The Cuisine Machine hits the road

Tim Good and Chris DiMaio spent the morning of Thursday, Aug. 16, preparing brochette, tabouleh with feta and pita chips, green salad, pad Thai, and paella for a party of 20 people. Meanwhile, Ali Good and a friend hosed down the outside of the large white Cuisine Machine trailer and scrubbed it with a brush and a sponge. It promised to be a busy day. Tim, Ali and Chris had to prepare the food and transport it to the party in time to attend a ribbon cutting in Whitefish that afternoon, unveiling their new business to the Columbia Falls Area Chamber of Commerce.

The Cuisine Machine, a custom mobile catering business, began offering services to the Greater Flathead Valley of northern Montana in late June. Based in Columbia Falls, the small business is capable of catering buffets for up to 300 people and dinners for more than 100 people at weddings, festivals and other events.

The Cuisine Machine’s menu is extensive and diverse, offering everything from grilled buffalo tri-tip with huckleberry BBQ sauce to macadamia encrusted halibut with tropical fruit salsa to Thai peanut lasagna with handmade lentil sausage. The menu also includes sundry appetizers and desserts, as well as multi-course dinners with Mediterranean, Asian or Italian themes.

When she finished washing the trailer on Aug. 16, Ali went inside the house to feed her 15-month-old son, Liam. The energetic and vocal child used both hands to feast on small slices of avocado and banana, his favorite dishes. As he ate, his mother explained the Cuisine Machine’s origins.

Originally from Littleton, Col., Ali moved to Whitefish, Mont., after graduating from the University of Colorado in 2001. There she met Tim, who is from Wisconsin and went to college in Minnesota but has lived in Montana for close to a decade. The pair later married and bought a house in Columbia Falls, and they soon decided to start their own business.

At first, they considered buying a restaurant somewhere in town. Tim had worked as a chef at several restaurants and had established many contacts in the food industry with his outgoing and affable nature. “We wanted to start (a restaurant) here, but it’s so difficult to get a liquor license and offer full dinner service,” Ali said. “It just sort of came to us that maybe catering’s the way to go.”

Starting a business with a newborn child was a prospect that Ali called “terrifying.” “I’d never done anything like it before, and we had to go all out,” the 29-year-old said. Nevertheless, the couple applied for a loan, and, much to their relief, it was granted. The Cuisine Machine was a title that Tim came up with in college, when he envisioned opening a traveling restaurant to follow touring bands and other festivals. He applied the name to his new mobile kitchen and hired longtime ski-buddy and fellow chef Chris DiMaio as sous chef.

The business’s first big event was the Whitefish Arts Festival. Tim, Ali and Chris vended fresh-made food from their trailer throughout the three-day festival and distributed business cards. They also sold food at the Columbia Falls Farmer’s Market every week and word about the quality of their meals quickly spread. “We switch up our menu every week so people can see what we’re capable of,” Ali said.

Before long, the business had booked a series of weddings. At first, most of the clients were friends of the Goods, but word of mouth quickly put the business in high demand. Ali displayed a leftover menu from a wedding on Aug. 4, which offered Wanton mini tacos; pad Thai with tofu; five-spice seared shrimp with a lime and coconut green curry; Korean baby back ribs with red chili glaze; and chicken and veggie summer rolls with sesame-soy dipping sauce.

The Cuisine Machine uses locally cultivated ingredients whenever possible, buying produce from organic farmers and getting meats and fish from vendors in town. Other ingredients come from Food Services of America or Costco. The Goods are environmentally conscientious and supportive of local farmers, and buying local is an important aspect of their business plan. “That’s a big part of our mission,” Ali said.

Despite the busy and often stressful schedule, as well as concerns about how the business will fare during the snowy winter, the Goods have been thrilled by their early success. “Each party has been overwhelmingly successful, and we’ve gotten nothing but praise,” Tim said as he searched for something in the couple’s kitchen. Before heading back out to the trailer, he added that the business would “go forward with confidence.”

Ali said they would consider expanding the business in the future, possibly including flower arrangements and other services. But, she said, operating a business and raising an infant at the same time is no small task. “It’s really hard, and we’re doing all our own childcare,” she said, noting that various friends have helped out with babysitting duties. “We could not have done it without them,” Ali said.

To contact The Cuisine Machine, call 406-270-7742 or send an e-mail to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it