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VALLEY - The bride is still asleep. The prospective groom is shaking off the
ill effects of last night's bachelor party. But, at 7 a.m., Joe Ricci and his
Cornucopia catering staff are already hard at work, preparing to make wedding
dreams come true — five of them one recent Saturday.
By the time the guests arrive, either at
Cornucopia's own banquet hall in Torrington or at a location selected by the
bride, all is in readiness. Behind the scenes, a profess- ional staff is using eight
years of experience to make a special day perfect.
It began almost accidentally. Ricci's wife, a dietician, answered an ad for a
food service manager at St. Joseph College. The college, however, wasn't
interested in hiring her. Instead, they asked her to start her own company, and
supply meals to their students.
Soon, Joe Ricci had quit his 12-year career as a social studies teacher and
was managing a growing company full time. Alone. His wife resumed her career
as a dietician.
It took a push from another attractive contract to take the next step. When
Ricci was asked to provide meals for the elderly in Torrington and Waterbury,
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but offered no food preparation area, he purchased the ban- queting facility in
Torrington.
With the building came a going catering concern, but Ricci wasn't worried.
He already had the expertise to please even the fussiest mother of the bride.
"When you're the food service company for a college, they expect you to do
formal sit- down dinners for rich donors and visiting dignitaries. We had to be
pretty versatile."
Versatility is the key to today's Cornucopia. Ricci and his staff offer
complete wedding pack- ages, in which they manage all aspects of the wedding, or
they'll open the doors to their banqueting facilities to the brides' choice of
music, flowers and cake decoration, offering her only food and drink.
Of course, Cornucopia handles events other than weddings, though the outdoor
patio and a romantic gazebo lend them- selves to candlelight weddings on
summer evenings.
Recently, nearby schools in Canton, Litchfield and Winsted held honors and
athletic ban- quets in Cornucopia's facilities. And many couples come back to
Ricci for anniversary parties.
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