She also loves Buffalo, where she grew up and moved from kitchen to kitchen learning her trade. Jennifer’s first taste of the culinary world happened at Perkin’s Family Restaurant and Bakery. She was a 16-year-old waitress and quickly learned how to serve with a smile. At Perkin’s, she worked the graveyard shift for so long she forgot pancakes were a breakfast food. At age 18, she became a waitres
s at, the now defunct, Rigatoni’s and quickly moved to management. She thrived in Buffalo’s burgeoning, locally-owned restaurant scene. The pancake girl had made good. She now wore heels and moved with ease in and out of the kitchen at some of Buffalo’s best dining halls. By the time she was 23, she was her own businesswoman and the head of one of the city’s premier catering facilities. She served as Director of Sales and Catering for the Birge Mansion and Park Lane Catering. Again, she thrived. Over the next seven years, at several venues, she planned hundreds of events ranging from intimate dinners to thousand-person galas.. In 2000, she left Romanello’s South to start her own event planning business, Social Expectations, which focused on weddings and social soirees. But, she also kept her fingers in the kitchen and in restaurant development. In 2005, she began to help local restaurateurs plan and open their establishments. She became well versed in the logistics required to open and operate upscale restaurants. While opening her first restaurant, she realized there was one area of her business she knew nothing about: wine. In 2007, she enrolled in the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan and less than 12 months later she passed her entrance exam and became a member of the Master Court of Sommeliers. She has since helped several area eateries format their wine lists. After nearly 20 years in the hospitality field, Jennifer again grew restless. She had grown tired of the long hours and bored with a routine she knew too well. In 2008, Jennifer returned to the University of Buffalo and focused on obtaining a certification in journalism. She wanted to combine her love for food and wine with her other great passion: writing. She graduated in 2009 and immediately closed her business and dove into journalism. Jennifer resides in the Elmwood Village in downtown Buffalo with her teenage son, Svend. As a freelance writer she was proud to be published regularly in Buffalo’s alternative paper, Artvoice. She also had begun to write wine-related articles for Buffalo Magazine, an affiliate publication of the Buffalo News. With her true calling now clear, Jennifer is diving head first back into event planning and her long ago establish business, Social Expectations.
