Catering for Melbourne Since 1999
About Avoca Catering
Since 1999, our kitchen has been guided by our love of seasonal produce, elevating the classics and experimenting with new dishes. We cook with full-bodied flavour, drawing inspiration from our travels all over the world, from the pages of well-worn cookbooks and from the comfort of home-style cooking.
homestyle, since day one
Our Services
Our story
Where it began
Avoca Catering was founded by Denise Bradbury as a café and catering business in St Kilda in 1999. Denise has had a lifelong passion for cooking, growing up trying different cuisines with family and friends. That curiosity grew into experimenting with finger foods for friends and family; word spread to acquaintances, and eventually a business was formed.
More than two decades later, our team has grown to 15 permanent staff and about 30 casuals who support your events. That same curiosity still shapes every menu we curate.
We follow a simple principle:
Good food is generous, full of flavour, and made with care.
How we cook
Our approach
tested and tasted until it’s right
We never stop experimenting. Our menus are reimagined with the seasons, cookbooks are pulled from the shelves, flavours are balanced and refined, and dishes are tested and tasted until they’re perfected.
Our team are all foodies who get excited about experimenting for new events. Our chefs bring their own breadth of experience to the table, and some of our most loved dishes were developed from an idea sparked in conversation amongst the team.
We love a creative challenge. If you have an ambitious idea for a dish we haven’t made before, we thoroughly enjoy researching and testing to bring it to life for your event. The same care goes into our Take Home Meals: comfort classics, prepared every week for the nights you want a home-cooked meal without the cooking.
supporting your events
Cooking for you
Every event begins with your vision. We’ll ask what you love to eat, then build a menu around your tastes, your guests’ preferences and the occasion. Whether it’s a corporate event, a milestone party, an intimate dinner at home or a wedding, we’ll work with you to create an experience everyone will remember.
More than the food
We can look after more than the food. Our ancillary catering services include staff to prepare and serve food at your event, plus tables, tablecloths, crockery and glassware, so everything is ready for your guests.
In our community
Beyond private celebrations, Avoca is a working part of the communities around us. We provide café and catering services for schools, cooking fresh, healthy food daily and supporting school events throughout the year.
Have an event in mind?
Get in touch and we’ll work out all the details with you.
we’d love to cook for you
Prefer to talk it through? Call Denise on 0414 400 039