A FAMILY BUSINESS • 35 YEARS IN THE MAKING
A Dream Shared. A Business Built Together.
Exline Eats did not begin with a polished business plan. It grew from decades of partnership, a brave decision made over coffee, and two people willing to build every part of the work together.
BEFORE THERE WAS A COMPANY
There was already a partnership.
For years, cooking was simply part of who Ken was. He was the person who entertained, fed a room, and kept adjusting a dish until people leaned in for another bite. Kathleen saw both the instinct and the possibility long before there was a formal catering company.
By the time Exline Eats began to take shape, Ken and Kathleen had already spent decades learning how to make decisions together. They knew one another’s strengths, when to challenge an idea, and when to trust the person across the table. The business would become a new expression of that same partnership.
Chef Ken Exline
A natural host long before he became a professional chef.
THE DECISION
One cup of coffee. One shared pastry. One life-changing sentence.
During a trip to Las Vegas, Ken looked across the table and told Kathleen he was going to culinary school. It was not a casual idea. It was a decision that asked both of them to reimagine what the next chapter of their life could become.
HOW THE BUSINESS TOOK SHAPE
Not a straight line. A shared commitment.
The early years were full of questions, experiments, and course corrections. Each one helped Ken and Kathleen discover the kind of company Exline Eats was meant to be.
01
A natural host
The first foundation was not a menu. It was Ken’s joy in cooking for people and making them feel at ease around a table.
02
A leap of faith
The culinary-school decision turned a lifelong instinct into a professional calling—and made the dream a family decision.
03
Learning through disruption
The pandemic interrupted hands-on culinary education. Ken stepped away when remote learning could not replace a real kitchen, then returned determined to finish.
04
Finding the right shape
Food-truck ideas, small bites, specialty menus, and weddings all helped reveal a bigger truth: Exline Eats should be flexible enough to become what each client needs.
05
Building an operation
What began with two people doing nearly everything grew into a trusted group they can call on for larger gatherings—without losing the owners’ hands-on standard.
TWO PEOPLE • ONE STANDARD
The work is divided. The responsibility is shared.
Clients may first meet Exline Eats through Chef Ken’s food, but the experience is shaped by an entire operating partnership.
CHEF KEN EXLINE
The food, the ideas, and the conversation.
Ken translates a client’s occasion into food. He listens for the cuisine they love, the budget they need to respect, and the atmosphere they want their guests to remember. Tastings happen close to the kitchen because he wants people to experience the food and the thinking behind it—not simply choose from a list.
KATHLEEN EXLINE
The numbers, the people, and every moving piece.
Kathleen is the financial and operational counterweight that turns a creative menu into a dependable event. She tracks costs, coordinates staffing, sources product, organizes packing, watches timing, and asks the practical question that protects the guest experience: how will the table look when the room is ready?
WHAT GROWTH REALLY LOOKED LIKE
From doing everything themselves to leading a team.
In the beginning, Ken and Kathleen could take a fifty-person event from preparation through service on their own. Growth changed the calculation. More guests meant more than additional food; it meant more hands, more timing, more equipment, and more attention to presentation.
They built a dependable circle of people they could call when an event demanded it. The goal was never to become distant owners. It was to create enough support that the food, the room, and the guests could all receive the care they deserved.
From intimate tables to gatherings of hundreds, the owners remain involved in the details.
THE HABITS THAT BECAME THE CULTURE
Family-business values, practiced in real time.
Stay flexible
The event does not have to fit a rigid menu. The menu should fit the people, the budget, and the moment.
Know the numbers
Affordability and food integrity can coexist when sourcing, labor, and scope are handled with discipline.
Make it real
Honest photographs, realistic presentation, and clear pricing help clients understand what Exline Eats will actually deliver.
Stay reachable
Responsive communication is part of hospitality. Questions deserve answers before they become worries.
STILL TAKING SHAPE
A business that keeps learning what it can become.
Exline Eats has served weddings, corporate open houses, baby showers, pool parties, reunions, birthdays, and community gatherings. The variety is not a lack of focus. It is the result of a company that learned to listen before it labels the occasion.
Ken and Kathleen still approach every new inquiry as a conversation, not a transaction. Their story continues with each client who trusts them with a room full of people and a moment that matters.
THE NEXT CHAPTER
Bring your gathering into the story.
Tell Ken and Kathleen what you are planning, who will be there, and what you want the experience to feel like.