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Business & Tech

From School Lunches to Business Luncheons

Chef Anthony Romos is thinking outside the "box" with his "box" lunch.

As a child Anthony Romos never liked plain old bologna sandwich bag lunches. Now as an adult Romos knows first hand that some very stylish and gourmet lunches can be found in a seemingly lack luster brown bag. Lunches he now prepares for customers all around the area. As the owner of the Camtin Café, Romos provides affordable gourmet options for any meal. 

“In 2000 I decided to start a catering and food service company with the support of my wife Angela and my twin sons Cameron and Justin which is where the name Camtin Café & Catering derives from,” said Romos. Two years later they opened a café in the Largo area where he provided food service in private schools. 

By 2008 the business had outgrown its space. “We noticed that the Rt 424 and Rt 450 corridor would give us access to the Crofton, Gambrills, Davidsonville, and Annapolis areas.  We also noticed there were no cafés located in the area that offered freshly prepared salads, sandwiches, gourmet desserts and coffees. We knew it would be a great location to provide the area with catering services for everything from weddings to business luncheons,” said Romos a graduate of Culinary School of Washington. 

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Small businesses are using Camtin Café to provide not only for office retirement celebrations but ‘working’ lunches, teamwork meetings and holiday parties also.  He explains that typically they create a unique lunch menu for the client’s taste featuring either buffet or bagged options. Ramos can get great food to his clients at about the same cost as eating at a restaurant. These gourmet lunches include sandwiches like Camtin Café’s tarragon chicken, bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes layered on a buttered croissant, served with a mouthwatering salad and triple layer blondie brownie to top things off. He also says that many local business people will call ahead in the morning, order their boxed lunch for later in the day and pick it up on the way to the office.   

After over twenty years in the culinary industry, Romos knows what people like. “In the past year we have done many church and business luncheons too. The most requested item has been our vegetable lasagna that is accompanied by a grilled chicken salad and breadstick.”

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In the year and a half that they have been open he says they have already established some great clients. “The best part of being in this area has been the fantastic customers and their families that we have come to know and serve. When a customer orders a specialty cake or uses our catering service and then come back to share the stories of how their families have enjoyed our food it lets us know we have chosen the right area for our cafe and catering services,” said Ramos. 

Judy McKinney of Harwood agreed. Recently at the Café McKinney was eyeing the gourmet desserts in the display case.

“I can’t decide between the lemon meringue pie and the peach pie, they both just look beautiful,” said McKinney.

She added, “I am meeting a friend here for coffee. This is a great place for us because you can park right in front of the store and chat quietly over great desserts and there is always a new one to try. Everything we have had here has been wonderful.” 

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