Hail the salad goddess.

Meet April Hale. Chef, miracle caterer, salad un-enthusiast. Wait, what?

Funny story.

April has never liked salad. Or most vegetables, for that matter. But, when her love for hosting dinner parties blossomed into a full-blown catering career, she turned her one-time enemy into her new best friend by crafting an arsenal of delicious dressings and marinades.

Let’s back up a little.

April’s love of cooking started when she was 9 years old in her parent’s kitchen in Indiana. Her mom didn’t enjoy cooking, and April didn’t enjoy doing dishes, so the swap was made, and thus began her love affair with food.

She started out with a Chemistry major in college (graduated with a BSBM with a Chemistry minor) and always envisioned her professional career in a lab. Little did she know her lab would turn out to be the kitchen.

April started Open Table Boise in 2009 and has been the go-to caterer in Boise for nearly two decades. In fact, if you’ve been at many weddings or larger events in Boise, you were probably enjoying her wares.

Then came the dressings.

While creating custom menus for her events, April found herself hand-making dressings and marinades to suit her dishes. Clients would continually ask her for her dressing recipes, or insist that she set aside a small jar for them. After years of this, April finally succumbed to the wants of the people, and released two of her dressings into the wild. Albertson’s and The Boise Co-op quickly jumped on the opportunity to sell them.

A few years later, April rounded out the line with three additional flavors—with a couple tasty seasonal varieties waiting in the wings.