Delco Profile: Casey Dehel of What’s On the Table Spreads Her Love of Family and Focaccia

Take a look through Casey Dehel’s Instagram (@_whatsonthetable) and you’ll be treated to image after image of gorgeous, fluffy focaccia, prettily plated dinners and relatable Reels, with titles like “Mom Lunch” and “Dinner Inspo for the Week.”

Dehel is a mom living in Havertown and a former professional chef. She’s transitioned from the culinary world to balancing stay-at-home parenting life with her social media presence, where she shares her joyful approach to food with her followers. She runs a micro-bakery, also called What’s on the Table, where she sells weekly drops of sourdough focaccia and other baked goods to customers across Delco. 

Where did this baking aficionado get her start? 

She was born and raised on the Northeast side of Philly, and as a kid, her two primary passions were food and performing.

“I’ve always been a food person, always eating, thinking about food and watching cooking shows with my dad,” Dehel says. “I’ve also always been an entertainer at heart and wanted to be a singer when I grew up. When that didn’t pan out, the next best thing was food.”

Dehel attended culinary school at the Art Institute of Philadelphia, and from there, worked for Aramark doing corporate catering for the Barnes Foundation. Later, she worked in the front of the house at St. Joseph’s University in campus dining (still with Aramark). Looking for a change, and more daytime hours, she began working for a school district in New Jersey, overseeing the dining programs at 19 schools. 

“I took that job knowing I was going to start a family soon, and while I wanted to stay in food, I needed something more manageable, where I wouldn’t have to work nights, weekends or holidays,” Dehel remembers. 

She and her husband welcomed their first child five years ago, and Dehel decided to pause her career to stay home with her baby. She couldn’t shake her love of food and hospitality, and kept cooking for friends and family. 

During Covid, the Dehels had their second child, who tragically passed away. In her grief, Dehel found solace and connection in sharing her love of food.

“I was both a new mother, and a bereaved mother, struggling with who I was outside of motherhood,” she says. “I still wanted to cook and entertain, but didn’t know what that would look like. I really picked up doing the food blog and Instagram, because I really liked to write and share recipes.”

At that time, Dehel was still focused mostly on cooking, hardly dabbling in baking at all. However, in the summer of 2022, soon before giving birth to her daughter (now age two), she went to a wedding where the bride and groom were so enthusiastic about sourdough bread, they mentioned it in their vows.

“I was like, ‘Wow, I’ve got to learn more about this sourdough thing,’ and a month or two later the bride sent me some of her starter. I started baking with it, and I haven’t stopped.”

Dehel says that, unlike baked goods, like cakes or cookies, sourdough requires less of a formula and more “feel,” which appeals to her.

“A lot of working with sourdough is about temperature and the ratios of your starter, and I know I can deviate a little from my recipe based on feel,” she says. “If something isn’t feeling right, I can course correct the same way I would do for a dish if it needs more seasoning.” 

Dehel’s Instagram account is all the proof one needs to see that she’s clearly mastered her sourdough technique, which she uses to make pillowy, golden loaves of focaccia bread, including creative variations, like cacio e pepe focaccia and chocolate chip cookie dough focaccia.

Currently, in addition to balancing her hectic mom life, Dehel is doing online sales every week that customers can pick up at House Cup Cafe in Havertown, and vending at local pop-up events. The interest in her breads and the success of her social media account still comes as a bit of surprise to her.

“I never thought people would respond to all this, but they did!” says Dehel. “I made it my goal to get my name out there and connect with locals; so many people who have reached out from across Delco. A few times, I’ve been out and people are like, ‘You’re the focaccia lady!’ That’s really fun.”

For more information on What’s on the Table, check out Dehel’s Instagram account and website.

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Want to know more about everything Delco? We’re more than just your source for good eats — we’re your source for where to stay, what to do and more in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. We’re Visit Delco, PA, and we’ve got you covered from Philly to the Brandywine. Find us at 1501 N. Providence Rd., Media, PA, 19063; (610) 565-3679 or online.

— Emily Kovach

All photos by Jenna Dileo Photography