Meet Lilian Ofoma, who ‘can do anything, especially when it comes to food’
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“I don’t do catering anymore,” Lilian Ofoma of Lilyz Catering claimed after she and her husband opened up an elderly home during the pandemic.
Yet cooking couldn’t stay away from Ofoma as much as Ofoma couldn’t stay away from cooking.
The oldest girl of six siblings growing up in Nigeria, Ofoma was expected to cook alongside her mother, but it was more than just a duty for her. By 11, she loved to cook and impressed her family with her skills, so much so that her younger sister gave her the moniker “Lily Hotels.”
Ofoma loved home economics in secondary school, received a degree in the subject and completed her Nigerian Youth Service by working with the catering department of Nigeria Airways. In 1998, Ofoma was on her own flight, immigrating to the United States. Working in food was still a dream, but deferred. She began working in an assisted living facility, and later, became a caretaker for Consuela Lewis, who had suffered a stroke.
When Lewis mentioned hosting a Thanksgiving Party with 40-50 people and a desire for Nigerian food on the menu, Ofoma insisted that she could help.
“It’s cooking,” Ofoma said. “When it comes to cooking, nothing is big for me.”
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Ofoma’s execution made it clear that she had a business on her hands. When attendees later asked Lewis about the source of the satisfying food, she spread the word about Ofoma’s new business.
Ofoma invested in this new venture and enrolled in culinary school through the Art Institute of Sacramento. When Lilian cooked for a 700-person wedding, she both knew and did not know she could do it.
No matter the scale of her orders, Ofoma cooks all of the food she caters herself, only enlisting support for food preparation and serving. She finds satisfaction and pride in making people happy through her food, and she wants to grow her business into a restaurant of her own.
“I can do anything,” she said, “especially when it comes to food.”
