Dave Rubin, CHEP '92, is a Renaissance man in the catering world. He's done it all, from managing, accounting and selling to making sauces, setting and waiting on tables. With his partner Dan Bruckner, BE '91, Rubin is chief owner of A Spice of Life catering business in Boulder, Colo.

A graduate of the first class of UD's Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management Program, Rubin came to the University because of lacrosse--a sport in which he is still active as a player and coach. "I already had experience working at the Marriott in Syracuse as a busboy, waiter, towel folder and cook. When I learned about the new HRIM program at Delaware, I decided it was a fit for me," he says. "The internships at hotels and private clubs and the hands-on experience during my college years at UD were invaluable."

Knowing all the ins and outs and ups and downs of the catering business gave Rubin and Bruckner a definite advantage when their executive chef retired unexpectedly one month after they bought the company. The duo manned the range and enlisted their friends--and anyone who could dice and slice--to help them through the culinary crisis, continuing to turn out such signature dishes as chicken breasts stuffed with olives, capers and mushrooms topped with a pesto cream sauce and tenderloin canapés with wild mushroom duxelles topped with gremolata.

Rubin rescued A Spice of Life when it was in deep debt and turned it into the success it is today. In a city where the catering business is crowded and the competition keen, the company recently won the Gold Award for Best Caterer from Boulder's Daily Camera and was ranked seventh in the top 25 catering companies by the Denver Business Journal.

Rubin's first catering experiences with Marriott hotels in Syracuse, N.Y., Toledo, Ohio, and Key West, Fla., taught him about cost control, budgeting, menu items, wines and all phases of the banquet business. The hours were long but it was time well spent, he says.

He relocated to Boulder in 1994, prepared to apply the knowledge he had acquired by starting his own business. He worked for A Spice of Life as a server and then in sales, and when the owner offered to sell him the business, Rubin saw the potential.

Rubin enlisted the help of his friend Bruckner, then manager of Concepts restaurant in Boulder. "I met him my second day as a freshman in Harrington C, and we have been best friends since that time," Rubin says.

Another UD grad, Kristen Meissner, BE '91, worked with the two during the start-up and the beginning years and contributed to Spice's success, Rubin says.

It was rough going at first, and, to save money, Rubin lived in the office and warehouse. "It didn't matter if you called at 6 a.m. or 10 p.m., I was there," he says. ?

What the partners lacked in money, they made up for in enthusiasm and hard work. Debts were paid off, and, with Rubin as general manager in charge of accounting, sales, marketing and human resources and Bruckner as director of operations, A Spice of Life began to grow. The company has expanded from four to 35 full-time and 45 part-time employees, who can cater up to 24 events a day.

When wedding bells chime in Boulder, A Spice of Life is the caterer of choice, managing as many as 100 receptions a year, up to six on a summer weekend.

"I am a people person," Rubin says, "which is one of the reasons I am in the hospitality business. Our staff is like a family, and I can count on them. That's why A Spice of Life has done so well."

The business also expanded by acquiring a country club, now called A Spice of Life Event Center, where it can hold on-site functions.

At Delaware, Rubin says he learned leadership and teamwork, as a member of both the varsity lacrosse team and Phi Kappa Tau fraternity.

Another lesson he learned from fraternity life was community service. A Spice of Life is known in Boulder for its involvement in good causes, including Special Olympics, the March of Dimes, the Boulder County Hospice, the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Arts and the Boulder Philharmonic. Rubin serves on the board of directors of the Boulder Chamber of Commerce as well. "The more we give to the community, the more we receive," Rubin says.

Rubin now works more normal hours as he and his wife, Amy, hone their parenting skills, enjoying toddler Athena and their infant son, Quinn. "I want time for my family, and I have rediscovered skiing. I love it. Fortunately, it's a winter sport, when the pace at A Spice of Life is a little slower than during the summer," he says.