Everything at Punta Clara Kitchen in Point Clear revolves around family — the recipes, the building and the staff.
Punta Clara began 61 years ago when Dot Pacey started selling her delicious jellies, jams, preserves, pickled vegetables and …
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Everything at Punta Clara Kitchen in Point Clear revolves around family — the recipes, the building and the staff.
Punta Clara began 61 years ago when Dot Pacey started selling her delicious jellies, jams, preserves, pickled vegetables and sweet treats out of her backyard.
“She always baked cakes and canned fig preserves, and she had neighbors and friends saying, 'Dot, you aught to sell this stuff,'” says Kim Clay, Dot's granddaughter, who now runs the business.
So she did — and Dot worked alongside family members to prepare canned goods and treats for the community until her death in 2008. Since then, three generations of her family have gathered day after day in her kitchen to continue preparing Dot's recipes.
“It's nice to see it continue on,” says Dot's son Paul Pacey. “It's a legacy to my mom, really.”
Dot established the business by creating quality products and being friendly with her customers, something that Kim and the rest of the family seek to continue to this day.
“I think we survive here because Grandma did all the work,” Kim says. “Grandma loved to visit, and she'd stand at the door and talk to the customers as they came in. She got all those original customers, and we have had lots of repeat customers over the years.”
Kim says she remembers her grandmother's spunky spirit and attention to detail daily while she is canning and baking. Dot made quality a priority and never accepted less than the best.
“One thing she always said is if it's worth doing it's worth doing right,” Kim says. “Give it your all every single time.”
Dot did not tolerate laziness, Kim remembers, but she had a fun way of motivating teenage workers who wanted to sit down while they worked.
“The grown-ups would be standing up all day long, but the teenagers want to sit down,” she says. “She would say, 'Do you have Chinese pneumonia?' and they'd ask, 'What's that?' She'd tell them, 'It's when all the lead goes to your fanny and you have to sit down all day.'”
For many years, Punta Clara has been a favorite first job for high school and college students in the community. Now, Dot's seven great-grandchildren are old enough to begin taking shifts after school and during the summer — the fourth generation in the family to work at Punta Clara Kitchen, which is housed in an old home built by the Pacey family at the turn of the 20th century on Scenic 98 in Point Clear.
“I think if all of our family wasn't here, it wouldn't work — we all rely on each other,” Kim says. “The whole family has always been involved.”
And each person in the kitchen doesn't mind honoring Dot when they make sure the product is tasting just right at the end of the day.
“We're all about quality control,” Kim says. “We've got to arm wrestle each other to figure out who is going to be that person for the day, and sometimes, we're all the quality control person. I would love to say I'm sick of it and can't eat it anymore, but that wouldn't be honest at all.”
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