Page 44 - Holly Carney Issue (3)

Women of Distinction Toni Kraft

Enjoying her Little Bit of Heaven

Owning a restaurant such as Café Merlot has been a dream due to inclement Chicago weather she would clean houses,
of Toni Kraft’s since the age of 13. Born and raised in Chi- factories, and truck stops. Toni worked 7 days a week doing
cago, her parents divorced when she was 12. Her father whatever she could to support her children. As she admits,
had essentially been the meal planner and coordinator of “We grew up together, since I was quite young at the time
all events at her home. Once he was out of the picture the and they helped me in the business. We schlepped food
task fell on Toni’s shoulders . She found that she had a love through the snow and rain in Chicago. The girls were young
not only for cooking, but for entertaining, planning events, but still they helped out. They checked coats and put lemon
and doing promotions. While others were playing hopscotch wedges on water glasses.” Toni remembers those days and
Toni was trying to perfect a meatloaf recipe. She started sadly recalls, “There was no real support system for women
planning events for her neighborhood, such as Christmas in those days. It was the mid 80’s women were not typically
in July, where she would invite four neighborhood blocks to women supporters. Women were not quite comfortable
participate. It was a suburb in south Chicago and there was being in the boardroom at this time. I was the only minority
a predominance of firemen and women owned catering business
policeman among her neighbors. in Chicago at the time. So I got
It was also a melting pot of ethnic calls to bid for a lot of business,
groups including Polish, Lithuanian, but I didn’t get a lot of the jobs.
Hungarian, and Sicilian, so every- Being I was a minority owned and
one would bring an ethnic dish to licensed business it was often a
share. lesson in futility.”
This wasn’t Toni’s first choice for a It was at this point that Toni real-
career. Her first desire was to be ized that she had to tone down
a psychologist. She took college her work schedule since her
classes in all facets of psychol- girls were getting older and she
ogy, but in order to help put herself needed to be more of a pres-
through school she found herself ence in their lives. She sold off
picking up jobs as a waitress or her business and went to look
44 cook, or even designing menus for for work in corporate America.
local restaurants. After finishing “I worked for a company called
school, Toni met her husband and Canteen Vending, a corporate
had two beautiful little girls. Toni catering foodservice job. When
began running a program called Canteen Vending was sold to TW
“Serves You Right” a median step services I then had the luxury
to individuals attempting to get into of being trained by people that
the “Meals on Wheels” program. worked for Denny’s, Hardy’s, and
“Serves You Right,” later became a El Pollo Loco. I was, at the time,
full scale catering company. the only woman district manager
Toni found that she was now spend- in all of the Midwest. I was not
ing all of her time cooking for others. invited to a lot of meetings. I was
Leftovers from the events would be not invited to attend sales calls.
dinner for her family. The business When we met at meetings they
kept her so busy that it took three would all go out to dinner after-
days for her to realize her husband wards, but I was not included.” At
had left her (Her children had been the time they chalked it up to the
on a vacation with her sister). When fact that Toni was a single parent
she realized this fact it dawned on and she just needed to go home
her that perhaps she had been too engrossed and maybe and be with her kids. As a result Toni ended up befriending a
she needed to slow down a bit, but it was too little too late. lot of her female clients who were women business owners.
She was now a single mom and Toni did what she refers to They took her under their wing and provided insight on how
as the three C’s, catering, cleaning, and clowning. Toni en- to get along in a man’s world. They told her that she had
rolled in a professional clown course so that she could hone to be tough, if she was to fit in. The company was sold off
her craft and find work at events and festivals. She loved it, shortly thereafter, so Toni was back doing what she had done
and did so well at being a clown that she ended up teaching previously to make ends meet.
classes in clowning for 7 years and was the president of the She was soon hired by The Compass Group which is now
West Suburban Clown Club. She also designed a clown club the largest food service company in the country. They placed
with the Clowns of America. her in their “Eurest” division (which was short for
Toni decided to fall back on what she knew, so she refo- European Restaurants).
cused on her catering business. When she couldn’t cater
July/August 2008