On a typical night at Fearing’s, chef Dean Fearing’s eponymous restaurant in The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas, you might not encounter too many diners who’ve driven in from Odessa.

So when a fan wanted to serve Fearing’s food at a big 5-0 birthday bash in Odessa last year, a portable convection oven, food for 50, and Fearing made the trek to the West Texas town.

“Someone wanted to bring Fearing’s restaurant into their home,” said the 58-year-old Kentucky native who’s been an icon in the local dining scene for three decades. “It’s been exciting.”

The birthday fete actually preceded the official fall 2013 launch of No Borders Catering by Fearing’s, the chef’s official catering arm. As he ramps up his catering operation just in time for the holidays, Fearing joins chefs from Stephan Pyles to Wolfgang Puck who have taken their celebrity status on the road.

“We’ve always done catering,” informally, said Fearing, as his restaurant staff regrouped from the lunch rush. “Now it’s bigger. It’s starting to rise into more businesses approaching us. It was happening so much and so consistently we felt we should probably spread the word.”

The National Restaurant Association expects catering to be an $8.4 billion business this year in the U.S., up nearly 6 percent from a year ago.

That revenue boost would make catering the fastest-growing segment among commercial eating and drinking places, according to the association’s 2013 forecast.

The Maryland-based National Association for Catering and Events listed nearly 9,400 catering firms in the U.S. in 2011, including 434 in Texas. The list was based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Fragmented industry

The industry remains very fragmented, with thousands of small firms. Increasingly, some of those firms have big names.

“You see more and more” celebrity chef involvement, said Bonnie Fedchock, executive director of the catering association.

She mentioned Mario Batali, who recently collaborated with Mary Giuliani Catering Events to create “Mario by Mary,” a catering package that offers recipes and dishes developed by the star of the Food Network’s Molto Mario show.

“It’s a natural extension of their product and their name,” she said. “And people want it.”

In its fledgling state, Fearing’s operation is small compared with some. There are no specially appointed vans or catering-specific staffers. He uses existing staff who work catering gigs during their off hours. Fearing expects that to change as the operation grows.

There is space set aside in the Fearing’s restaurant refrigerator and kitchen to store and prep catering/banquet items.

Fearing, who previously was executive chef for 20-plus years at The Mansion on Turtle Creek, said that helps keep costs down.

With propane-fueled ovens and sinks operated by foot pedal (both rented) and the regular restaurant staff, Fearing can re-create the restaurant’s signature items including tortilla soup, buffalo on jalapeño grits, and barbecue shrimp tacos.

“If someone wants to have a reception at their office, we have to set up a makeshift kitchen out in the parking lot,” he said.

“What we have gotten very good at is being able to re-create the menu. People want to experience the restaurant at their event.”

So far, Fearing estimates annual revenue from catering is less than $1 million. But he expects that to grow as the company steps up marketing.

Puck’s experience

That was the pattern seen by Wolfgang Puck, who launched an official catering arm in 1998 when he became concerned that the restaurant staff was spending too much time off site.

First-year revenue was about $2 million to $3 million, said Carl Schuster, CEO of Wolfgang Puck Catering, which handles food service operations at the Perot Museum, the ATT Performing Arts Center and Union Station.

Today, with operations at 50 locations in 13 U.S. markets, catering revenue alone is more than $100 million, he said. That puts it in second place in the Wolfgang Puck empire — behind fine dining but ahead of the Worldwide division, which handles everything from casual dining to the items sold on the Home Shopping Network.

“Our growth has been more rapid,” Schuster said, noting annual revenue has gained between 10 percent and 30 percent each year.

Puck’s first fine dining restaurant, Spago, opened in 1982. So that division had a head start.

In 2009, Puck, now 64, opened his first Dallas fine dining restaurant. Five Sixty sits atop Reunion Tower. That came years after the catering arm began serving soups and sandwiches at the Nasher Cafe by Wolfgang Puck in the Nasher Sculpture Center.

Dallas now counts as one of the company’s largest catering markets.

“The whole idea of this is that we wanted to build a national catering company,” said Schuster, 54, who in the mid-1990s suggested that he and Puck collaborate on a catering company. That came after the two worked on the Academy Awards Governor’s Ball.

Schuster and others see a synergy between a chef’s flagship restaurants and a catering arm.

“Definitely when you’re in Los Angeles where we have a lot of restaurants you definitely get a piece of [catering] business from your restaurant’s reputation in that city,” said Schuster, who formerly ran a catering firm.

“As you go further into other cities where we don’t have restaurants, a lot of [the business comes from] name recognition. Across the country he is pretty well-known,” Schuster said. “So we grab people’s attention because of Wolfgang’s name.”

Schedule challenge

Part of the challenge chefs face in catering is how to grow sales without shortchanging the restaurant guests who have come looking to shake hands with the famed foodie.

On busy catering days, Jessica Peterson, Fearing’s event coordinator, presents the chef with a map and a precisely timed schedule that may allow only 20 minutes per venue.

“It’s very tight,” said Fearing, recalling a particularly hectic Saturday that began with a sit-down lunch for 225 at a local hospital. The event had to be completed in 45 minutes.

“Some parties could care less that I’m there. Then there’s people that aren’t going to have the party unless I show up and shake hands.

“It all comes down to scheduling.”

If a chef can keep a tight rein on quality, expanding into catering can help accommodate crowds during peak periods, said Evelyn Williams, who launched her Dallas-based Chef Evelyn catering company in 2009.

“If your restaurant only seats 150 people, this is a way to branch out without having to open another location,” said Williams. “You may not be able to accommodate a group of 50 on a Friday in the restaurant. This gives you an opportunity to serve your customer better.”

Even as chefs get more into catering, she said, the restaurant will remain the main course.

“Their main focus will always be at the restaurant,” she said. “Catering is an extension. That’s their baby.”

Follow Karen Robinson-Jacobs on Twitter at @krobijake.