It’s a new day for Anna Kay Ziadie-Lazarus. Refreshingly unpretentious, she is taking charge of her life now that she’s single and revamping the catering business she started years ago, officially minting it Pineapples and Onions.

The business name, the caterer explains, is a nod to the sweet (that would be her much-talked-about heavenly pastries) and the savoury (as in the meat kinds she whips up with inimitable flair). Barrelling full-steam ahead in her mission to transform what she once considered more a hobby to a full-time venture, Ziadie-Lazarus humorously labels her business “brand-new secondhand”.

Mother to two boys, Todd, 11, and eight-year-old Zach, she tells Thursday Food that initially, she started out exclusively making desserts in 1994 after returning to The Rock from school in Canada. She graduated with a degree in hospitality and tourism management from Ryerson Polytechnic University, having studied previously at George Brown University in Toronto on a partial two-year scholarship. “My father told me I wasn’t coming home without a degree,” Ziadie-Lazarus said, and daddy’s practical demands meant she would obey them. However, when she came home and went job-hunting at the hotels in Kingston, she found that the compensation package left much to be desired. “I told my father with what they were offering me as a starting salary, he would be supporting me for the rest of my life,” she recalled in jest, adding that the unattractive job market prompted her decision to go it as an independent caterer.

Fast forward almost a decade later and Ziadie-Lazarus has long since accumulated an enviable track record in catering circles. A two-time Jamaica Observer Food Awards winner in the categories of Best Dessert and Caterer of the Year, she is prepared to spread her entrepreneurial wings even further to take on corporate clients, given that her business mainly revolves around more intimate occasions. “I get more home-type events that are very personal, so I’m trying to branch out and do more corporate work,” she revealed. “When Cash Plus and OLINT were around, it was carte blanche for everybody…now, not so much anymore,” she readily admits as we chat in the living room decorated with coffee table books and a sea of portraits of her boys and family.

While she’s all for new challenges, the caterer is bracing for the dictates of working with big business. As she considers her signature culinary touches as personalised, vibrant, light and fresh, she says she is all too aware that artistic vision is sometimes sacrificed.

“I always want to be amazing,” she says matter-of-factly. Responding as to what she thinks makes her a step above caterers that are a dime a dozen, Ziadie-Lazarus opines that her food styling, presentation and creativity (with able assistance from her longtime right hand Cathy Constantine) are her calling cards. It’s hard to disagree as we tuck into her delicious grilled mango-glazed chicken and pasta primavera. We’re guessing good favour will find her in spades.

Thursday Food would like to thank Anna Kay for sharing the recipes.A Cooling Yet Satisfying Summer LunchGrilled mango glazed boneless chickenPasta primavera‘Summer’ salad with creamy garlic dressing

Grilled mango glazed boneless chicken

Pasta primavera

Wholewheat French bread

‘Summer’ salad with creamy garlic dressing

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken thighs

Zedalini’s mango sauce

Salt to taste

Method:

Marinade chicken 4 hours before grilling with salt and mango sauce.

Grill chicken to colour

Place in a roasting pan and finish off in the oven.

Glaze every 10 minutes.

Ingredients:

Penne pasta

Italian salad dressing

Fresh mint

Grated Parmesan cheese

Method:

Cook pasta al dente.

Cool immediately.

Toss with Italian salad dressing,

mint and cheese.

Ingredients:

Romaine lettuce (washed and dried)

Whole kernel tin corn

Cucumbers (deseeded and sliced)

Black kalamata olives

Cauliflower

Tomatoes (wedges)

Creamy garlic dressing (store bought)

Method:

Place lettuce on a platter.

Mix corn, cucumbers, olives, cauliflower and tomatoes.

Place on top of lettuce in a mound.

Add a dollop of dressing to the lettuce leaves.