By Drew Olson Special to OnMilwaukee.com Published Oct 19, 2007 at 5:29 AM

After nearly a quarter-century in the catering business, Scott Shully has come up with a two-sentence philosophy that is both concise and effective.

"Don't screw up today's party," said Shully, the head chef and co-owner -- along with his wife, Beth -- of Shully's Cuisine and Events in Thiensville. "That's what I always tell my staff. Focus on what you have in front of you now. Focus on today.

"Don't screw up today's party. The second sentence of that is ‘... And the phone will ring tomorrow.' If we focus on today and do it extremely well, we will have met success."

Though many Milwaukeeans might not have heard of Shully, thousands of people eat his food every year at charity functions, weddings and private gatherings.

Shully said the key to a successful catering event lies in the planning; he'd rather play offense than defense.

"I can't help it if it rains," he said. "But, we have a plan. We might have to move under a tent. We might have to change some things. We have to do the thinking for the customer. I can't go to the mother of the bride and ask ‘What do you want us to do?' We make the necessary adjustments. When the speech goes 20 minutes longer than you anticipated, you adjust. You do it without creating a scene. That just comes from experience and knowing how foods work in different situations. It's all about creating a flow."

In order to facilitate the flow, Shully brings his own portable ovens and refrigerators to events and does all his finish work on site. That cuts down on overcooked steak, dry chicken and other problems.

"It's a restaurant concept with a banquet experience," he said.

OnMilwaukee.com: What kind of experience and training led you to open Shully's?

Scott Shully: I started at MATC (Milwaukee Area Technical College) with the associate's program. I apprenticed through the Pfister Hotel, the English Room. Then, I spent two years working for a family that owned two hotels in Glarus, Switzerland. After my stint there, I came home and Grenadier's restaurant was just opening. I spent two years there as night sauté guy. After that, I was the opening chef for the Harold's restaurant at the Red Carpet Hotel, which is now the Four Points Sheraton. I wrote that menu and trained the staff for that. Then, I was chef for Northwestern Mutual Life, working in their officer's dining room. I did that a couple years and it was a Monday through Friday job. I had evenings and weekends free. That's when I started doing small dinner parties. That was the genesis of Shully Catering. I met Beth, who was the banquet manager at the Astor Hotel and Nantucket Shores. It's quite a match. Next year will be our 25th year in business and 25th year in marriage.

OMC: What is your signature dish?

SS: It really depends on the season. Right now, I'm getting into that hunker-down fall mode. I'm a huge fan of celery root, a great little vegetable that comes out in fall. I love braised dishes in fall and winter, beef Bourguignon, and braised pork belly. In spring, you're taking advantage of what that offers with mushrooms and lighter fare things that have less depth, but still bring the freshness of aromas and taste. In summer, I like things off the grill. I love sausage, not so much on the menu but personally. I love implementing cheeses on my menus and making courses out of them.

There isn't really a thing that we won't prepare. We change things seasonally, so I'm writing menus for November, December and January right now and we're also planning things for next year's wedding season.

OMC: What do you like most and least about your job?

SS: Every single day, catering brings new dynamics. Each party has a personality and a character. I'm not going to sit still for long periods of time. I'm forever thinking about things and planning. What am I going to do for this party, this day? I love that. If I was a kid nowadays, they'd probably say I'm AD/HD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder). That keeps me going. I can focus on several things at once. In that way, it's a positive. Putting a corral on it, some days, can be a negative. People don't always understand that. Sometimes, that passion doesn't get expressed as well as you'd like it to be expressed. That can be tough. That's the good and the bad.

OMC: What are your favorite places to eat out in Milwaukee, the U.S. and the world?

SS: In Milwaukee, Three Brothers is always there. I love that. I love a Kopp's burger. Whenever the kids come into town, we'll grab a Kopp's burger. I love the Range Line Inn, which is right up the road from me. The food is great. Pat, the owner, is a great guy. I like Roots. I like Elliot's Bistro.

I went to a place in New York called Wallsee, which has an Austrian chef. The guy does outstanding stuff. I love the German, Swiss and Austrian influences with food.

I was visiting my kids in Minneapolis and we went to Nye's Polonaise Room that features Polish food.

OMC: I've heard about that place. It's like stepping back in time.

