Traverse City Record-Eagle

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    Roger and Gean Sladek
August 29, 2009

TC's original 'foodie' retires

Roger Sladek has been part of food scene for 46 years

by bill o'brien

TRAVERSE CITY -- Traverse City's reputation as a foodies' haven is owed in part to Roger Sladek, one of the trend's founding fathers.

Sladek has been part of the area's food scene since age 12, when he toiled at his parents' downtown bakery that opened in 1963. Childhood friends spent their free time at the beach or the playground, but Sladek busied himself washing dishes and learning bakery skills from his father.

"In the summertime, I wasn't like all the other kids," Sladek said. "I had to work."

After years of early mornings, long days and hectic weekends, Sladek and his wife Gean are finally ready to take a break. They'll liquidate their long-time catering business this fall, ending Sladek's 46-year run in the food business.

"I'm just tired of all the work involved," said Sladek, 58. "If I could stay in the (kitchen) and just cook, I would."

Sladek's parents, Leona and Joseph, launched Sladek's Bakery on East Front Street downtown in a storefront that pre-dated the National City Bank building. His father grew up in Slabtown and learned the baking business from another local baker before the Sladeks opened their own shop.

The bakery moved farther east on Front Street and eventually to Union Street, but closed not long after his mother was killed in a car accident in 1981.

By then, Sladek had a research and development job with the Chef Pierre plant in Traverse City that's now owned by Sara Lee Corp. -- while he ran a catering business on the side. Small bakeries were suffering by that time, victimized by grocery chains' move to in-store bakeries, so Sladek steered away from taking over his family's bakery.

"That made it tough for the 'mom and pop' bakeries," Sladek said.

But Sladek's Catering Service soon became more than a full-time job. The couple worked out of their home on Eighth Street for six years, but needed more space and moved to a building along South Airport Road.

They soon outgrew that facility and moved to their present location on Park Drive in 1996.

The couple's expansive operation includes a 22-seat dining area, where walk-in patrons can munch on a doughnut or a sandwich for lunch. It's adorned with years-old artifacts from the days of his parents' bakery downtown, and is home to his massive collection of cookbooks, several hundred strong.

Plenty has changed in the catering business over Sladek's career, though in some ways it's much the same.

Caterers can obtain high-quality specialty foods and baked goods from suppliers ready-made for serving. But Sladek still prepares his food by hand and whips up baked goods from scratch, without so much as a measuring cup. He won't criticize taking short cuts, but said it's just not for him.

"You can do it the old way or do it the new way, but the new way I don't like," Sladek said. "That's not my thing."

There's also more competition than ever. Sladek was among just a few local caterers when he started in the late '80s. These days, there are dozens of restaurants and food businesses that cater parties and special events.

"There wasn't a lot when we started 22 years ago, but now everybody is doing it," he said.

The Sladeks built a loyal clientele over the years, and there's still plenty of work for them, despite a rough economy that's trimmed business. But summers remain busy with weddings, club outings and other events.

A recent weekend included a Saturday wedding service for 200 that featured Asian cuisine, followed by a church picnic on Sunday that required 1,000 hamburgers and 400 hot dogs.

It's that kind of grind that convinced Sladek it was time to retire. Loading up containers with food for hundreds of people, plus cookware and the dishes and utensils to serve them, is a physical strain, even for a strapping man like Sladek.

"Catering is rough on your body," Sladek said. "It's not just cooking the food. There's a lot of labor involved in it."

There will be some sadness when the Sladeks watch the many tools of their toil hit the auction block. Gean said she's ready to relax and spend time with the couple's 3-year-old cocker spaniel, while Roger expects he'll look for a part-time job to keep busy.

"I'll probably miss it, but I'm looking forward to doing something else," he said.

Sladek also will keep one of his small mixers, just in case he's overcome by a sudden urge to whip a batch of homemade bread.

"I'll do it because I want to," he said. "Not because I have to."

Retirement sale

TRAVERSE CITY -- Hard-to-find kitchen utensils. A large pot to boil a lobster. An oversize spit for the next pig roast.

Anyone in the market for such items may want to check out Roger and Gean Sladek's upcoming sale.

The Sladeks scheduled an Oct. 4 auction sale to sell almost all of the cooking and food preparation equipment they've accumulated over a nearly 50-year career in the food business. Hundreds of pots and pans, large cooking grills, coolers, catering and kitchen equipment, dishes and more will be available when the sale kicks off at 10 a.m. at Sladek's Bakery & Catering, 1771 Park Drive, Traverse City.

"It's a lifetime, right here," Gean Sladek said as she peered over a chock-full storage garage.

"Everything" will be auctioned off, Roger Sladek said, including the property near the intersection of South Airport Road that includes a 3,600-square foot building with a spacious 2,400-square foot kitchen.

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