All concepts 773.373.4320
Rome’s Joy Companies

Bronzeville, Chicago · Since 2000

We are

Rome’s Joy Companies is Chef Cliff Rome’s family of businesses: Peach’s Restaurants, Rome’s Joy Catering, Parkway Social, the Mise En Place training program, Blanc Art Gallery and R.J.C. Sausage Company. Our home base is King Drive in Bronzeville, and our work reaches across Chicago.

Explore our companies Partner with us
  • Restaurants
  • Catering
  • Co-working & events
  • Training
  • Art
  • Community building
Chef Cliff Rome, in a white shirt and striped apron, picking herbs from a rooftop garden
“When you eat a well prepared meal you should without question order it again.”
Chef Cliff Rome

Exciting news

Chef Rome & team, in partnership with Bon Appétit, will lead food services at the Obama Presidential Center.

Together, Rome’s Joy Companies and Bon Appétit Management Company launched BAMJoy, which leads food service operations at the Obama Presidential Center. Here is what Chicago’s press has said.

Our companies

Six businesses, one family.

Each company stands on its own, and they share a kitchen, a team and a neighborhood. Pick one to explore.

Founded
2000
Years in food service
30+
Companies
6
Cannes Film Festival, American Pavilion chef
1998–2003

About

A chef who came home to build.

Chef Cliff Rome’s culinary experience spans the globe. While working at Spago he studied culinary arts in Paris, spent more than a year as a culinary consultant on a private yacht sailing the Caribbean, and from 1998 to 2003 was one of five chefs selected to cook at the Cannes International Film Festival’s American Pavilion, alongside Roger Vergé, Bobby Flay, Mario Batali and Todd English.

In 2000 he founded Rome’s Joy Companies. Through Mise En Place and the Clean Habits custodial program, Chef Rome has created job opportunities across Chicagoland, especially for young people of color, and Rome’s Joy Institute, recognized by the Illinois Board of Higher Education, extends that work into education and workforce development. He believes reinvesting in historic Bronzeville will leave a lasting, positive mark on a community with deep roots.

Today the company’s partnership with Bon Appétit Management Company, BAMJoy, leads food service operations at the Obama Presidential Center.

“Rome’s Joy Catering believes in order to maintain ecological integrity between humanity and the natural world that social equity as well as economic efficiency become a standard practice.”

Guests gathered on chevron-patterned sofas at an evening event The Rome’s Joy team standing together outdoors

Leadership team

  • Chef Cliff Rome smiling in a striped apron

    Cliff Rome

    Chef & Proprietor

    Founder of Rome’s Joy Companies with more than 30 years in food service. Serves on the advisory board of Washburne Culinary School and the Board of Directors of the Illinois Restaurant Association.

  • Summer Powell smiling

    Summer Powell

    General Manager

    A South Side native with a BA in Performing Arts from UIC and an MBA focused on project management. She started at Rome’s Joy Catering as an administrative assistant, spent three years at McDonald’s Corporation, and came full circle as General Manager.

  • Chef Trillis Rollins in an apron giving a cooking demonstration

    Trillis Rollins

    Executive Chef

    Executive Chef of Rome’s Joy Catering and Peach’s on 47th, with 15+ years in the industry and a BA in Graphic Design. He also mentors and trains as a Mise En Place instructor.

Community partners

  • Careers Through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP)
  • After School Matters
  • Ada S. McKinley
  • Chicago Cook Workforce
  • Chicago Public Schools
  • Healthy Schools Campaign
  • YMCA
  • Centers for New Horizons
  • Education to Careers
  • Alternative School Network
  • Growing Home
  • Grow Greater Englewood
  • Chicago Gourmet
  • Chicago Chefs Cook
  • Washburne Culinary School

Where our trainees land jobs

  • University of Chicago
  • University of Illinois Chicago
  • Northwestern University
  • Sodexo Magic
  • Bon Appétit
  • Culinare
  • Chartwells

Certifications

  • Illinois Business Enterprise Program
  • Minority Business Enterprise
  • ACDBE, U.S. Department of Transportation
Heirloom tomato salad with sesame, dill and an orange sauce

Rome’s Joy Catering

Planning an event? Let’s cook.

“Food is our common ground, a universal experience.”

James Beard

Full-service catering and event planning from the team behind Peach’s, with customized menus designed by Executive Chef Trillis Rollins. Pair it with an event at Parkway Social.

See catering Catering menu (PDF) Request a quote

Contact & partnerships

Let’s work together.

Catering, events, partnerships, hiring from Mise En Place, or press: start here and we’ll route you to the right company.

Visit
Rome’s Joy Companies
4455 S King Drive
Chicago, IL 60653
Open in Google Maps

We read every message and reply within one business day. If it can’t be sent from here, your email app opens with the message ready to go.