SS: The place is just a stitch. You are stepping back. It's like At Random, but with food. It's very cool. They've been in business since 1949, with three different owners, and they've kept it intact. We all just went there and had a great dinner.

OMC: What about in the rest of the world? If I offered to fly you anywhere for a meal, where would it be?

SS: Having trained in Switzerland, I got to know some of the great restaurants like Petermann's Kunststuben in Zurich. He's a German chef, he married a Swiss woman and he's been there forever. It's one of the top five restaurants in all of Switzerland.

I went to visit my daughter in France last year and there are a bunch of little country places. None of the names jump to mind, but I just love the European style of cooking.

OMC: What's your favorite cookbook?

SS: I like "The Silver Spoon," published by Phaidon. It's sort of the Italian lexicon of culinary, translated to English. It's a phenomenal recipe book. I like the Professional Chefs series. I also like the Art Culinaire series, which is a great quarterly series. They take two or three different categories -- one might be "Things with squid" - and they have a couple chefs doing crazy things with squid. The recipes are totally outrageous. That's what's being asked. It's freethinking. It's inspiring.

OMC: Who is your favorite TV chef or Food Network star?

SS: I will honestly admit that when I was a kid, I liked Graham Kerr, The Galloping Gourmet. I would come home from school and if I didn't have my paper route, I'd watch. I enjoyed Julia Child, too.

I watched in amazement that show with Rocco, what was his name? (DiSpirito, star of the "The Restaurant"). I didn't like that guy. There was something about him that was really phony. I didn't appreciate that from my side of the profession. I found myself watching him hide behind his mother sometimes and I'd say ‘Stand up and take the hit.' It was weird. It looked very contrived. He looked contrived.

I get a kick out of that Gordon Ramsay guy. I occasionally watch The Food Network, but it's mostly for the travel shows, where it's the culture as well and the cuisine.

OMC: What is the biggest development in the culinary arts over the past 10 years?

SS: The technology has been amazing. Things like the combi oven, which combines steam with a dry convection oven. That's a phenomenal thing.

From when I started, to the present day, 38 years later, I think the appreciation people have for quality is amazing. There is more of a direct relationship between the chef and the grower and producer of the food. I can tell a story about the food. That wasn't there a few years ago. Now, there is more of a connection. We're getting into the depth of where food is coming from. I think the organic thing is huge. There is a whole infusion of people wanting to go that way and willing to spend the dollars for it.

OMC: What kitchen utensil do you find indispensable and why?

SS: I was asked that a few years ago and the first thing that came out of my mouth was a wine opener. I would say a paring knife and a cutting board. Then, I love my cast iron equipment. I've got a cast iron grill, cast iron skillets for Dutch ovens. I like the combi oven, too. It does so much for me it equals half of an employee. The time I can save, I value it in dollars. It saves me that much time.

OMC: What's the next big trend in food?

SS: I think the home replacement meal is going to continue to swing upward. People are finding quality foods being prepared and they are taking things home and having a quality meal at family time.

OMC: What's the toughest day/night to work in the food business?

SS: The toughest is any day after a Packers loss (laughs). I would say the toughest is when you have a really busy weekend and turn it around on Monday and do a brunch. You're beat up, you're bloody, you're bruised, you're asking ‘Who drove a truck over me?' and you have to do a brunch. I try not to do that too much.

OMC: What is your favorite "guilty pleasure" food?

SS: Without a doubt, a hot fudge sundae. I like vanilla and hot fudge and a little salted pecan. No cherries, no whipped cream. The guiltiest pleasure would be to team that up with some wiener schnitzel and foie gras. When it comes to snacking, I'm hooked on flat baked pretzels and hummus.

Drew Olson Special to OnMilwaukee.com

Host of “The Drew Olson Show,” which airs 1-3 p.m. weekdays on The Big 902. Sidekick on “The Mike Heller Show,” airing weekdays on The Big 920 and a statewide network including stations in Madison, Appleton and Wausau. Co-author of Bill Schroeder’s “If These Walls Could Talk: Milwaukee Brewers” on Triumph Books. Co-host of “Big 12 Sports Saturday,” which airs Saturdays during football season on WISN-12. Former senior editor at OnMilwaukee.com. Former reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.