For years a Salt Lake team's sights have been set on the Olympics, and after rigorous effort and round-the-clock preparation, they're headed to Torino, Italy, for the 2006 Winter Games.
But the "team" won't be competing in bobsledding or speed skating. Cuisine Unlimited, 4641 S. Cherry St., will be racing around, providing hospitality for thousands of athletes, sponsors and other attendees.
This is the company's fourth Olympic stint, with Atlanta; Salt Lake City; and Athens, Greece, already on their resume.
After Cuisine Unlimited catered for the USA House during the 2004 Olympics in Athens, the United States Olympic Committee broke tradition by offering them a contract for the upcoming Olympics before they'd even bid on the job, said Marvin Turner, who owns the company with his wife, Maxine. The Turners accepted immediately.
"It is exciting to represent the United States in a foreign country," Marvin said. "It's always fun when you see these young kids coming in wearing their gold and silver medals."
Though the company served more people in 2002 when the Olympics were held in their back yard than they will during the upcoming Games, catering overseas in Italy may prove to be a bigger job.
"It's definitely the biggest event in which we've had to move our entire facility," said Aaron Turner, Marvin and Maxine's son and the company's general manager.
Four months ago, employees began shipping catering equipment and decorations for the Games, which will run from Feb. 10 -26. The company opted to ship many of their supplies because the cost of goods in Europe is substantially higher, and several products are unavailable there.
"So many things we take for granted that can easily be sourced here in the United States are proving difficult to find, like brown sugar, horseradish and to-go containers," Maxine said.
Sourcing items has required company employees to make several trips to Italy, even before they'd finished working on the 2004 Olympics. Goods like fuel that couldn't be located in Italy or shipped overseas have been shipped via truck from elsewhere in Europe. And other items have had to be adjusted or re-engineered to work in Italy.
In addition to garnering goods, Cuisine Unlimited has had to rent kitchens and housing for 50 employees near different venues in Torino. And in some cases, that has meant picking up rental apartments a year in advance and paying the expense for the entire year, Aaron said.
The company's experience in Greece has eased their job in Italy, Marvin said.
"Now we know exactly what we need to do in a foreign country," he said. "It's just the learning curve when you go overseas."
Still, the company has had to take into account currency exchanges and language barriers as well as differing laws, Aaron said. For example, individuals can own only one cell phone, and they have to acquire a business permit in order to drive even a small pickup truck.
"Our biggest challenge in Torino is the language," Maxine said. "It is easy when one is a tourist, but when one is asking 'where do I find a coupler for a propane tank,' the language becomes critical."
Cuisine Unlimited employees are brushing up on their Italian phrases in order to ease communication, but it's lucky that one of their partners and some of their employees in Italy speak fluent Italian, Marvin said.
Athletes generally show up in waves at the USA House to party with sponsors, friends and family as they medal, so the caterers never know how many people to expect each night, he said.
One night in Greece some 250 guests arrived around 9 p.m. after the women's water polo team medaled, Marvin said. At midnight, the caterers got word that the women's soccer team had won a gold medal, so they moved the water polo team upstairs and prepared for an additional 250 guests.
"They asked, 'Do you want to stay open?' and we said, 'Of course we do. You just won a gold medal,' " Marvin remembered. "That's what we're here for."
The soccer team and their guests finally showed up around 2 a.m. and left around 5 a.m., but despite the work and the lateness of the hour, it was worth it, he said.
"It is work, but it's fun work," Marvin said. "There's camaraderie because there are people from all over the United States. It's just fun seeing the whole thing come together and seeing people get excited about it."
Perhaps that's why Cuisine Unlimited is aiming for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada. Negotiations aren't finalized, but the company looks like a likely candidate, Aaron said.
E-mail: sbills@desnews.com