08/19/2026
Where do I startโฆ
As I put pen to paperโor fingers to a keyboardโI find myself struggling to find the right words.
After more than 16 years, from the very conception of LJW Catering, I made the difficult decision to close my catering business.
As I walked through the hallways one last time, removing signage, photographs, logos, and recognition plaques from the walls, I was reminded of the excitement, care, pride, and love with which each one had been placed there. Then, quietly, with keys in hand, I turned off the lights at LJW Catering for the last time.
I did so without publicly sharing my decision.
After more than 30 years in the food industryโand all the physical demands that come with itโI knew it was time to consciously make this change. For those who know me, you know that a knife hitting a cutting board comes as naturally to me as breathing. Cooking has been my passion, my livelihood, and an enormous source of pride for decades.
But as I prepared to turn the key one last time, another question kept coming back to me:
What next?
What comes next for this incredible Class 5 kitchen? What key do I want to turn nextโfor myself, for this space, and for our community? What possibilities are waiting behind these closed doors?
I began looking for new owners who could see what I have always seen: that this kitchen could be so much more than four walls and a place to prepare food.
I hoped to find people who understood its potential to serve our community for years to comeโwhether through catering, cooking classes, teaching and learning, culturally diverse cuisine, or creating opportunities to bring people together.
From the beginning, LJW Catering has tried to live by a simple motto:
โWhen you have more than you need, donโt build a higher wallโฆ build a longer table.โ
Over the years, I made a conscious effort to make our kitchen a welcoming and inclusive place. Newcomers and immigrants found a place here despite language or cultural barriers. Women found a place here. Individuals with physical or intellectual exceptionalities found a place here.
Within these four walls, there was room at the table for everyone.
I remember each and every person who became part of the LJW Catering team. Every one of them played a meaningful role in our story. And while I may have been the chef and business owner, I believe I learned just as muchโif not moreโfrom the people who worked alongside me. They taught me lessons about life, resilience, culture, friendship, kindness, and community.
For those memories and friendships, I will always be grateful.
As chefs, caterers, and small-business owners, we often think our primary job is to feed people. But over the years, I learned that we serve much more than a meal.
We serve stories. We create connections. We make memories.
And sometimes those connections last far longer than the meal itself.
Running a catering business also requires tremendous sacrificeโfamily time, long hours, financial pressures, and the constant stress of making sure every detail of someone's very important event falls perfectly into place.
I smile when I think about how many times, after a 16-hour day, our team sat together on broken milk crates, exhausted, eating plates of cold food while talking about the event we had just completed. Despite our exhaustion, there was always something incredibly rewarding about watching our clients, friends, and new acquaintances gather around a table and enjoy something we had created together.
I still remember a client in my early days enjoying one of my green curry dishes and telling me she was eating it with โlove eyes.โ
Those moments stay with you.
I will also never forget the first "Thai 1 On" Dinner Party I prepared in a client's home. When I arrived, I noticed they had set an extra chair at the table.
As we prepared to serve dinner, I asked, โWho are we waiting for?โ
Their response?
โYou. Arenโt you going to join us?โ
I knew right then and there that I had made the right decision to come to Freddy Beach and make it my home.
Love brought me to Frederictonโbut YOU made me stay.
Youโthe clients, team members, friends, families, community partners, and countless people I have met around the tableโbecame part of this incredible journey.
And so, this is not really an ending.
IT IS A SHIFT
The doors of LJW Catering have closed, but I, Leanne Wiens, am still hereโand the vision that began all those years ago is still very much alive.
I have simply been given a new set of keys.
Keys that are about to open new doors, create new partnerships, and allow this space to continue becoming what I always believed it could be.
Today, I am incredibly proud to share that I am turning the keys over to The Cultural Centre, the new owners of this space.
Somewhere along this journey, I realized that I was never meant to accomplish this dream alone.
And perhaps that is the most fitting next chapter of all.
I am deeply grateful to begin this new journey alongside The Cultural Centre and other talented, passionate, and committed chefs and community partners who share the belief that food can do far more than feed people.
It can welcome.
It can teach.
It can connect.
It can create belonging.
The lights may have been turned off at LJW Catering one last timeโฆ
but a new door is opening, the lights are coming back on, and there will always be room for a longer table.
With immense gratitude to everyone who has been part of the LJW Catering journeyโthank you.
โค๏ธ Leanne
