With the launch of her gourmet chef service, BonCBon, Montreal entrepreneur Caroline Ross found a way to unite her belief in the importance of family and her passion for cooking. While cooking for other people's families is labor intensive for Ross, the concept of BonCBon is simple: you order, she cooks and she and her husband deliver tasty, healthy meals right to your door.
Ross was in catering business for almost 20 years before she decided in April, 2008 to make the switch to her chef service which focuses on comfort food. She started to realize the importance of family dinners, something she didn't have too many growing up.
"I was a latchkey kid", she says.
"Family dinners were something I longed for."
Like many children growing up these days, both of Ross' parents worked out of home. She explains that what often happens now in dual-income families is that everyone is left eating at different times of the day, rarely together.
Ross' husband, Michael Verral, on the other hand came from a family of six where family dinners where of utmost importance. "They didn't even answer the phone during dinner," she says. "And you can imagine how often it rang with that many people in the house!"
What Ross' BonCBon offers is a variety of pretty healthy, beautifully home-cooked meals, never frozen. On the website boncbon.com, Montrealers can take a peek at the week's menu, order by phone or internet on Wednesday before 4pm to receive their meal on Sunday.
"We are offering the gift of time," says Ross. She says that families have a much better chance at eating together when meal preparation is taken off the to-do list.
There are no contacts to sign. Some people order every week, other a few times a month and some from time to time. For example, mom is going away on a business trip and dad comes home too late to cook. Meals could be ordered for the family for the whole week, You freeze what you want to.
Ross says orders are usually at minimum of $60. That's not a rule, but a $5 - $7 delivery fee is for orders less than $55.
She realizes people do not want to wait around all day on Sunday for their groceries. She offers a two hour window, but also the option of leaving a cooler outside if the family should choose to spend the day at the beach in warmer months.
It is not difficult to see that Ross is very passionate about what she does. One of her favorite parts of the job is the personal contact she has with customers.
"Someone recently said to us it will be great once there is a deliverer," she says. "But we laughed. Delivering on Sundays is very enjoyable because we get to meet people and Michael and I get to spend time together."
"However for Ross, spending quality time with family is right up there with cooking and eating great food.
