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Business & Tech

Marian Catholic Cook Opens Restaurant in the Heights

Working as a cook at Marian Catholic High School, Danette Richardson opens up her own restaurant across the street from the school.

If you like to try different tastes rich with flavor, Dee's Creative Cookin' should be your next stop on your list.

Everything is homemade, nothing processed. Dee's also caters to the kids with their own menu geared towards tasty healthy eating.

Patch stopped by to talk to owner Danette Richardson about how this brand new business on Ashland is doing.

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Patch: How long have you been in business? 

Richardson: I've been in business at this location for six months. I had a business in Blue Island for four years. It was called Danette's Gourmet Snack Shop. 

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What made you decide to open a local business?

Because I have been a cook and a supervisor at for the last eight years. Marian became a family to me. I didn't want to leave my family, when this space became available right across the street from the high school, I thought I would try my venture near my Marian High family. I still work for the sisters at Marian, cooking for them four days a week. I will continue to cook for them. 

What are your specialties?  

I have quite a few specialties that I designed myself. Also to let you know everything here is made from scratch. People enjoy Dee's cranberry chicken salad.

They ask for two of my favorite hot sandwiches; the Stack and the Intimidator. The intimidator is made up of fresh (not processed) roast beef, turkey, cheese on a bread of your choice with added condiments to your liking. The Stack is a sandwich that I came up with. Ham, turkey and chicken all on your choice of bread.The meatloaf sandwich is also popular, the seafood gumbo and, the most popular, the peach cobbler.

The cobbler is one dish that I'm known for. That's my cash cow! 

I also cook baby back ribs, which are a hit. My hamburgers are made from fresh ground chuck.  

What makes you different from other restaurants?  

I think what makes me different is I'm concerned about what people eat. I care about them, that's why I came up with a healthy menu. It's for people that have health issues such as diabetes or need gluten-free foods that taste good. I came up with some recipes that I tried on people that had health issues in a nursing home environment. The residents would not eat the food until I started working there and came up with some good tasting healthy recipes.

I got an award from Manor Care in Palos Heights because the residents began to eat better and became healthier. Healthy menus need to be on most restaurant menus. Everybody can't eat fast foods. I didn't want to be a chicken or a burger place, I say that and just think grease.

My menu is not set in stone. I am waiting to see what people like the most and want. The other part of my business is catering, I really enjoy it !  I do the catering to the customers specification, we do the menu together.  I don't tell them here's what you get, they tell me what they like. My thing is, to design a menu for each client that works best for them and their guests. I started out of my home and now from here and have done a lot of catering events at Marian High. 

Do you have any specials going on?  

I have an orange chicken special, a catfish/coleslaw special, a tilapia special and a shrimp special.

What are your favorite local places to shop and eat?   

My favorite place to eat is T.G. Fridays. My favorite place to shop is J.C.Penney's.

We have a breakfast station in the morning and you can order breakfast anytime.

Dee's Creative Cookin is located at 525 Ashland in Chicago Heights. The phone number is 708-755-7319. 

Hours are Mon through Thu from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Fri through Sat from 7a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

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