Husband-chef duo Dennis and Anouska Villanueva have fed corporate companies, parties, and junk boats for 22 years with Delicious Catering HK
It was the first of two pandemics this millenium that inspired Dennis Villanueva and his wife and business partner Anouska to feed Hong Kong.
As the family of budding bartenders and chefs grew larger and larger in the early 2000s, Dennis was working behind the bar across a list of SoHo bars, with Anouska pregnant. The couple were seeking stability and a space to fill bellies.
Delicious Deli was born in March 2003 as the SARS pandemic roared, a hole-in-the-wall delicatessen serving “fun fair” styled food to office workers by day and bargoers at night.
“We operated our deli for four years,” Dennis remembers, “before we closed. We both knew that we did not want to go back to working for someone else, but we had no capital to start something big. Around 2008, we had the idea to start a small catering business.”
The newly inaugurated Delicious Catering HK business began in earnest, but grew soon after. The pair advertised across online message boards in Hong Kong, prepared meals in their small home kitchen with two burners, and earned clients through word of mouth.
“We did not know what to do in the catering direction. We got our first break in our second year diversifying our business to junk catering,” Dennis says. They soon earned the truth catering to Hong Kong’s largest firms.
Their signature Mediterranean-meets-cosmopolitan catering – produced in their production kitchen in Shek Tong Tsui – has come to board meetings, events, and socials with Google, J.P.Morgan, Prudential, IBM, Chanel, BMW, Goldman-Sachs, Dior, White-Case, and Citibank.
In the 2010s, Dennis and Anouska flexed their muscles catering to a wealth of events on both sides of Victoria Harbour. “We have been the go-to catering for Clockenflap Festival every year.” They have also been responsible for catering the backstage of concerts hosted by Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue, and Maroon 5 in Hong Kong.
When the second and most recent pandemic hit Hong Kong, the next chapter in Delicious Catering’s journey was more disruptive and chaotic, but offered a space to pause and reflect.
Constant lockdowns, restaurant closures, businesses changing, and residents leaving Hong Kong greatly affected stability within their catering business, especially with events largely halted as cases rose.
“After the pandemic ended [in 2023], both myself and Anouska looked within and reassessed. We had fewer key clients prior to COVID, but we started from there, supplying our trusted contacts with food, and now it’s blossoming again.”
Not just Delicious Catering, but the whole Hong Kong catering industry has had to adapt and change, Dennis states. “It is all about flexibility, agility, and catering to what your clients truly need.”
As the Villanueva food business enters its 23rd year in Hong Kong, so has its growing client base. “The new generation don’t drink as much anymore, so we focus on more sophisticated cocktails. They care more about the quality of food than the past generation.”
For junk boat catering and more intimate events such as weddings, anniversaries, and engagement parties, customers are seeking for more extras, such as hiring watersports equipment directly through Delicious Catering and music and dance performances to amp up the vibe.
The former makes up 30% of their business during Hong Kong’s hot summer months with hearty and healthy food.
As Delicious Catering HK storms ahead in 2025, a transitional and growth year for the city’s food and beverage industry, Dennis is confident on the path going forward to grow the business.
“Stick to your old guns and I believe everything will fall into place. We have been in this market for a long time and have a stable name, we just need to keep up!”
Cater your next event in Hong Kong with quality food and service provided by Delicious Catering HK.
This feature is brought to Foodie in partnership with Delicious Catering HK.
