Island Chateau, the catering hall at 900 West Fingerboard Road on Staten Island, is marking its 50th year, and it is still in the hands of the family that opened it. The Staten Island Chamber of Commerce profiled the business this month, tracing it from a borough-wide catering operation to a hall where the founders' daughters, and now their granddaughters, run the room.

From Pat Velten's Catering to a home of its own

Before there was a hall, there was Pat Velten's Catering. Patricia Velten served parties around the borough out of other people's spaces: rented halls, schools and whatever venue a family had booked. In 1976 she and her husband, Thomas Velten, bought Harmony House, an existing catering hall in the area then known as Harmony Park, and renamed it Island Chateau. According to the chamber, the new owners honored the contracts already booked under the old business.

The two split the work. Patricia was the public face of the business, handling customers, booking events and writing contracts. Thomas was a New York City firefighter when the hall opened and worked behind the scenes and on the big nights. Within about a year he retired from the Fire Department to run the hall full time.

The second generation takes over

Patricia Velten died in 1987. Her daughters, Tammy Lewandowski and Teri Breslow, had grown up inside the business, working the coat check, waiting tables and helping in the office. After their mother's death they worked alongside their father, then bought the business from him. The sisters still own and run it together, on site.

The third generation is now there too: Tammy's and Teri's daughters work with their mothers on both the front of the house and the kitchen side of the operation. The hall's own social posts describe it as women-owned since 1976.

What has changed in the building

The chamber's profile lists the major changes over five decades. In the mid-2000s the main room was rebuilt with higher ceilings. In 2017 the hall added a second space for ceremonies and cocktail hours. Floors, carpeting, wallpaper, paint and decor have been updated in rounds since then. Some staff members have been there for decades, including a maître d' with more than 40 years at the hall.

One party at a time

Island Chateau books a single event at a time, so a wedding or sweet sixteen has the building to itself. The hall hosts weddings, anniversaries, engagement parties, sweet sixteens, graduations, retirements and other family occasions.

Planning an event

Island Chateau is at 900 West Fingerboard Road, Staten Island, NY 10304. Families looking at dates can reach the hall through the contact form on its website, islandchateau.com.

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