Justin Hall

justin@figcatering.com

One of the lucky few, Justin Hall knew he wanted to make a career of cooking at a young age. Justin studied the culinary arts at a trade school during his high school years, blowing off real classes to "play with food." Since then, his passion, knowledge and repertoire have expanded to include contemporary American, Chinese and Mexican cuisines, among others. He continued his education at the Culinary & Hospitality Institute of Chicago (CHIC), but he soon found he was learning more practical skills in kitchens than classrooms.

Justin spent nearly five years honing his skill with the Kimpton Group as sous chef at Atwood Café and sous and banquet chef at Hotel Monaco and South Water Kitchen, located in downtown Chicago. Justin took a position at Poag Mahone's, an Irish-American alehouse in Chicago's Financial District, where he flipped one of America's Best Burgers (according to GQ Magazine and The Oprah Show) and met his future partner.

Since May 2006, Justin has devoted all of his time to building the business of FIG.

Molly Schemper

molly@figcatering.com

Molly should have always known what she wanted to do. She grew up in a restaurant-owning family and is still remembered for sneaking chunks of bleu cheese before it was made into dressing. Instead, as advised by her cautious parents who got out of the food business, she decided to pursue a more practical career. After graduating from DePaul University with a marketing degree, she worked for four years at a full-service branding agency.

Continuing to keep a toe in the food and beverage industry, Molly worked weekends with Carol's Event Staffing, an off-premises catering staffing company, providing service for some of the largest caterers in the city. A self-proclaimed foodie, Molly cooked, independently studied cooking, read about chefs and new restaurants, ate a lot and generally expanded her food knowledge every day. Deciding the advertising business was not for her, she jumped ship to work on a ship - actually two private yachts. She spent a year and a half traveling in the Great Lakes, Florida, the Bahamas, the east coast of the United States and Canada, as a personal chef and crewmember. Upon resettling in Chicago, Molly met Justin while slinging burgers and beers at Poag Mahone's. Three years later she had managed to rid her customers of enough tip money to concentrate on FIG full time. In addition to the marketing and client relations, Molly handles most of the sweet side of the business (making truffles, gelatos, cakes and more).