From pop-up to permanence: Smorgasbord Catering opens in former Jeri's Midtown location

What started off as a hobby in 2021 between two friends sharing a love for food eventually transformed into a pop-up food business.

Now that business is in full operation with a recent expansion into its first brick-and-mortar location.

Friends and business partners I.B. Mansaray and Rick Hollar officially opened their Smorgasbord Catering Co. location in March in the former Jeri’s Midtown Cafe location on Thomasville Road.

"That was part of our natural progression, the way things have been happening over the last three years," Mansaray said in an interview with the Tallahassee Democrat. "And whether we were ready to do so or not, it just felt like the right time to go ahead and just jump in on that and try to make something happen out of it."

For a few years, the duo had only hosted pop-up events including their popular "Havana Night" food tour dinners, at venues including Isabella's Pizzeria Napoletana, The Moon , Vino Beano, as well as offering services as needed.

The expansion into an intimate cafe setting allows the team to offer breakfast and lunch services seven days a week, along with family or healthy meal preps, in addition to its catering services.

"We saw that there was some demand for what we had to offer, and we kept doing it, and it kept growing. So, we allowed it to grow as it was intended," Mansaray said.

Highlights from the Smorgasbord Catering Co. menu

With over 20 years of culinary experience combined, Mansaray, the former bar manager for Hangar 38 in Tallahassee, and Hollar, a trained chef, built out a menu they felt would fulfill every palate.

"We wanted something that would cover a lot of taste profiles," Mansaray said. "The one thing we didn't want was to create a menu that had any dead space and items that weren't ordered at all. So, we kind of put together something that just about anybody that came in would like, and I can say there isn't one item on the menu that doesn't get ordered."

The "quintessential American" cuisine with geographic influences is offered at the breakfast and lunch eatery.

The breakfast menu consists of your typical fluffy sourdough French toast ($12.48) and "breakfast sammie" with your style of eggs, bacon or sausage protein, choice of cheese and choice of bread ($12.48).

Other breakfast offerings include the ricotta pancakes with fruit toppings, caprese toast and their hashbrown casserole. For those looking for additional hearty breakfast options, they also offer shrimp and grits ($16.64) and biscuits with sausage gravy.

The lunch menu consists of sandwiches including their prized, flavor packed, "peachy keen'' sandwich prepared with grilled peaches, prosciutto and brie on toasted sourdough ($15.60).

Other sandwich offerings include a classic Cuban sandwich ($16.64), hamburger ($15.60), Philly cheesesteak and Irish cheesesteak ($18.72) which uses shaved corned beef and a house made Marie Rose sauce.

The lunch menu also features bowls, including its hearty, healthy power bowl packed with protein and veggies, vegan Curry bowl and a Cuban bowl. Fruity supreme citrus and classic salads are available for order as well.

Looking forward

Officially opening at the end of March, Mansaray said the cafe was well received but as is the case with any new business, there are kinks to work out, and there was the triple threat tornado on May 10.

"We just had to go through the harder times first in order to get there because I mean, you can't attend to everything. You can't do everything at once," Mansaray said.

Mansaray is looking forward to all the things they plan to introduce as they anticipate their grand opening and continue building with what dubs a strong team.

Future additions to the store's operations includes thematic movie nights with cuisines to pair with the film.

Examples include offering the film series Harry Potter, with a treacle tart as pictured in the movie to match, or animated film Ratatouille, with an actual ratatouille dish for people to try as they watch.

Another aspect includes inviting local artists to sell and display their artwork as decoration for the store. Mansaray said that implementing quirky and different things will help "to kind of create more of a community sense out of the cafe."

With all these different ingredients and components combined, the duo ultimate goal is "to become a Tallahassee staple."

If you go

When (summer hours): 10 a.m.-3 p.m. daily

Where: 1123 Thomasville Road

Kyla A Sanford covers dining and entertainment for the Tallahassee Democrat. New restaurant opening up, special deals, or events coming up? Let me know at ksanford@tallahassee.com . You can also email your suggestions for a future TLH Eats restaurant profile!

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: From pop-up to permanence: Smorgasbord Catering opens in former Jeri's Midtown location