Have you ever had a caterer whose uninspired cuisine put you to sleep?

You won’t have that problem with Westerville-based Sandman Gourmet Deli and Catering, which operates a catering business and two delis.

Owners Rich and Dawn Rores have taken a business started by Rich’s great-grandfather in Buffalo, N.Y. to an entirely new level. Rich was trained in the culinary arts at Johnson & Wales (where Emeril Lagasse trained) and at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, a worldwide leader in gastronomy.

Rich’s creations are as varied as his culinary background: he produces such masterpieces as mustard crusted tenderloin with wild mushroom demi-glace, mini beef Wellingtons, and a magnificent chicken cordon bleu, redolent with a Gruyere-Béchamel sauce and served with goat cheese and herb mashed potatoes.

Sandman is also a family affair. Wife Dawn is the marketing guru, and Rich’s mother Barbara bakes all of the sweets: breads, desserts, muffins, chocolate-covered pecan bars, baklava, lemon bars, ultra-decadent cookies and brownies. Long-time employees Chef James Fickel, Manager Max Westerman and Manager Kelly Brown are all Westerville residents, as are Cathy Davis and Teresa Dietsch, who run daily operations.

In their catering business, Rich and Dawn say they sometimes get “over-the-top” requests for weddings, from prime beef to flown-in-that-day seafood. Many of these upscale clients take advantage of Rich’s personal home chef services when hosting special occasions. As a result of Sandman’s versatility, the catering reception and event menu has scores of items, including a seared ahi tuna lollipop, spanakopita, Sandman’s homemade hummus, lobster-stuffed ravioli, wild caught salmon and veal osso buco.

Sandman does corporate catering delivery to office workers in the Polaris area, and has several institutional clients on long term agreements for daily catering. Sandman delivers to individual offices also – everything from breakfast and lunch to dessert platters. Rich says that the largest group catered for topped 4,000 people, and that an “average” group is 700.

Rich says he loves what he does, and considers catering just plain fun. He loves the on-site interaction with clients and their guests. He says he likes to make each event special, and loves it when he gets to stretch his culinary talent with the high-end customers.

Sandman’s two delis are located on Polaris Parkway and serve breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday. Most deli items fall in the $5 to $5.50 price range: the variety of sandwiches and wraps includes healthy choices such as veggie, egg salad and roast turkey. The most unique item is the “Gyritto” – think a gyro served as a hand-held burrito. Tuesday at the delis is made-to-order omelet day, and Wednesday is “homemade doughnut day.” The menu features different specials every day. One popular special is the roasted bologna sandwich, slow roasted, seasoned to perfection and thick sliced on homemade bread.

What’s Cookin’ asked Rich to divulge a favorite recipe Westerville Magazine readers could try. He immediately thought of his Greek meatballs (also known as keftedes), “Sandman style:”

Keftedes: Greek meatballs
1 pound ground lamb
½ pound ground pork
½ pound ground turkey
2 cups oats (oatmeal)
1 yellow onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced fine
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup grated pecorino Romano cheese
1/3 cup fresh oregano, chopped fine
Salt and pepper to taste
Juice of one fresh lemon
Olive oil

Saute onion and garlic over medium-low heat in one to two teaspoons olive oil until translucent. Cool completely. Combine ground meat in large stainless steel bowl and mix with hands. Add oats, cheese, oregano, salt, pepper, lemon juice and cooled onion and garlic. Add beaten eggs and combine all ingredients until well mixed.

Roll into silver dollar size meatballs. Add olive oil to a sauté pan to cover bottom of pan and heat to medium low. Slowly cook meatballs, turning evenly to brown all over. Add meatballs to any simmering pasta sauce and serve.

Sandman Gourmet Deli and Catering (two Westerville locations)
440 Polaris Parkway, Ste. 160
(First floor of Huntington Bank Building)
614-839-SAND (7263)

570 Polaris Parkway, Ste. 180
614-882-1228
Fax pick-up or delivery orders to: 614-839-7808
www.sandmangourmet.com  

Deli hours: 7 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday-Friday
Closed Saturday and Sunday
Catering: 7 days a week

Do you have a recipe you would like to share with What’s Cookin’? E-mail it to us at klohnes@thepubgroupltd.com or send via snail mail to Kate Lohnes at The Publishing Group Ltd., 4500 Mobile Drive, Suite 100, Columbus, 43220. Please include your name and a phone number where you can be reached.