Dianne Tydings. co-owner: Dianne's Restaurant.

• Author: Stomierowski, Peg
• Position: View from the Top

Dianne Tydings of Dianne's Restaurant moved to Alaska from Minnesota in 1971. With a college friend, she homesteaded 160 acres at Sheep Mountain; there she nurtured her passion for creative food preparation before moving to Anchorage, eventually founding an eatery in 1977. "Our signature bread that we serve at Dianne's today was one of the results of this time of 'playing with food,'" she says.

Her initial venture, the original Cauldron, spawned an evening folk club and a commercial bakery. After her son Greg was born, Dianne offered catering from a mobile food kitchen while pursuing a business degree. With her sister and husband, she opened Dianne's Restaurant & Catering in December 1989. State purchase of the building in 1997 led to challenges, and the last six years of construction surrounding their location often slowed things, she says, but walk-in business is growing again.

VIEW FROM THE TOP: More competition in the food industry keeps us all on our best game. We continue to build on our reputation for quality home-style, "made from scratch" offerings. Clients trust our reliable service and commitment to partner with them for successful events.

ON THE RUN: Dianne's menus are designed for business meetings, office receptions, home entertaining and memorial gatherings; 35 percent of our efforts involve breakfast and lunch buffets for business meetings, another 25 percent seated dining, and 20 percent each is take-out service and evening or memorial receptions. We are expanding our catering to meet demand.

DRIVERS: Discretionary income is a big factor--especially with the changes in clientele in the building, but also with the shift in spending habits for both business and private sectors. Most of us are more...