PLEASING THE PALATE: “At DK Provisions, we believe the beauty in food lies in its power to bring people together. Sharing a great meal can be a transcendent experience, one in which memories will last a lifetime. That’s why we are passionate about creating unique, flavorful dishes that delight the senses and leave a lasting impression on our clients and their guests. We strive to bring a fresh approach to catering, encouraging clients to try something new by using vibrant, global flavors, prepared with an intimate and curated touch.” Chefs Karen Ryfinski and David Kirk look forward to sharing their expertise to provide inspired dining for their clients.

By Jean Stratton

Dining opportunities expanded in an exciting new direction in 2023 when Chefs Karen Ryfinski and David Kirk combined their skill and experience to open DK Provisions Private Events and Catering. The former sous chefs at elements restaurant wanted to offer something different to area residents.

As they explain, “We noticed that there was a need and opportunity for a catering/private event service that strives to break free of the standard mundane and dated catering formula (protein, sauce, starch). While this formula may please the masses, more often than not it lacks imagination, presentation, and gives little consideration to seasonality and the quality of ingredients. In contrast, DK Provisions offers a service that believes in the importance of sourcing high quality and seasonal ingredients and preparing them with modern techniques, playful imagination, and an eye for the aesthetic.

“Our goal is not only to exceed standard catering expectations but to offer a highly curated experience, one which is akin to what one may experience at the highest end restaurants.”

Cooking Journeys

Both chefs began their creative cooking journeys at an early age.

Growing up in Hamilton, Ryfinski carefully watched her mother and grandmother as they prepared the family dishes. “I always loved to cook, and I helped both my mother and grandmother,” she recalls. “The first dish I made was lasagna.”

She began cooking in restaurants in high school, with her first job was at Princeton’s Springdale Golf Club. By then, she knew the kitchen was definitely going to be the focus of her career, and she went on to earn an associate’s degree from the Culinary Institute of America in 2012.

After graduation she was offered an internship at the farm-to-table restaurant Nine Acres in Peapack-Gladstone, where she spent a year. Moving on to Princeton, Ryfinski then spent six years at elements, serving as pastry chef and ultimately sous chef at the highly respected restaurant.

During the transition time when elements moved to its current Witherspoon Street location, Ryfinski had the opportunity to travel and “stage” at several restaurants on the West Coast in the U.S. and also in Japan, where she staged at a three-starred Michelin restaurant.

As she explains, “Stage or Stagiaire is a French term for a cook who works briefly in another chef’s kitchen without pay in exchange for knowledge and a continued learning experience.”

New Adventure

She returned to elements, staying until 2019, when she embarked on a new adventure, opening her private chef business, Chef Karen Ryfinski, Inspired Home Cooking.

She began preparing meals for families in the greater Princeton area, and soon had regular weekly clients, who appreciated the expertly prepared dinners. Fresh ingredients, locally sourced when possible, and Ryfinski’s own special recipes were highlights.

“I really enjoy doing this for people,” she says. “I love preparing the different dishes. I’ll first discuss with clients what they have in mind, and based on that consultation, I’ll send sample menus to them. After all this time, many of the clients have become friends. There is a personal relationship.”

Ryfinski offers a wide variety of dishes, including vegetarian, and she can accommodate individual dietary needs.

Sample dishes can include salmon with herbs de Provence and roasted endive and fennel; chicken and white bean stew with spinach and artichoke; lamb shanks Massaman curry with jasmine rice; shrimp with sausage, white beans, and braised kale with cheesy garlic bread; Mexican ground beef, corn and cheese and kidney bean stuffed peppers with enchilada sauce; and pistachio, garlic, and herb-crusted fish with lentils, arugula, and roasted carrot “fries.”

Vegetarian dishes offer red lentil curry with sweet potatoes, almond butter and coconut, with fresh garlic naan; cauliflower, white bean halloumi cheese and pesto flatbread, lentil herb salad; black lime and cracked coriander crusted tofu with wilted spinach and stewed black-eyed peas; and carrot and halloumi falafel with green tahini sauce, steamed quinoa, and toasted cauliflower, among other choices.

