| Jul 19, 2017


Chances are if you’ve been to an area event where food is being served in the past couple of years, you’ve probably seen a converted motorhome with a pig on top of it.

There’s only one and that belongs to Cota’s Mobile Catering.

And since they got the operation up and running two years ago, business has been growing and growing.

“It’s getting busier all the time,” says Tim Cota, chef/vehicle converter/entrepreneur.

Cota, who still lives in the house he grew up in on Eagle Lake, was a maintenance supervisor at RKY camp for 24 years.

In the year 2000, he and his wife Penny got married.

“We couldn’t find a caterer,” he said. “So we decided to do it ourselves with some help from Glenna McGill.”

At their wedding, the Cota’s must have done a good job because they got offers from “several guests who wanted us to do their weddings,” he said.

That got Cota to thinking.

“I’ve always been a big fan of cooking,” he said.

So, in 2008, he got his chef’s papers.

Now, you can’t just start cooking and selling it, there are a lot of regulations involved.

“Food has to be cooked in an inspected kitchen, there are requirements for time and temperature and pest control,” he said. “Now there are places, like Oso Hall, that have inspected kitchens and that’s fine.

“But we started to get calls for events where there was no inspected kitchen like out in a farmer’s field and barn dances.”

So,  . . . Cota got the idea to bring an inspected kitchen with him.

He bought a good used motorhome and started to work on it getting it to the point where it fulfilled all the required regulations, and the next thing you know, he’s booked solid every weekend into October.

“We already have some bookings for next summer and one in 2019,” he said.

Cota is big on preparation. Sometimes the mobile unit is used for just that and sometimes the preparation is done on site. He has an assortment of smokers and barbecues he can use that can do 30-40 steaks, 50-60 hamburgers, 100 pieces of chicken all in one go. He has propane and charcoal units depending on the demand. He also has the necessary gear to cook pulled pork overnight and he has developed something of a reputation for being the go-to guy if you want an entire pig roasted.

He does admit to needing a bit of help with a whole pig though.

“Pigs are heavy,” he said. “At about 220 pounds, that’s a lot for one guy to lift.’

Although his mobile unit could be used as a chip truck, that’s not his thing, he said. It’s get back to the preparation thing.

“I like to know if I have to have 300 tomato slices ready,” he said. “And I don’t like the idea of waiting around for customers only to be swamped all at once.”

He does use local suppliers for some things though. For rolls and pies, he uses Gray’s Grocery.

“They’re up to my standards,” he said. “And I’m pretty particular.”

And he’s especially particular about his meat. He tells a story about buying a pig that came with only one ear.

“That was unacceptable,” he said. “Presentation with something like a whole pig is a big part of it.

“We had to take the whole head off.”

Now he gets all his meat from Gilmour’s on 38 in Harrowsmith.

While he can make things like coq au vin, he said his business is more geared towards the foods people in this area are used to, things they grew up with and expect to see when they’re out for a meal.

“I can cook fancy French things but it doesn’t work here,” he said. “When the dinner bell rings, you gotta have a lot of good food on a plate.

“And we’ve never run out of food.”

By the way, the pig on the motorhome . . . it’s a lawn ornament that came from Mike Dean’s.

Tim Cota’s converted motorhome with the pig on top has become a familiar sight at many area functions.

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