About Lenore’s Kitchen Catering

Lenore’s Kitchen Catering is an off-premise catering company founded by Lillia Key 11 years ago. Ms. Key started Lenore’s Kitchen by providing food and catering service for friends and family. As a child growing up in the Englewood community, Ms. Key watched her mother, grandmother, and great-aunts throw fabulous family parties. After absorbing everything she could about cooking and entertaining from them, Ms. Key found she had a forte for party foods and planning. While attending college those cooking skills were fine tuned by cooking for her neighborhood every night and planning parties for her social club in major downtown hotels.

This led Ms. Key to step out on faith with her mother to City Colleges of Chicago and obtain City and State licenses for Sanitation and Proper food handling. The business was on its way. In two years the home based business reached so many milestones the business had to expand to their church’s commercial kitchen. The larger facility allowed them to develop a larger clientele and expand the business. This expansion also made a life long desire come true by providing employment to residents of the Englewood Community. The company has been used as a training facility for high school students and seniors.

Shortly after in 2000 another dream became a reality, the company moved again into an 1100 sq. ft. Restaurant that was open to the public serving not only soul food but also love and respect. The demand for catering services continued from business, government and private clientele so the decision to close the restaurant was made in July 2004. The facility is now strictly used for catering.

Ms. Key is a member in good standing with the International Caterers Association, and she is the founder of a non-profit organization: The Key Works Association.