Lou Young shares her passion for helping people through the magic of food. Young began her own catering business called Sweet Lou, That’s Who after working for the Chicago Board Options Exchange for 34 years.
While working for the Chicago Board Options Exchange, companies began downsizing as the trading floors started to diminish due to an increase in e-trading. As a result, the cafeteria was shut down from a lack of staffing, although there were still people from larger trading pits working.
“I would go home every night and cook what could fit into my insulated bag on wheels so I could feed the guys in those pits,” Young said. “They collectively named me Sweet Lou; that's kind of how that started. Then they branded me - they paid someone to brand me and design my logo. It was so much fun. It was my pleasure to do it, and they enjoyed it.”
The investors enjoyed it so much that they wanted to move Young out to the western suburbs of Chicago so she could open a catering business. Young declined this offer because that was not what she wanted at the time, and she did not want to leave her family and friends in Indiana. Instead, she opened a restaurant in Westville with her husband.
“We opened up the restaurant in Westville, and we were there for almost eight years,” Young said. “Then, COVID happened and took us down. We tried hanging in there, but it was impossible. No business was there. The catering dried up because nobody was able to have meetings any longer, and it forced us to shut our doors.”
Eventually, an opportunity came to take over the kitchen in the Enrichment Center, and Young explained it to be the best thing that could have happened. She spends her time cooking, catering, and taking care of community members. The menu consists of American, Italian, Mexican and Greek options, and more is offered than what is listed on the menu.
Last year, Sweet Lou, That’s Who won the Number One Caterer in the County. Young was surprised and excited to hear the news because she was not aware there was such a thing.
“It's been so exciting,” Young said. “It's nothing but good things and great people, and this is the best thing that could have happened to me. I love what I do. I'll never work a day in my life.”
Young cooks everything from scratch and works with fresh ingredients. Her favorite part of cooking is working with fresh herbs such as basil and cilantro.
“They need to bottle that stuff for cologne,” Young said.
The caterers within Michigan City were able to unite to honor the life of Eric Tannehill, owner of The Melt. He spent his time cooking for the homeless population and ensuring everyone was taken care of.
“We all came together and pulled together the celebration luncheon,” Young said. “It was so heartwarming that there were almost 20 of us that came together. We had so much food there that we were able to give to the food pantry and food shelters too.”
In the little free time Young does have, she spends it with her dogs. She enjoys rescuing dogs and giving them the best lives possible, and she recently added two more to her family and now has six dogs.
“We already have three rescues, but we adopted this puppy. We've been watching on the website and her two sisters are still there,” Young said. “It's been a couple of months and we were like, ‘They're getting older, nobody's going to want them,’ so we went to pick them up last week. Now we have our three sisters.”
Young was inspired to continue rescuing dogs because of her late dog’s transformation during the time they spent together. She explained every dog deserves a chance.
“The last rescue we had just passed away about a year ago, but she had been so abused, and it took her two years to trust us,” Young said. “From her, we have so much more compassion for these rescues because she came a long way and she was the sweetest girl until the very end.”For more information regarding Sweet Lou, That’s Who, please visit sweetlouthatswho.com.