Denise Slavitt Biography

Denise Slavitt was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, surrounded by her 2 brothers she enjoyed a happy childhood filled with lots of travel with the family. Her mother has always been the consummate entertainer, always taking gourmet cooking classes and inviting people over to taste her new delights.

After graduating high school it was off to the University of California Santa Cruz for Denise. She majored in Psychology and minored in having fun with the college experience. She also spent a semester in Chambrey, France learning French and sampling the wonderful food and culture.

During her college days Denise began a long and happy career in the restaurant industry (unbeknownst to her). This started with waitressing in Santa Cruz and later in Sun Valley Idaho, where she spent a year as a ski bum and waitress upon graduating from college.

Upon returning from Idaho, Denise attended business school at San Francisco State University, and also worked as a manager for a local restaurant in Marin where she was living. While she was at school, the opportunity to work as a part-time career counselor presented itself. This was a fun and challenging way for Denise to utilize her undergraduate education combined with her innate ability to counsel people.

Upon graduation Denise was pondering where her life and career should go. Being a career counselor she realized the importance of really enjoying your hours spent at work. How could she combine her natural abilities of motivating and managing people in a non-sedentary industry? Alas, the restaurant and catering industry seemed like a perfect fit.

In 1987 Denise and her parents (as silent partners) opened the Cactus Cafe in Concord, California. Even though those first years commonly required 14 hour days of hard work Denise was not afraid when in 1988 she had the opportunity to open Checkers Grill in San Ramon, California.

However, after a year of running two restaurants and having a baby she decided to sell Cactus Cafe and focus on her family and Checkers Grill.

As the years progressed catering became a growing part of the business. In fact, catering became so big that in 2001 Denise changed her business model to expand the catering business and Checkers Grill became Checkers Catering and in 2003, Checkers Catering and Special Events. 2004 brought yet another move as Checkers purchased a 10,000 square foot Warehouse in Livermore, California and convert it into a state-of-the-art kitchen facility with administrative offices, a warehouse and special event showroom. This new space provides us the ability to offer cutting edge catering and event planning services. As the business continues to grow, Denise has created a warm, fast moving environment for herself and her 20 full-time employees.

In her spare time Denise enjoys spending time with family and friends as well as many outdoor activities. During the winter months Denise can often be seen skiing. In addition to travel, the summer is spent camping and backpacking. All year long exercise is important to Denise who is also an accomplished tri-athlete.