I had the pleasure of interviewing the one and only, Laura Gossett! She is truly an icon to Murfreesboro, especially with her good cooking! Be sure to follow her on Instagram, @tastytablemboro.
How did you get your start in the food industry?
My very first experience in the industry was when I was 18 as a hostess for Applebee’s in Nashville. I worked for Demo’s both as a server and later as a manager. In 2010, my daughter asked me if I would cook for a group of 60 of her friends for prom. One of the moms that helped host the dinner told somebody at church about it and they reached out to me about catering their daughter’s wedding. From there Tasty Table grew, I went from 10 to 30+ weddings in a year.
What are you up to now?
Within this building we call The Abbey, we have a co-working space, Olive Branch Bakery, Tasty Table catering, and now we have The Public House. The goal for all of this is to reach out to our community and offer a place where people want to come and enjoy each other, enjoy good music, enjoy great food. Eventually, we want to partner with chefs to have chef nights, we’ve got musicians coming in, we’ll probably do some art shows. We really want this whole space to be a collaborative space.
Do you have a favorite dish to cook?
My signature is our Truffle Mac and Cheese. It took me a while because I’m a self-taught chef, and I didn’t go to culinary school. So it was a lot of trial and error but it’s our signature item on the catering side.
What are things you dedicate your time to outside of Tasty Table?
My family is the most important thing to me. I have 3 adult children and 4 grandchildren with another on the way. I don’t work Mondays to devote my time to them. My husband and I both work really hard and we play really hard too. We spend a lot of our time, when we are not working, traveling.
Favorite parts of living Murfreesboro?
Downtown is our favorite area. We walk the square and around town with our two dogs. I love what it’s becoming. What the goals are, long term, are really good and I want to be a part of that.
Do you have a morning routine or ritual?
I have an app called The First Five and I’ll listen to the daily verse while I’m getting ready. I do try to take that first 5 minutes of my morning and really give it to God, pray for the day and pray for the people in our lives and our community.
Small things that make your day better?
FaceTiming my grandkids. Seeing their sweet little faces is probably one of my favorite things during the day that keeps me going. Also, it's humbling to see and hear someone enjoying something you've created.
Any standout experiences being a business owner the food industry?
Covid is probably the most significant thing that’s ever happened in our industry. Covid taught me a lot. It gave us the ability to say no…to understand how important our families are over money and revenue. Being known for helping someone else or helping build a community, I don’t care if my name is ever in it, I want it to be more about the business in the community and the people who have done the work to get us there.