International-Flavored

Ryfinski and David Kirk had met at elements restaurant in 2017. He became sous chef in 2021, and remained at the restaurant until 2023, when he and Ryfinski opened DK Provisions.

A Pittsburgh native, he, too, was active in the kitchen from an early age, and he recalls an international-flavored cuisine at the family dining table.

As a little boy, I liked to play restaurant with my grandmother,” he remembers. “My family was into gourmet cooking, and we often had Italian and Spanish dishes.”

After graduating from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., he began cooking professionally in 2013. “Actually, it was shucking oysters!” he reports. “It turned out that a college friend said there was an opening at the restaurant where he worked, so I went there. It was on-the-job training, and I liked it right away.”

He worked at other restaurants in Pittsburgh before heading to Princeton in 2017 when he joined the elements staff.

Both his and Ryfinski’s backgrounds and experience are the foundation of DK Provisions, which is becoming a very successful catering and private event service, explains Kirk. “We specialize in dinner parties, intimate background weddings, holiday parties, and any occasion you want to celebrate, and we are sure to impress your guests.

“I think we are differentiated by the intimate nature of what we do. Our service brings people together, and we are able to help them enjoy themselves. We recently catered a September wedding in Rocky Hill for 90 people in the family’s backyard. It was very successful, with a family-style dinner. The setting was very appealing, with both an informal yet elegant style, and it really brought all the guests together.”

Catering Menu

Both he and Ryfinski are very encouraged. “We are getting a lot of word-of-mouth and new customers,” says Ryfinski. “The clients are telling their friends, and we have a lot of events lined up for upcoming weekends.”

Clients have many choices when it comes to the catering menu, which includes both three-course and five-course options, The popular three-course choice offers passed canapés, first course options, entree, and dessert.

A sample three-course menu could include pea and halloumi falafel (green tahini sauce, sumac) and mushroom sticky buns (green garlic and taleggio fondue, black truffle) passed canapés; first course of asparagus and sorrel vichyssoise (sautéed morels and asparagus tips, creme fraiche); entree of chianti BBQ beef short ribs (crispy sunchoke and fava bean hash, spring herb chimichuri); and strawberry and rhubarb crumble (buttermilk ice cream, oats, pecans) for dessert.

A five-course menu may include mushroom rugelach and panisse bites (topped with marinated artichokes and Calabrian chili aioli) passed canapés; first course of sweet pea pannacotta (warm crab, chives, sesame lavash); second course of ricotta and truffle agnolotti; third course of steamed black bass (lemon verbena consommé, baby broccoli, scallion); entree of ribeye (Korean BBQ flavors, grilled pea leaves, jasmine rice); and pistachio cheesecake (roasted rhubarb compote, cardamom, and oat cookie crumble) for dessert.

Many other choices are available for all sizes and types of events.

“When it comes to cuisine and our expertise, no corner of the world is off limits,” report Ryfinski and Kirk. “As the late Anthony Bourdain taught us, food has the power to open our minds and show us we are not all that different from each other.”

Holiday Parties

“Currently, our availability is Thursday-Sunday, and for smaller events these days can be booked with relative short notice of two to four weeks. With a month or more notice, we can book an event for any day of the week. We are happy to book larger and smaller events well in advance. Also, we are now booking holiday parties and events.

“Our pricing reflects the format of each event, the style of service the client desires, and the staffing required to execute the event. Currently our most popular and frequently requested format is our three-course plated menu with three passed canapés.”

Ryfinski and Kirk could not be more pleased with the success of their new venture. They are happy to be helping people on several levels: of course, providing positive dining options; also, offering opportunities to enjoy spending time together, and perhaps even helping clients to break free of some of the world’s worries — at least for that moment in time.

“The kitchen is really the focal point of the house for so many,” they point out. “People always seem to want to gather there, and we are having fun too. You never know what to expect. There can be kids running around, pets too. It can be different in every setting.

“We are looking forward to building the business, but also keeping it within a reasonable size, so that quality is always uppermost. And it is our great pleasure to invite clients to open their eyes to something new. A new dish, a new taste, a new flavor.”

For further information, call (609) 516-5754. Visit the website at www.dkprovisions.com.