Two local chefs, Marcus Hartford and Liz Donaldson, have joined forces, and launched a multi-faceted private chef and catering business called The Collective Private Chef & Catering.
Their focus is simple — providing Toledo with unique culinary experiences from private dinners to collaborative events with area chefs.
Chef Hartford acts as The Collective’s executive chef and owner, and Chef Donaldson holds the title as sous chef and charcuterie specialist.
“This has been an idea of mine since college,” Chef Hartford said, adding that he graduated from Columbus Culinary Institute at Bradford School in 2016.
“The name ‘The Collective’ has been something that I wanted to use for a long time, because the definition, it’s so vague, but it’s so descriptive at the same time. … My way of cooking and my art of food is made up from all different types of people and my experiences.”
Facing adversity
The road to get here was not the smoothest journey, Hartford shared, explaining that in 2021 he contracted the coronavirus and was put into a medically induced coma.
“I was on life support for five months [and] a ventilator. … I died twice,” he added. “I lost 120 pounds. I couldn’t walk, talk, or eat anything. … But I just kept fighting.”
By March, 2022 he was back working in restaurants, he said, like for Bar 145 and Benchmark Restaurant Group in Toledo.
The chef said he started by doing prep work from a stool, then slowly worked his way back to the intense stamina that he holds in the kitchen today.
A new adventure
Once Hartford was fully back working in kitchens, he said he was connected with Chef Donaldson through family friends, and soon realized that they had a similar view on Toledo’s food scene — both its potential and what it’s lacking.
The two teamed up, and launched The Collective earlier this fall, with their first off-site catering debuting at Centennial Terrace on Sept. 7 for the On Tap & Uncorked event.
“Toledo has so many cool things going on that are kind of kept hidden as secret gems,” he added. “We want to bring light to elevated comfort food [and] Midwest food.”
Chef Hartford said he specializes in many different cuisines, like Italian, Cajun, southern comfort, and barbecue.
“We kind of met in the middle,” he said. “With [Chef Donaldson’s] specialty with cheeses, meats, and charcuterie … we wanted to create something for the city and for ourselves.”
Chef Donaldson added that her charcuterie is customizable to the client's needs, starting with “a real minimalistic board,” but can go as far as coming into your home, setting up large charcuterie boards, providing fresh flowers, and more.
Hartford finalized a sample menu for clients to view The Collective’s array of offerings. Some chef specialties to note are Chef Hartford’s Cajun Jumbo Shrimp served with white cheddar grits, Five Cheese Mac and Cheese, along with seasonal desserts. If a client has a dietary restriction or preference, he said he and Chef Donaldson would be happy to accommodate.
If someone inquiring has different food ideas or requests from the provided menu, Chef Hartford said he’s “very confident that if you give me something, I can work with it.”
“Especially between me and Liz [and] how many years we’ve been cooking, we can figure it out.”
A new space
Chef Donaldson said that the team’s kitchen space will be at Toledo Commercial Kitchen. Private cooking classes in your home are something the chef hopes to coordinate in the future.
“I see it as the opportunity to bring upscale food to your home,” Chef Donaldson continued. “Not only the events, but the private chef end of it. For you to be able to call [and] say, ‘I want to have this dinner party, but I don’t want to do the work.’ … I don’t think Toledo has anything like that.”
Once The Collective starts to grow, Chef Donaldson said they’re looking to provide pick-up meals for holidays, parties, tailgates, and more.
“The sky’s the limit,” Chef Hartford added. “I want to do collabs with breweries to do beer dinners, wineries to do wine dinners. … Anything small from solo box dinners for families to events such as reception parties.”
There have been few local businesses that offer catering services like this, Chef Hartford said, and he hopes that The Collective can provide a taste of what Toledo’s been missing for quite some time.
The Collective is currently taking inquiries. Chef Hartford can be contacted at thecollectivechefmarcus@gmail.com or by calling 567-249-5465. Chef Donaldson can take charcuterie bookings at Cheesewhiz1@icloud.com . For updates and more information, visit its Facebook page at tinyurl.com/yy9sft4p .
Chef Donaldson’s Charcuterie
For a standard charcuterie board that hits all the marks, Chef Donaldson provided guidelines that she likes to follow when creating her signature boards.
Charcuterie Tips:
- Equal ratio of meats and cheeses
- Blend of hard and soft cheeses, “making sure one cheese has color,” she said. Even better to cut the cheeses into different shapes for variety.
- A mix of crackers and breadsticks
- Olives and pickles
- Jams and jellies
- Dried fruits, like apricots, figs, and cherries
- Fresh fruit like blueberries, strawberries, or raspberries
- Nuts like walnuts, pistachios, etc.
Source: Adapted from Chef Donaldson
Chef Hartford’s Cajun Jumbo Shrimp and Grits
The executive chef's signature shrimp and grits are featured on The Collective's menu, featuring Cajun seasoning, Andouille sausage, and more.
Yield: 1 serving
Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
5 jumbo shrimp with tail on
1.5 ounces chopped Andouille sausage
1 cup of instant prepared white cheddar grits according to box instructions (Note: Shave white cheddar into the grits while boiling in the water to make them cheesy, thick, and creamy along with adding some milk or heavy cream)
Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided in 2
1 small shallot, minced
2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced
4 tablespoons lime juice
4 tablespoons white wine
Special Cajun creole seasoning (contains dry basil, oregano, Cajun seasoning, black pepper, Lawry's seasoning salt, smoked paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder), to taste
Green onion, for garnish
Directions:
Start by making grits according to package directions, then add in white cheddar cheese, milk or cream, and salt and pepper to taste. Add some Cajun creole seasoning to taste to season the grits as well.
Then season your raw jumbo shrimp, heavily, with Cajun creole seasoning seasoning all over. Make sure to leave the tail on.
Melt the first half of butter on medium heat (4 tablespoons) and add the Andouille sausage. Then add the shrimp, and get a good hard sear on them. Once the shrimp are golden on one side, which should only take a few minutes, flip them over, then add in and add the minced shallots and garlic.
Turn heat to low and let the shrimp and sausage saute, allowing all the flavors to come together.
Deglaze pan with white wine and lime juice to pick up the fond on the bottom of the pan and all extra seasoning that fell off shrimp.
Turning the stove to low heat to medium heat, and add the second half of butter (4 tablespoons) to finish your pan sauce.
Take a bowl and put about 1 to 2 cups of white cheddar grits in the middle, scoop in some sausage, and plate the shrimp tails up around the grits in the bowl. Pour the pan butter sauce with shallots and garlic over top for nice reddish-orange Cajun butter color and lots of flavor. Top with sliced green onion for garnish.
Source: Adapted from Chef Hartford
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