The Beginning of a Partnership
The Story Behind Coastal & Countryside
Some partnerships begin with a business plan. Ours began with a shared love of food, hospitality, and the feeling created when people gather around a table.
Long before Coastal & Countryside had a name, Chef AJ and I were building a life rooted in service. We understood that a memorable dining experience is never created by food alone. It is found in the preparation, the atmosphere, the welcome, the smallest finishing touches, and the care guests feel from the moment they arrive.
This photograph captures that partnership in its most natural form: two people preparing together, supporting one another, and making sure every detail is in place before welcoming guests.
Meet Chef AJ
A Connecticut native, Chef AJ has spent decades working in restaurants, country clubs, catering, and chef-led hospitality throughout New England.
His experience includes owning and operating a restaurant with me, as well as owning a restaurant located within a Connecticut country club. These experiences shaped him into a creative and versatile chef with a deep understanding of restaurant ownership, refined dining, private events, and genuinely welcoming hospitality.
His cooking is rooted in seasonal ingredients and thoughtful technique. Coastal fare is one of his specialties, inspired by New England seafood and the communities connected to it. His menus also reflect his love of bold Indian-inspired dishes, elevated American classics, and carefully prepared comfort food.
AJ approaches every menu personally, considering the occasion, the setting, and the people who will gather around the table. Whether preparing an intimate dinner, celebration, or wedding meal, his goal is to create food that feels generous, memorable, and connected to the experience.
Meet Katelyn
Hospitality has been part of my life since childhood. I was raised around family businesses where welcoming people, setting a table, preparing food, and caring for guests were part of everyday life.
Professionally, my experience extends across hospitality, innkeeping, restaurant ownership, branding, marketing, photography, and event presentation. I have always been drawn to the details that shape how an experience feels: the table, the flowers, the lighting, the flow of the evening, and the thoughtful touches that make guests feel considered.
Within Coastal & Countryside, I serve as the curator of the table, atmosphere, and guest experience. I help create thoughtful tablescapes, coordinate locally sourced flowers, assist with place settings and presentation, and ensure each element feels warm, polished, and naturally connected to the occasion.
Photography may also be added to preserve the food, atmosphere, details, and meaningful moments of the gathering. My role is not simply to make something look beautiful. It is to help the entire experience feel intentional from beginning to end.
Where Our Experience Comes Together
Chef AJ and Katelyn bring over 40 years of combined experience in food, hospitality, entertaining, and creating memorable gatherings.
Our individual strengths are different, but they have always complemented one another. AJ brings the culinary vision, technique, and creativity. I bring the atmosphere, presentation, storytelling, and attention to the guest experience.
Together, we create something more complete than a meal.
We bring the restaurant experience into the comfort of a private home, vacation rental, or chosen setting while preserving the warmth and personal nature of gathering around your own table. Every menu and detail is shaped around the client rather than asking the client to fit into a predetermined package.
What Coastal & Countryside Stands For
The name Coastal & Countryside reflects both the landscape of New England and the experiences that inspire us.
Coastal represents fresh seafood, salt air, summer gatherings, and the refined simplicity of dining near the water.
Countryside represents farms, seasonal produce, comforting flavours, long tables, and the warmth of gathering in a beautiful rural setting.
Together, they represent our belief that elevated hospitality does not need to feel formal or distant. It can be personal, welcoming, relaxed, and deeply thoughtful.
Coastal & Countryside stands for quality without pretence, beauty with purpose, and hospitality that extends far beyond what is served on the plate. It means sourcing ingredients with care, preparing each menu thoughtfully, setting the table with intention, and creating space for people to slow down and enjoy one another.
Love Is in the Details
For us, this is more than a tagline. It is the foundation of everything we do.
It is AJ adjusting the final detail before service. It is a locally sourced flower placed at the centre of the table. It is a menu created around a family’s favourite flavours. It is noticing what a guest may need before they have to ask.
Those quiet details are what transform dinner into an experience and a gathering into a memory.
This is the beginning of Coastal & Countryside: a husband-and-wife partnership built through years of hospitality, creativity, hard work, and a shared devotion to caring for people well.
And we look forward to welcoming you to the table.
Chef AJ & Katelyn
Coastal & Countryside
Private Chef Experiences • Tablescapes • Photography
Rooted in Atkinson, New Hampshire, and serving New England and beyond.