business based in Raleigh, NC with a national reach. We have a nationwide network of culinary professionals, event planners, and commercial kitchen facilities dedicated to bringing your event to life.  We offer catering, personal chef services, retreats, and events that are good for your heart & soul. The company is led by Chef Cassandra D. Caldwell who has over 25 years of hospitality experience.

 

When Chef Cassandra is not pursuing her passion for making people happy with food, she continues her first love in higher education as an adjunct professor in the UNC Chapel Hill Department of Communication. Hospitality has been in Chef Cassandra’s blood since she started cooking at 10 years old in her mother’s kitchen.  From the time she made her first meal, a T-bone steak with mashed potatoes and string beans, her love of cooking has grown over four decades.  Her culinary palette has evolved over 40 years.

 

Chef Cassandra has traveled the globe and experienced hospitality & cuisines in five-star restaurants and hotels on four continents and 18 countries.  She infuses global spices and recipes into her cooking that focus on healthy food that is good for your heart and soul.  She is a certified ServSafe Food Manager and certified in ServSafe Alcohol. She studied at Johnson & Wales University and The Biltmore Culinary Academy.  Her affiliations include the National Restaurant Association, the National Association for Catering & Events, and the United States Personal Chef Association. Chef Cassandra also earned three degrees including a Ph.D. in human and community resource development from The Ohio State University, an M.P.A. in public administration from North Carolina Central University, and a B.A. in speech communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

 

Hospitality has always been mixed into her career path in various ways, and she has been a restaurant owner, line cook, bartender, server, instructor, hospitality industry recruiting executive, food truck vendor, festival vendor, event planner, and hotel auditor.  Highlights of her hospitality background include the following positions.

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• Restaurant Owner, The Croaker Spot, Fayetteville, NC

• Talent Acquisition Executive, Sodexo, Gaithersburg, MD

• Event Planner for Private Events, Conferences, and Corporate Events for Several Fortune 500 Companies

• North Carolina Central University Hospitality Program Board of Advisors

• National Society of Minorities in Hospitality Member

• National Restaurant Association Member

• Guest Speaker at the National Restaurant Association Show, Chicago, IL

• Keynote Speaker, Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, University of Houston, Houston, TX

• Dean’s Lecture Series Speaker, Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, University of Houston, Houston, TX

• Adjunct Faculty Member, Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, University of Houston, Houston, TX

• Festival Food Vendor, Hayti Heritage Festival, Durham, NC

• Catering Assistant, Marriott, Raleigh, NC

• Night Auditor, Hampton Inn, Raleigh, NC

• Server, Line Cook, Expediter, and Bartender, Chi-Chi’s Mexican Restaurant, Cary, NC

• Cashier, Marriott, Lenoir Dining Hall & Chase Dining Hall, UNC Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC

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