Chef Keith Hand
With decades of professional experience in the culinary industry, Keith Hand has owned and operated Bridge Catering since the mid-2000s.
As early as age five, Chef Keith Hand would stand on a stool to help his grandmother prepare breakfast and lunch for the fifty children who attended her daycare. Since then, Chef Keith Hand knew food and cooking would be his life’s passion. Before he had even started school himself, Keith carried out his culinary duties five days a week. By age six, he was purchasing grocery cart loads of food and writing menus for the family business.
His menus are Southern classics set amidst elegant designs. His staff has served corporate clients in various industries, from major law firms, large management/consulting companies, and accounting firms to private clients, universities, and churches.
For Chef Keith, the joy of catering is that, unlike in an a la carte restaurant, the menus, clients, and venues change, bringing the variety that is the spice of life.
Bridge Catering specializes in weddings, social events, and special corporate events. Dedicated to community service, Bridge Catering is the exclusive caterer for all Joining Hearts events. Keith is also active in Chris’ Kids charity.
So, how did Keith get here?
Every step of his journey of starting his own catering business centered around food and events. Growing up in Forest Park, Georgia, Keith cooked for his entire family because his mom worked late hours. He also decorated for holidays at the daycare center, focusing on flowers and seasonal décor. Keith’s artistic bent was not wholly towards food. He took up photography as a hobby. In junior high, he was a freelance sports photographer for a local newspaper. In high school he joined the yearbook team utilizing his layout, design, and photography skills.
After high school, he attended Clayton State University for his core curriculum and finished at Georgia State University with a Bachelor of Science in Hotel, Restaurant, and Travel Administration. Some of his classes taught all the elements it takes to make a business run smoothly, including catering, cost control, and statistics. In addition, Keith’s godmother owned a rock and roll club that poured liquor until four in the morning, which gave him a solid background in beverage services.
Keith’s early hotel and restaurant experience includes long stints in management at Ramada Inn, Shoney’s, and Popeye’s. Of special note is how he helped create the buffet concept for Shoney’s to move crowds quickly through a Six Flags location. This program then spread nationally. But his big break came when he was offered the job of banqueting and catering director for The Colony Beach and Tennis resort at Longboat Key, near Sarasota, Florida. In that Southern food Mecca, he worked with talented chefs such as Tommy Klauber, Phil Mancini, Michael Klauber, and Norman Van Aiken. He also performed at stone crab, wine, and other local festivals, often featuring notable guests like Julia Child, Yan Can Cook, and Mark Mitatello.
Following the resort, Keith was operations manager at Chop House Grill. This 500-seat restaurant trained him for high volume operations. Next, Carol Parks of Carol Parks Catering brought him to Atlanta to work with the 1996 Olympics. Soon after, Keith started his own catering business. He started catering from his garage and soon expanded to consulting for Hilton Hotels and Saint Paul’s, where he eventually moved his kitchen.
Keith’s big dream? Plan a culinary tour of Japan and Thailand. His catering advice? Never tell a guest they can’t order something!
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