About Urban Element
“There is no love more sincere than the love of food”. These poetic words uttered by George Bernard Shaw are as true for the author as they are for the Urban Element team. Since our inception in 2005, our love of good food and service has dictated the way we interact with our clients and staff.
Urban Element was created in 2005 by wife and husband duo Carley and Oliver Schelck, when they opened a cooking studio and event space in Ottawa’s historical Fire Station No.11 building. Although they closed the venue in 2021, Urban Element continues to evolve as a mainstay in the region’s culinary scene, expanding its operations to catering and special events.
As a boutique catering and event management company, Urban Element has built a reputation for truly memorable, beautiful, and delicious culinary experiences. Since 2005, our beloved team has made its name in the Ottawa food scene as a go-to for all things fresh, local, and seasonal – collaborating with innovative producers and chefs alike. Rooted in
all that is fresh, local, and seasonal, we create farm-to table fare designed to bring people together.
People are our Passion!
We are a food-centric, hospitality-driven company defined by the excellence of our dynamic and professional team. We are always looking for equally passionate people to join our team. If you are inspired by the work we do and want to have a conversation, please reach out - we look forward to hearing from you!
Owners, Chefs & Principal Event Planner
Carley Schelck, Partner & CEO
Living passionately with the attitude of 'all things food', CEO Carley Schelck provides direction for PR, marketing and HR for a team of over 30 employees. Her commitment to her team, clients and partners has created a unique and highly personal approach to business relations, resulting in a reputation for excellence in the highly competitive food industry. With joie de vivre and a serious love for all things food, Carley is inspired by both the creativity and challenges of the hospitality and catering world.
Oliver Schelck, Partner & CFO
Oliver Schelck is a Wilfrid Laurier University alum (Economics BA) who brings a wealth of sales experience and entrepreneurial spirit to the Urban Element team. His passion for culinary excellence and homegrown hospitality has helped shape the Urban Element brand into one of Ottawa’s top food service & program providers. Oliver also lends his time to the Saint Paul University location, providing support and leadership in operations, human resources and finance.
Kyle Proulx, Executive Chef
Kyle has been active in the Ottawa dining community for over twenty years in a variety of hotels and restaurants. He brings experiences from the Brookstreet Hotel, La Maison Conroy, ZenKitchen, and the Sheraton Hotel to Urban Element. He's excited to continue to build our legacy in Ottawa and work with our many local farmers and vendors to create memorable events.
Dipesh Parmar, Catering Chef
Born into a family where food was always a focal point and with over 12 years of kitchen experience at ZenKitchen, La Maison Conroy, Fraser Café, Brassica, and Shopify headquarters, Dipesh brings a wealth of passion, dedication, and quite frankly, nerdiness to his position at Urban Element. He’s thrilled to be part of the UE team, and is eager to use his love for food and cooking to share and connect with the local community.
Emily Parker, Principal Event Planner
Emily Parker has a love for weddings and events. With over 15 years of experience in the service industry, she has developed an intrinsic understanding of not only how to execute a successful event, but all the co-ordination and administrative steps that are required along the way. Whether you are looking to host a dinner party, wedding, celebration of life or corporate function, Emily understands that each event is unique and will guide and support you in bringing your event vision to life.
Mission and Values
Urban Element is committed to the idea that good food belongs everywhere; that food has the ability to motivate, inspire, educate and entertain. We maintain this idea, whether we are feeding 12 or 300 guests; whether we feed students or executives; no matter what venue or locale. We bring creativity and meticulous attention-to-detail to everything we engage in, and our brand and reputation speaks to this commitment.
What makes us unique
Our food. We are not only a caterer. We are food educators. We are food activists. We are foodies. Nothing brings people together like good food - we live by these words!
Our people. We love what we do, and the way we do what we do is rooted in the very definition of hospitality: the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Many years’ experience of running our own venue, hosting, and feeding tens of thousands of people has given us the insight and inspiration that’s allowed us to build one of the most respected culinary brands in the city, based on quality of food and gracious service. This is paramount in event execution.
Our work ethic and core values. We will work hard to make sure your event is flawless. We deliver what we promise; we don’t hide fees or spring extra charges on you after the fact. We estimate accurately and update regularly, so you can understand all facets of your financial investment.
Supporting Local
United in extensive training and the desire to collaborate, our team is moved by the overwhelming abundance of nature’s most precious ingredients. We work directly with growers and producers and maintain close relationships across the Ottawa Gatineau region to deliver farm-to-table fare with our signature take.
We take pride in the farmers, producers and suppliers we use to create the quality menus and product we create for our clients as it creates a real point of difference in the offering - most importantly it is the best way to support our local economy and our wonderful artisanal producers.
Some of our amazing producers, suppliers and farms include: Juniper Farms/ Rideau Pine Farms / Bread & Roses Bakery/ Nat's Bread Co./ Enright Cattle Co./ Mariposa Farm/ Seed to Sausage
