To Brian Schleper, head chef at the Gallery Café in Ewing, perfection is not some abstract goal. It’s a given, the highest level of professionalism—which he aims for.
“We operate to strive to be the best, and we hope that our customer service and our food quality reflect that,” Schleper said.
The Gallery Café is a group of six corporate dining and catering facilities in corporate centers throughout central New Jersey. Owner Holly Trump opened the first café in 1996, in the 206 Carnegie Center in Princeton. Two are open to the public while the others are only open to select companies that the cafés serve.
The café Schleper manages—in the Princeton South Corporate Center—is public, attracting customers from the building and outside customers mainly from businesses right off Lower Ferry Road. And they’re very loyal customers, Schleper said.
Schleper, who used to be executive chef at Savoy’s Restaurant in Hamilton before it closed, said that he spends a lot of time talking to his customers so he can get a feel for what they like. The chicken sandwiches—special for the fall season—are very popular; so are the hot entrees and vegetable soups.
The pizzas—dough and sauce included—are made from scratch; the turkey is roasted on site; high quality meats and produce are purchased from local butchers and grocers; fresh soups, hearty and veggie, are made every morning; there’s a different hot entrée every day.
But, Schleper said, “It’s not just about the food. It’s also about the relationships that we make with our customers.”
Though the Gallery Café in Ewing has a steady in-house business, catering is the backbone of the company, which employs about 40 people, including managers, in its six locations. The Gallery Café caters as far south as Bordentown and as far north as Edison, occasionally going west into Pennsylvania to areas including New Hope and Newtown.
For Schleper, a huge chunk of the catering business is directed toward private companies in Princeton. And he gets a lot of business—though not for reasons having to do with mere chance.
“There are no other companies in the area that cater the way we do,” Schleper said. “Some of our competitors use low-priced meat and cheese. We have a very high level of expectation of what food quality is. We’re not changing at all because as a company, we want to be a shining example of how this is supposed to be done.”
And how is it supposed to be done?
“We design parties with our customers,” Schleper said. “We don’t just take orders. It’s important to us to be perfect.”
He continued, “We dress professionally, we show up professionally. I can guarantee that we’re not going to put your food on the ground or leave your cold food on top of the car in the sun.”
There are plans for expansion into other parts of New Jersey, but for now, the Gallery Café will seek to maintain its perch atop the corporate restaurant and catering ladder.
“It’s just a part of who we are,” Schleper said, alluding to the company’s heightened level of professionalism. “The owner backs it up. It’s not just a tagline: It really is how we operate.”
Gallery Cafe is located at 200 Princeton South Corporate Center in Ewing. Phone: (609) 434-0800. On the Web: gallerycafe.biz.
