Divinely Delicious

If brownies, cinnamon rolls and scones over a cup of coffee is your idea of heaven, Danni Waldridge is your woman. Waldridge’s Frankfort Avenue kitchen, Divinity Fine Catering and Magical Desserts, delivers non-liquid creations to the seven area Heine Brothers’ coffee shops, as well as Day’s Espresso & Coffee on Bardstown Road and Caffe Classico in Clifton. This is good stuff.

 

Waldridge can’t take credit for the name, however; she bought Divinity ten years ago, when the business handled scones for what was then three Heine Brothers’ shops. She had her work cut out for her: “We added the triangle scones, brownies, cinnamon rolls, pound breads and Rice Krispie treats,” she says. Her business grew along with the budding coffee shop, and Divinity soon added more local cafes to its territory. 

 

“Danni’s a real treat to do business with,” says Heine Brothers’ co-owner Mike Mays. “She’s very can-do, delivering seven days a week at six in the morning through rain, snow, ice ... and a few of our stores are open 365 days a year.” He says Waldridge is always upbeat whenever he asks to try a new product, adding “ ... and with a big smile on her face, she’s like, ‘No problem.’” Mays is partial to Divinity’s crunchy-outside, spongy-inside cinnamon raisin scones, which he calls “a great complement to a cup of black coffee, which is my drink of choice.”

 

Waldridge has come a long way. The Racine, Wis., native went to Murray State, where she met her husband – and a bunch of other friends – all working in the culinary arts. Waldridge was more drawn to cooking at first – not baking. That soon changed, however, when she moved to Louisville in 1996 and, four years later, took over Divinity, a full-service catering business. 

 

Granted, this is no small operation; Waldridge leads a 15-person staff (four in the kitchen), and many have been with her from the start – creating spreads for cocktail parties, weddings (including wedding cakes) and “tons of lunches and breakfasts.”

 

Estimating her life in measuring spoons, Waldridge has rarely known anything else. “The whole baking and wedding cake thing I just taught myself,” she says. “There are two different worlds to baking and cooking, and I taught myself all of that.” 

 

But she’s no newcomer, having worked in restaurants since the age of 12, starting in her family’s business. “It’s the curse,” she says, laughing. “My parents had a restaurant, and you just can’t get away from it when it’s the curse.”

 

The “curse” has brought Waldridge in contact with so many different people, some who have their own higher-power missions. “I’ve done a few donations for Gilda’s Club,” she says, when asked about the cancer support center that she helps on Baxter Avenue. “I walk in there and I get chills, they’re so awesome. They hold meetings for different companies ... I delivered a lunch there and the lady who was working there was just amazing and she took me through and it touched me.”

 

Waldridge is obviously as generous with her time as she is her talent, which seems to appear effortless. “Some people are high maintenance,” says Mays. “Danni’s a no-maintenance person.” High praise, indeed.

 

Divinity Fine Catering and Magical Desserts is available to cater your event or business lunch, as well as provide pastries for your shop – even if your last name isn’t Heine. Contact Divinity at (502) 893-7069 or visit divinityfinecatering.com.