Name: Andrew Pretasky

Title: Owner/President of Black Tie Catering

Education/Certifications: Graduated from La Crosse Central High School.  I attended the University of Wisconsin La Crosse for 4 years of General Studies.

Where were you born/where have you lived: Born and raised in La Crosse.  I’ve lived here my entire life. I did spend 6 months in Florida but it was too hot for me so I decided to stay permanently in La Crosse.

Tell us about your family: I am the youngest of 5 children. I have two older sisters and two older brothers. My father lives in Florida and my mother lives here in La Crosse.  My mom is a big part of my son, Porter’s, life.  It is a great blessing to have her around.  My son, Porter, is a huge blessing on my life.  He is a little me. I come from a family of business owners.  Both of my brothers own their own businesses and my father is a retired business owner. I guess it was in my genes to own Black Tie Catering.

Favorite saying/quote/person: “Never settle for less than perfection.” There is always room for improvement especially in the catering, wedding and event planning industry.  At Black Tie Catering we always try to improve what we are doing.  We have many weekly meetings just to discuss how to improve our catering so that we can better ourselves and our catering company.  This allows us to better serve our customers so they can have the wedding or event that they have always dreamed of.

Hobbies: I love to go hunting especially with my son Porter.  I also like to go fishing on the river and enjoy playing all types of sports.

What do you like to do on your day off: On my day off (when I take one) you can find me hunting or fishing.  If I’m not doing that I’m probably doing some type of sporting event with family or friends.

Tell us something fun about you that most people do not know about: I have a big soft spot for kids. Most people wouldn’t guess that because I am a big guy but kids really affect me.  Watching the news and seeing kids that are starving, being abused, are malnourished, or just getting picked on, it really affects me.  Kids are new to this world and do not know how to protect themselves. That is why adults are to protect not only their children but all children. That’s why I give as much as I can to the American Red Cross and Children’s Miracle Network.  Children are the future. I just feel so bad for kids that are forced to live lives that they do not deserve just because that is the card they were dealt.  I feel so blessed to have come from the family that I did, but not all people can say that.

What do you love about your job: I love working with my team and the customers that walk through my door.  I couldn’t ask for a better team of employees.  They care as much as I do about Black Tie Catering and really stand by the reputation of Black Tie Catering.

Why did you start Black Tie Catering: Black Tie Catering started because my other company, Rooster Andy’s Catering, could not reach to all of the customer’s needs.  The name Rooster Andy’s honestly sounds more like a back yard BBQ name than a wedding caterer.  Do not get me wrong we do many many weddings through Rooster Andy’s but the name really turned off some of my customers.  That’s where the idea of Black Tie Catering came around.  We studied many different types of foods, and many types of services.  At the end of months of planning we came up with Black Tie Catering.  Where all entrees are served on china plates, there is a menu that is loved, and the service is excellent.  After 24 years I have perfected catering to what it is today. Black Tie Catering even steps it up another notch.

What are your future plans for Black Tie Catering: Keep growing the company and taking care of our customers.  Never settling with what we have.  We are always trying to improve and do better through weddings, catering, corporate events, and event planning.

What are your future plans for yourself: Keep running the company for greater success and to take care of my employees, customers, and family. I have built a great catering company and I hope to retire saying the same thing. I hope to start some sort of “Rooster Andy’s House” someday.  Like the Ronald McDonalds House.  Where I can help people of the La Crosse area when they are in need. Hopefully it can help the children of La Crosse but I would also like it to help women and families that are struggling as well.  If I could bring that contribution to this community I would love that.

For years now our clients have loved our food, loved our service but didn’t always see Rooster Andy’s as the caterer for their formal event. That’s where Black Tie Catering comes in. It’s a higher end formal catering service with china plates for every event, a new menu our clients love, service to rave about and of course black ties.