Today we’d like to introduce you to George Ashford
Hi George, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I first started in the food service industry in my freshman year of high school, that was back in 1972. I worked for a very prominent restaurant in Chicago Illiniois, under the supervision of master resturanteurs. I learned the basic skills, everything from dishwashing and prep to salad and desserts and front of the house operations being the bussboy and bar porter. Soon after that I went on to the Standard Club of Chicago, in 1975, which was considered one of the finest country clubs to this day, their memebership inluded some of the wealthiest people in America. I worked as a waiter before soon working myself up to being the banquet manager by 1983. I then developed my own off premise catering company, to provide food and services to the clients of the Standard Club within their home. In addition to that, using my experience and knowledge, I became a consultant for other prominent steakhouses in that area like Eli, Mike Dickens and City Lights Steakhouse, Faces on Rush and on the Green, all very prominent resturants in Chicago. My food education background is verified by the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) in addition to being educated from classes and formal training from hotel and resturant management.
The first resturant I ever opened was NN Smokehouse in Chicago, along with the catering company that was an extension of the resturant. I moved to Orlando, Florida where I created a service consultant comapny for multiple resturants under the talk of the town and Eli’s Steakhouse. I brought the concept of NN Smokehouse down to the south, along with the catering business, expanded our fine dining catering company. I also opened another resturant called Bob’s Your Uncle Barbeque, which I then again expanded with off-site catering, which is what solidified our footprint in the Orlando Florida scene.
I then created Catering’s Best and further extended our reach to private school lunches for schools like Windermere Prep and Central Florida Christian Academy , government and city organizations like the City of Orlando or Winter Garden Police Department, various religious organizations like Catholic and Episcopal Diocese of Orlando, most of them still being our current clients. Our catering scope includes everything from BBQ, to exclusive black tie events, as well as production catering (film shoots). Our catering company is one of the most cpmprehensive and lucrative in the Central Florida area because we do any and everything whrn it comes to food, while providing the best service possible from highly skilled staff.
Once the pandemic changed the dynamics of resturant dining experiences and how we interact with one another, I knew that something had to shift. So many people were yearning for community and safe, socially distanced fun so I took that need and brought a solution into action. I started CB Bistro Jazz Club at my local space in Orlando FL, where we had live entertainment along with seating outside, with the appropriate precautions for people to come out and enjoy. My wife was in radio, and saw a need for musicians to find work, and I wanted to provide good food and a warm atmosphere. Since then we have had a myriad of amazing performers like Jarred Armstrong and Alvin Giles, and this year 2025, we won the Best Jazz Club in Central Florida.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have been several obstacles that anyone would experience in business, I am no different. For me the most important thing is to not dwell upon the difficulty and failures but to focus on the accomplishments, perservere and strive to be creative and fresh in your approach to business. Never be complacent or comfortable by taking yoru customer, clients or situation for granted, you are only as good as your last event.
In the words of one of my mentors, Carl Frankie, he was the National Catering Director of the year for 5 times in a row, he would always coin the term “Table by Table”, menaing finish one task at a time in order for the optimum success. One of the biggest obstacles I found was if I had an idea and wanted to go into business, I didn’t know where I would get funding from. Most people would lead with the money or what they don’t have, then they are surprised with the end results. Instead of leading with what you are “missing” lead with the idea and the passion . So in the process of that, everything will unfold as things fall into place, and a path for your success will be given. For instance, I wanted to go into the catering business of Orlando, but did not have enough money to oepn a resturant/commercial kitchen. But I had the passion, a church that a friend of mine attended had a need for someone to provide Wednesday night Bible Study meeting meals, and other meals for groups at that facility. I utilized their licensed corporate kitchen, in exchange for providing meals and my services.
Create a way, when it seems like there is no way, even if you don’t have the collatoral or traiditonal means of obtaining capital. As many other resturanteurs start out, explore other means using creativity to accomplish your goal, which means getting outside your comofrt zone, talk to people and put yourself and your business out there. Show that what you are capable of doing by doing samples and demonstrations, and being sure that you have a self-motivating spirit. This means you wake up in the morning ready for the next challenge and asking yourself “Where can I find the next account.”
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
CB Catering is known for it’s diverse range of cuisine and services across Central Florida as premium custom caterers that have a footprint in every industry. Over the past few years, CB BIstro Jazz CLub has been a hub for jazz, art and foodies from around the south, people travelling and booking events with us based on word of mouth and social media. We are the most proud of the ability to adapt, regardless of the situation and tackle any problem head on.
Whether it’s through private catering, our bistro, school lunches, etc. we give people the feeling of home and warmth, because our customers are family. They should know that we remember them, their names, who they are, what they do and what they love because we pay attention and treat each one of them like they are the closest person to us. One of our producest accomplishments is being named THE BEST Jazz Club in Central Florida.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I like that our city has amazing weather is is very clean, along with the friendliness and diversity of the people here locally. What I like least about our city is that sometimes creating a platform to build a business is often predicated on who you know and not your business or skill level. Sometimes there is a tradition of doing business with companies that organizations may be comfortable with, after doing business for several years, rather than opening the doors for fresh new concepts and ideas from innovative businesses.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cb-catering.com/
- Instagram: cbbistro
- Other: https://www.cbbistrojazzclub.com/
