April 29, 2008
RALEIGH, N.C. — The catering business isn't what economists would call “recession-proof.” Luckily for J.W. Walton, most of his biggest clients are.
The Catering Company of Chapel Hill specializes in gala affairs, with fireworks, floral centerpieces and menus that feature things like panna cotta with Macedonia di Frutta, and orange muffins with smoked turkey and lemon verbena jelly. About 70 percent of the firm's business comes from the Triangle's three big research universities — Duke down the road in Durham, North Carolina State in Raleigh and, of course, the University of North Carolina's flagship campus right there in Chapel Hill.
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