Some of the poshest parties in town get their start these days in an unglamorous industrial park in Hyattsville. In January, Susan GageCaterers moved its 125 employees into a new 32,000-square-foot facility, from which flow power breakfasts, lunches, and dinner parties for Cabinet members, museums, and Fortune 500 companies. Spring and fall, the busiest seasons, can mean helping staff a White House state dinner one night and decking out a top gala the next, with a dozen events in between. Gage—shown here in the black dress, conferring with event supervisor Gege Silvain—founded the firm in her Fort Washington garage in 1986. The new space has room for a kitchen 1½ times the size of a basketball court, five walk-in refrigerators, a bakery, and a sewing room where seamstresses produce Gage’s signature: uniforms that match the linens—down to waiters’ neckties—and often the flowers, too.
Photograph by Dan Chung.
Photograph by Dan Chung.
Photograph by Dan Chung.
Photograph by Dan Chung.
Photograph by Dan Chung.
Photograph by Dan Chung.
Photograph by Dan Chung.
Photograph by Dan Chung.
Photograph by Dan Chung.
Photograph by Dan Chung.
This article appears in our June 2015 issue of Washingtonian.
Behind the Scenes at Susan Gage Caterers’ Warehouse
How the group plans Washington's poshest parties in a Hyattsville industrial park.
Some of the poshest parties in town get their start these days in an unglamorous industrial park in Hyattsville. In January, Susan Gage Caterers moved its 125 employees into a new 32,000-square-foot facility, from which flow power breakfasts, lunches, and dinner parties for Cabinet members, museums, and Fortune 500 companies. Spring and fall, the busiest seasons, can mean helping staff a White House state dinner one night and decking out a top gala the next, with a dozen events in between. Gage—shown here in the black dress, conferring with event supervisor Gege Silvain—founded the firm in her Fort Washington garage in 1986. The new space has room for a kitchen 1½ times the size of a basketball court, five walk-in refrigerators, a bakery, and a sewing room where seamstresses produce Gage’s signature: uniforms that match the linens—down to waiters’ neckties—and often the flowers, too.
This article appears in our June 2015 issue of Washingtonian.
Related
Opera Star Denyce Graves’s Unusual New Role
Why a DC Museum Acquired This Odd Drawing
A Great New Song About Old DC Movie Theaters
Why One Virginia Auction House Keeps Getting Notable Stuff
More from News & Politics
‘The Bachelor’ Has Two Maryland Contestants. What’s Their Deal?
Where Is the Snow? DC Could Break Its No-Flakes Record.
Metro Commuters, Rejoice! More Trains Are Coming.
Missing! Murphy the Giant Metal Gorilla
This George Santos Bobblehead Is Ready to Take Pinocchio’s Lying Doll Crown
Explain DC to Me Like I’m a Golden Retriever: The Debt Ceiling Standoff
PHOTOS: Jill Biden’s Inaugural Dresses Added to the Smithsonian’s First Ladies Collection
Maryland Might Experiment With a Four-Day Workweek. Would It Work?
Most Popular
HGTV’s “Ugliest House in America” Is in Manassas
Where Is the Snow? DC Could Break Its No-Flakes Record.
The 100 Very Best Restaurants in Washington
6 Romantic Getaways Near DC for Every Couple
DC’s New Over-the-Top Brunch Spot Serves 25 Different Mimosas