Taste of Love Catering Brings People Together Through Food

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While coaching basketball at Hamilton High School, Shelita Furlow noticed that the students on the team showed up hungry, which affected not just their performance but their well-being. Furlow started bringing them high-protein foods, stuffed potatoes and sandwiches. Today, she’s still coaching, but in the food realm, through Taste of Love Catering, feeding the mind, body and spirit. 

Furlow thought her career would be coaching sports. As a spiritual person, she was inspired by how food helped her basketball team, and she considered how she could use the healing power of food to serve others. “I recognize that in the city, when you’re dealing with trauma and poverty, it’s hard to stay positive,” she says. “Food is universal, and whatever situation one comes from, there’s always been a meal that made you smile and brought good memories.”

With a goal of bringing families together through food, Furlow started working with young adults and elderly populations, preparing meals in their homes. People soon encouraged her to start a catering company. She put a business plan together in 2015 and got her licensure and food certification. She was one of the first vendors working out of UpStart Kitchen (4325 N. Fond du Lac Ave.), a commercial kitchen for food entrepreneurs.

Bringing People Together Through Food

Through Taste of Love Catering, Furlow offers small plates, soul food, and Mexican, Italian and Asian cuisines. She also offers vegetarian and vegan options. As a self-taught chef and foodie, she enjoys trying foods and then making her own unique versions. “I like a lot of cuisines, I like change, and I don’t like eating the same thing all the time. I’m a fusionist and love mixing cultures together.”

Furlow offers personal chef services, including an intimate dinner for two package with a three course fine dining meal prepared onsite, along with music and service. She offers family dinners for up to 10 people, and she caters larger events such as weddings and parties.

Her one-on-one and group culinary classes are customized around the client’s qualifications. “If one has never been in a kitchen before, I’ll make it easy to understand,” she says. She also offers a Kitchen Basics & Safety class, and she’s certified to teach the five-hour National Certified Food Safety Manager Class (a state requirement for many licensed foodservice establishments with five or more employees).

Furlow is part of Dream Team United MKE, an organization that hosts the Breaking Bread Community Thanksgiving Feast for the Sherman Park and Metcalfe Park neighborhoods. Since it began five years ago, the event has grown to serve 500 people. Other Dream Team United MKE efforts include the Community Pop-Up Free Grocery Giveaway event.

Many chefs that offer catering express a desire to open their own restaurants, but Furlow has a different vision for a space: using culinary therapy to help people with anger management and trauma. “I was involved with basketball saw how sports could be therapeutic, but I understand everyone is not into sports. But food is universal.”

Furlow is also inspired to help people with dietary restrictions due to chronic illnesses learn how they can still enjoy healthier versions of the foods they love. “I love feeding people and then watching their reactions and their body language. Their faces tell a lot!” she enthuses. “Food brings people together, so get out there and enjoy different things.”

Furlow is currently working on a date night cookbook to be released the second half of 2023.

For more information, visit tasteoflovecatering.com.