In this series, WeWork’s director of digital community selects a WeWork member to get to know better, sharing her fun findings with the rest of the community.
How much do you love delicious food showing up at your office? If you (like me) are a big fan, then you’ll want to learn all about the Los Angeles-based WeWork Fine Arts Building member Grace Seymour. She’s the market lead at Cater2.me, which delivers locally sourced food to businesses around the U.S. Not only is their work fulfilling, but their work culture just won a major award from Tech in Motion. Read on to discover the latest food trends, L.A.’s unforgettable eats, and more.
Congratulations on your recent award from Tech in Motion, the 2016 Timmy Award for Best Technology Work Culture in Los Angeles. What was going through your mind when you and your team accepted the award?
Oh, so much. One, we were so glad to win. They really set it up like a real awards show. All the nominees go with no idea who won or not. You aren’t given any hints prior. So we were excited and happy to win. But the main takeaway from winning, and something we were very proud of, is bringing people together in offices around food. To bring people together who don’t maybe work together on a day-to-day basis—to facilitate that is what we do. To be honored with a work culture award is very special, and I think it says we practice what we preach.
Tell us a little bit about Cater2.me as a company. Where was the inspiration for starting the business?
So Cater2.me is a catering concierge service that partners with the best local restaurants in cities around the U.S. and brings them into offices of our catering clients—whether it’s through a daily lunch for employees, a weekly happy hour, or events every once in a while. Our mission is to not only expose these amazing restaurants to people who might not normally hear of them, but also support the local economy. We don’t partner with chains or franchises—we try to get mom and pop shops to participate in our program. We build our business by growing with them as they scale their catering operations. And we focus on building communities along the way.
Cater2.me was started in San Francisco almost six years ago by our two co-founders. And generally, the inspiration was both of them were working for more corporate companies. The catered lunch was always the same—sandwiches, salads, really boring food that is what people think of when they think of corporate catering—stuff you’d find at a chain store. And they were both living in San Francisco, with a vibrant food scene, and they were thinking, “How is this vibrant food scene not translating into what’s being sent to offices on a daily basis?” So they wanted to bridge that gap between the two parties, getting inspiration from food fairs, local vendors, and the rest is history.
What are some of Cater2.me’s customer cuisine favorites?
Mexican, of course—build-your-own-taco-bars are always a favorite. Asian food is always very popular, especially Vietnamese. I’ve actually worked in our L.A. and New York offices, and in both, Vietnamese is very popular since it’s a little different than what people might think of. And then there’s a lot of variety there—rice bowls, noodles, salads, soups like pho, and there’s also these traditional Vietnamese sandwiches called banh mi. So there’s a lot of variety, and I think people really enjoy that. As far as sweets go, cupcakes are always a huge seller—people go nuts for them, especially ones that are unique to a certain market or area of a certain city.
Do you have some restaurant recommendations for us in L.A.? What about near your local WeWork?
I’m actually fairly new to L.A.—I moved here in November—but there’s a bunch of great sushi in Little Tokyo. In terms of our vendors, in the same veins as what our clients like, we work with an amazing Vietnamese vendor called Nong Lá, and they make amazing, fresh Vietnamese food. Another one that we work with that’s super cool is Kye’s, and they are doing something really cool in Santa Monica—it’s kind of like a sushirrito, but instead of that, it’s rice and meat, or fish sometimes, and different sauces, and it’s all wrapped in various lettuce wraps. It sounds weird, but it’s really good, and it’s the perfect lunch meal because it’s not too filling.
And near WeWork Fine Arts, Sea Salt (a fish grill) has poke and fish tacos—it’s really good. RiceBar is a Filipino place up the street that has amazing pork sausage. And if you’re looking for something healthy, there’s a place around the corner called Cabbage Patch that has really good stuff. You pick a grain, a meat or fish, a few sides—one of those lunches that doesn’t make you feel gross after, but it’s very satisfying. (And they’re another one of our popular vendors.)
Photos: Salvador Ochoa