Meet Nathaniel Neubauer | CEO – Contemporary Catering

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nathaniel Neubauer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nathaniel, what is the most important factor behind your success?
We often hear from our guests and clients, “you and your team have a very special brand of service.” I believe we make spectacular food, and honestly, I believe many of my colleagues and competitors make spectacular food. However, a top down, heart leadership hands-on approach focusing on the guest experience, even prior to any interaction we have with them is what makes what we do special and the real X-Factor that separates us. Focusing on pouring into our leadership team so that they can pour into our frontline staff, creating an outward mindset driven environment that every one of our clients and guests reap the benefits from. We focus more on teaching our leadership and staff about our thought process and philosophy than what to do. We work in live events, there is no possible way we could train every team member what to do in every unique situation that may arise. However, if we train a service and guest focused thought process to everyone, we know all of our team members will inherently make the best possible decision when it comes to the guest experience.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I remember so clearly the day I told my parents I was going to pursue a career in hospitality. They weren’t happy at the time to say the least. I was a microbiology major at UCSB and working in restaurants like any other good college student. Prior to moving to Santa Barbara from an LA suburb, my first job was for In-N-Out Burger when I was in high school. Little did I know, but at the time I was beginning to curate my culinary, service and management education in its earliest, most empirical form. After spending a few years as a server, bartender, cook and well, every restaurant position that exists, I was given an opportunity to spend time in both the front of house and back leadership with that restaurant group. I worked for a brilliant restauranteur named John Scott. To this day I still believe his style and approach to managing a hospitality business is one of, if not the best I have ever encountered in the last 25 years. While tough, and many many long hours, the education I received could never be taught in a school, or any institution. I left Santa Barbara abruptly as while I had worked hard, I had partied even harder. Coming to Los Angeles in 2004, and getting sober wasn’t a choice, it was a necessity. By the time I had arrived in LA, I had just gotten to enjoy the experience of being homeless for six weeks. I had lost everything, mostly my spirit. I didn’t know if I would ever go back into hospitality again. Presented with the opportunity join my former business partner whom I met at the treatment center I had recently gotten sober at, we breathed life into Contemporary Catering as we know it today. I remember when first starting, I dreamed of the idea of doing a party for 200 people! Boy, did I sell myself short. Now, some nearly two decades later, we have had the opportunity to work on some of the biggest, and most high profile Emmy and Golden Globe afterparties, travel around the country with clients, participate in countless large brand activations for Coachella, bussing hundreds of staff members out to service Neon Carnival, and maintaining a celebrity client list that we don’t talk about, that’s why we believe we have the list ;), We adhere to one simple lesson, gratitude. We hold onto this like gold, the moment we lose site of it, is the moment what we do doesn’t work anymore. If you are reading this, you are part of our story and we are grateful for you.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well, I am a chef, and even if I am not giving you the tour myself, I will surely be asked where to eat when coming into town. LA is a food mecca, one of the best food cities in the world in my opinion. The late Jonathan Gold taught so many of us Angelenos, that we live in this robust melting pot of culture, and our city’s cuisine represents that. Not just in the higher end establishments, but on the street and in the neighborhoods we dwell in. As a child, my parents drove us all over the country camping in our nations national parks and forests. I’ve surfed since I was a child as well, so many of my favorites are in part due to nostalgia, and well the rest are driven by some wildly talented chefs. So here’s my list, if you are coming to hang out with me and you aren’t from around here, this is what’s happening.

1. We’re getting in the car and going to Yosemite, its a little over 4 hours from LA, and while I am pretty well traveled, it is still my favorite place on the planet. I’ll probably make you stop at some of the farms my company sources produce from as we drive up California’s agricultural artery to get there.
2. I still love Santa Barbara, so taking the scenic route and making sure we stop at Brophy Bros. on the way back for some Garlic Baked Clams (GBC’s) is a must. I’ll probably drag you to Bagel Cafe in IV, and Super Cucas while we’re in town.
3. I used to surf this spot, Silverstrand, in Oxnard and the nostalgia of a Pepe’s burrito after a session is pure magic.
4. Hitting up Neptune’s Net for a Crab Cake basket is also in the cards, another post surf treat.
5. Dinner at Nobu Malibu – Gregorio is simply put, the best at what he does.

Since that was only the first four days of adventure, there is still some time to do some culinary damage.
6. First breakfast at Guisados, second breakfast at Eggslut
7. Mid day stop at Wurstkuche in the arts district.
8. Dinner is guaranteed to be epic at any one of the following – Bavel, Bestia, Otium, Majordomo, maybe picjing one and firing the whole menu, or snacking a little at each.
9. Eat at Providence, formal service and fine dining is not lost, and Providence nails it.
10.Take a hike, really anywhere but Runyon.
11. Go Meditate at the Self Realization Center in the Palisades
11. I’m a cyclist, so I’ll probably drag you through a gravel ride in some Malibu Canyon.
12. Time to eat again, lunch at Tacos 1986
13. If we haven’t had a dawn patrol surf session yet, it was probably because the surf wasn’t good the last few days.
14. Dinner on the westside. The Rose, Pizzana, Rustic Canyon, Cassia, they’re all good.

Last but not least, talk to everyone, always. You never know when a smile or saying hi will brighten someone’s day. We live in a city of some of the most amazing, talented and brilliant people, get to know them.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
When we started building Contemporary Catering, Jon Esformes and I always talked at length about a couple key things. One of the most important, was that it wasn’t so much about “what” we do, but about “how” we do it, and “who” we do it with. While Jon and I are no longer business partners, we still go through life together with this same approach. I don’t read many books about business practices, sales or the like. Focusing on how we interact with the world as a human, just like everyone else has truly been the greatest learning. Brene Brown’s writings, The Four Agreements-Don Miguel Ruiz, and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel teachings have really been the foundation and guide for a company built on principles first, getting to make a living doing what we love, second.

Website: www.contemporarycatering.com

Instagram: contemporarycatering

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathaniel-neubauer-4b95778/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ContemporaryCatering

Image Credits
Fall at the Farmhouse – Brian Leahy Photography West Elm Blog – Amy Zawacki Piano in Field Shot – Matt Rice Photograpy