The team at Kelber Catering, the exclusive caterer for the Minneapolis Convention Center, prides itself on staying ahead of trends and customizing menus for clients. However, one item that will continue to be a mainstay—forever, if you ask the Kelber staff—is walleye.
“We’ve done walleye for five people to 4,000 people,” said Kelber Executive Chef and Culinary Director John Doody. “People have heard of it and want to try it. … A lot of times, people come here and they want the Minnesota experience.”
Loved for its clean taste and versatile preparation possibilities, the walleye is a freshwater fish found throughout the northern U.S. and Canada, and is especially prevalent in Minnesota. The state designated the walleye as the state fish in 1965.
At the Minneapolis Convention Center, Doody creates a crust for the fish from almonds; sometimes he uses pine nuts. “We dredge the fish in flour and our seasoning blend, then dip it in egg and then into our breading mixture,” the chef explained. “Then, we sautee it and finish it in the oven.”
To round out the plate, Doody creates pilaf from wild rice — another Minnesota specialty — and seasonal local vegetables.
“One of the things we’re really focusing on here, and in the industry as a whole, is sustainability and local products,” Doody said, adding that Kelber works with “just about every local purveyor in and around town.
“This is a very local dish that we’re known for in Minnesota,” he added.
Kelber Catering Executive Chef and Culinary Dir. John Doody
Minneapolis Convention Center
With his tenure at the Minneapolis Convention Center spanning 21 years, John Doody is a rare find in the culinary world, where chefs seem to change as often as seasonal menus.
“I became the executive chef and culinary director recently, when our executive chef and culinary director retired,” Doody said. “Our staff has incredible longevity, too, so we develop very strong relationships with the people we serve.”
Doody began pursuing a career in the industry at Saint Paul College’s culinary program before building a resume that looks a lot more like other chefs’—working at various restaurants, managing a dinner theater, and traveling a bit before landing back in Minnesota. He took on an on-call position shortly before being brought on as a pastry chef.
Today, Doody said he’s happy to work with a forward-thinking team at Kelber and the convention center. “One of the things I’m very proud of is that as large as we are, we have very little food waste,” he said. “Anything that does not go out at serve time, we repackage and send to the local food banks daily. If something comes back as food waste, we collect that and send it to local farms that can use it as food for pigs.”
There’s always something to do; there’s always change,” he added.