RESIDENT FEATURE | Meet Katie O'Reilly
- Glancer Magazine
- Apr 27, 2017
- 2 min read
MASTER CULINARY ARTIST/TV SHOW HOST
WHEATON–The earliest memories Katie O’Reilly has of Wheaton are of feeding the animals on the Rathje Farm. Katie, along with her parents and four siblings, moved into a house behind Rathje Farm when she was just six years old. Her childhood in Wheaton shaped Katie’s future in a big way. “I saw the whole world as the carnival…the colors, the animals…” Katie reminisces.
Her father, Roger O’Reilly was a prominent attorney in the area and often took the family out to eat. “We’d go to Bayless’ Frontera Grill, back when it first opened, every single Saturday,” Katie’s eyes light up at the memory. “My palate was developing at the same time as the Chicago restaurant scene.”
Fast forward to 2017, Katie O’Reilly still lives in Wheaton, now with her husband and four children. Her mother, Dorothy O’Reilly remains in the beautiful house behind Rathje Farm. Katie’s love of food and creativity came together to form her unique career as Co-President and Culinary Artist of Kenmare Catering.
“I sit with people and design food with them,” Katie says of her job at Kenmare Catering. “I get to know them for hours. We talk food. We eat food. And then I help bring to life what they’re envisioning.”
And that’s not all. Katie is also the host of the popular Women’s Broadcast TV Network, Katie O’s Food Carnival, which she refers to as “the most soul-fulfilling learning process and creative outlet.” Her warmth and enthusiasm exudes not just from the fact that she’s filming from her own home but also because the idea of having fun with food at home is not just for show—it’s how Katie and her family live. The show airs Wednesdays nights at 7pm on the OTT Network WBTVN and on ROKU, and Friday Nights at 7pm on Comcast Channel 392. For WBTVN, go to wbtvn.tv, or download the free app “Women on TV”. The ROKU listing is also “Women on TV”.
ABOUT THE WRITER Sabrina is a food writer with ChicagoNow and author of Food Fiction Project, a writing endeavor that pairs bite-sized short stories inspired by food. In her spare time, Sabrina enjoys yoga, reading, exploring big cities, collecting Harry Potter books, and binge-watching competitive cooking shows like Top Chef and Chopped..
