Watch: Inside Busy Butternut, Naperville Appetizer Catering, with Chef Cynthia Hyett

In this Living in Naperville episode, host Dan Firks sits down with Cynthia Hyett, founder and chef of Busy Butternut, a Naperville boutique catering company known for appetizer-only small bites. Cynthia shares how she started the business, how she builds themed menus for showers and celebrations, and what makes small-bite catering different.

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Video Transcript

Dan Firks: This is Living in Naperville, and today I have the pleasure of meeting with Cynthia Hyett of Busy Butternut. I’m super excited. She’s the best caterer in town, and I wanted you to get to know everything about Busy Butternut. So thanks for taking the time to meet with me.

Cynthia Hyett: Thank you so much for coming to our rental kitchen, as we are under construction on our first brick and mortar, coming soon.

Dan Firks: Excellent. I can’t wait to tour that venue as well. So tell me a little bit about Busy Butternut and what inspired you to start this amazing catering company.

Cynthia Hyett: So I think growing up in Naperville, and now I’m a little bit older, but back in the 80s in Naperville there weren’t a lot of food options, let’s just say that. And I come from a very all-American, meat-and-potatoes Irish family.

Dan Firks: Me too, and without the Irish, but definitely meat and potatoes for sure.

Cynthia Hyett: We had very little spice or anything, really. It was very peanut butter and jelly, and Doritos was about as fancy as we got. I came from a household of two working parents, and there were four of us. I have three brothers and sisters, and it was almost a fend-for-yourself type of thing. Eat now, or you don’t eat at all.

Dan Firks: That’s exactly it.

Cynthia Hyett: And, funny enough, my grandma and grandpa are also from Naperville. My grandma was a teacher at Ellsworth School for 39 years, Katherine Holler. Ellsworth School is actually dedicated to her, which makes me so happy. My grandpa, Phil Holler, was a furniture maker at Les Brown Furniture Company back then. They grew up in the Depression era, and so everything they made was farm fresh and from scratch. Everything just had so much heart and love and soul in it. It was such an amazing experience to see how different food was back then, because you could only eat seasonally, and you could only eat things that were from the ground, the way it should be.

Dan Firks: Really. Okay, tell me, what sets Busy Butternut apart from other catering companies here in Naperville?

Cynthia Hyett: So when I think of catering, I have the images of big chafing dishes and pasta, and you’re scooping.

Dan Firks: Exactly.

Cynthia Hyett: But for me, as I was growing up in my 20s and 30s and all my friends were having baby showers and wedding showers, I’m trying to hold a glass of wine while also scooping, and it just became cumbersome. And if I’m wearing lipstick, I’m getting sandwiches all over my mouth. So I thought, I wish everything was just little, and I could hold it and take a quick bite. I realized that I love appetizers and everything in small bites. And so I thought, does anybody have a catering company of truly just appetizers? The first catering company I started was called Entertaining Forkless. It didn’t roll off the tongue like Busy Butternut does.

Dan Firks: How did you come up with Busy Butternut?

Cynthia Hyett: So I love alliteration. I knew I wanted a character, some sort of adorable little squash lady, because I love butternut squash. And I always knew that I’m extremely busy. So I thought, how do I combine the two? I came up with things like the frenetic frog, something that fit the term busy and then a food thing. I kept thinking, let’s just name it busy, and I love butternut squash, and thus it became Busy Butternut. I drew it out on a napkin in a Mexican restaurant.

Dan Firks: I love it.

Cynthia Hyett: And that is where it happened.

Dan Firks: Cynthia, tell me a little bit about what a menu looks like and how you put together a menu when you’re getting ready for your clients.

Cynthia Hyett: I love that question, because at Busy Butternut we love a theme. With all of our baby showers, bridal showers, birthdays, any event, we love it if a customer gives us a theme, no matter what it is. Then we take that theme, and some people think we go a little over the top with it. That’s how I feel as well. But with all of our events, if you have a theme, we really try to incorporate it with florals, decor pieces, risers, even our tablecloths, plates, napkins, and silverware. We love to incorporate any of those themes to really make it personalized and leave everyone a little bit happier than they were before the party.

Dan Firks: As you do. And for our grand opening at Naperville.com, I remember you brought letters for Naperville, and every letter had a little menu. It just blew me away. NAPERVILLE is a long word, and it was filled to the brim. The presentation was absolutely amazing. It was very impressive.

Cynthia Hyett: Thank you. That is really what I love to do, that moment when people walk into the party and they have that “oh my gosh” wow factor. And then when people start taking pictures, it’s one of the most special feelings as a caterer.

Dan Firks: Cynthia, tell me a little bit about your most memorable event.

Cynthia Hyett: Oh my goodness, that’s actually a really tough question, because we’ve had so many amazing moments at Busy Butternut. We’ve been a part of so many celebrations, from graduation parties to babies being born, 50th wedding anniversaries, and celebrations of life. Some are sad, some are amazing. It’s a cycle of life, and what I think is so special is that people trust us with those occasions. It’s actually very similar to the home-buying process, too. You get to see people in all phases of life. It’s such a special moment when someone buys a home. It can be very difficult, but it’s such a special and amazing relationship, and to be with them during those times is the best job ever.

Dan Firks: Exactly. Thank you for sharing that, and thank you for taking the time out of your very busy day to meet with us here.

Cynthia Hyett: Thank you for interviewing me. This is my first one.

Dan Firks: You’re a natural. We can do this.

Cynthia Hyett: I feel so blessed to be a part of something really special like this, and fun.

Dan Firks: Absolutely. Well, thank you. And thank you for tuning into this episode of Living in Naperville. We’ll see you around town. Be sure to like and subscribe to get updates on our next episode, and for all your real estate needs, please visit Naperville.com.

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