Barnesville Native Serves People Through Cooking and Catering
Barnesville native and high school alumna Meliah Moore discoverd her love for food in school and has been cooking ever since.
Moore’s passion for cooking started in the culinary arts class at Barnesville High School. After graduating in 2007 and briefly attending the University of Akron, she secured a job working in the kitchen at a resort in South Carolina.
She became a chef in 2011 moving back to nearby Cambridge and opening her own business, R & R Catering + Consulting in 2023.
Now at 36, she’s catering for large events, private dinners and more throughout the valley. She has prepared food for as few as two people to as many at 400.
Moore visits clients’ houses creating menus through custom menu designing, meaning clients tell her what they like, and she’ll make the food based on their interests.
Moore rents out shared kitchen space in Zanesville but primarily serves customers in Cambridge, Guernsey County and the Barnesville areas. She’s open to serve wherever work takes her though.
Returning to her Barnesville roots, Moore catered the Barnesville Area Chamber of Commerce Banquet in April, serving a spring salad, chicken and noodles as well as pot roast-like beef and red wine.
Moore doesn’t work alone. Her wife Katelynn Moore is by her side running the front side of the business including contracting and outsourcing. She also helps serve at banquets. A student from Cambridge High School is also currently interning at R & R.
Moore’s name for her business R & R Catering + Consulting comes from her daughters’ names – Frankie Ruth, Jett Rose and Logan Rye.
Moore recently participated in a national competition through the Food Network called Next Chef.
The competition consisted of an online voting system utilizing each chef’s biography with a link that to their business page. People went onto the site daily and voted for their favorite chef.
Moore found out about the competition through interviews by Food Network, including Chopped and Cutthroat Kitchen. JS Casting also reached out to her and told her about it.
Hundreds of businesses across America competed. Moore placed in the top 10 at seventh overall!
Moore said she loves the independence of owning her own business. She wants to show her three daughters that women can run their own businesses and be creative in a space they built.
“I want them to see that you can also be a mom while pursuing a dream,” she said. “So it’s mostly about showing them that you can be successful.”
People donated money during the competition. More donations meant more votes for a candidate. The money went to fund scholarships through the James Beard Foundation, which is a huge culinary achievement, Moore said.
“Honestly, I had no expectations during the competition,” Moore shared. “I just have such a big following within the community of people I know who apparently came out of the woodwork and voted daily. I didn’t think anybody would do it and then discovered everybody showed up.”
Information on the business is accessible online at randrcaterohio.com or on Moore’s facebook page.
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