Pennington Fine Foods and Services

After talking to Gail Pennington, it’s clear that the company she runs is not just a one-woman affair, but a dedicated team of professionals, all with the same goal: to have each event reflect the client’s tastes, desires and individuality.

Pennington is a full-service catering company with the emphasis on “full-service.” They’ve been in business for over 30 years and, while their main focus is catering, they do practically everything. They have 35 full-time employees who can handle invitations, music, entertainment, finding a location and more—all in-house. And for services they don’t provide, like photography, they can match you up with first-rate professionals.

When someone calls and asks about their services, they never just blindly send out an information packet. They try to meet with every client in person. “When we sit down with a client, we find out what their objectives are. We talk about the overall plan, and suggest things they might not have thought about. For example, if they’re hosting the event in their backyard, we’ll remind them to cut the grass and water it three days beforehand so that the lawn is dry and firm for ladies’ heels. After our discussion, we go back to the office and create a menu and plan tailored to their specific needs.” Gail acknowledges that this approach takes time but is convinced that it’s time well spent. “When a client gets our proposal they feel like it’s perfect for them because of the personalized attention to detail.”

Pennington has the resources and experience to do any event: a beach wedding for 200, a corporate picnic of 10,000, a sit-down dinner for 2,800 with French service or an intimate dinner for two (the man wanted to propose). They’ve even transformed an airport hangar into a Hungarian gypsy camp, complete with gypsy wagons, streams and full-grown trees. (Of course the food was authentic Hungarian gypsy fare.) With four chefs they can create almost any type of cuisine, and since they have all their own portable equipment, they’re able to do all the cooking at the event site so that the food is always fresh.

“I’m a perfectionist,” says Gail, “and I’ve learned that if you take care of all the details in advance, everything at the event will go smoothly.” Her staff, many of whom have been with the company for 10 to 25 years, share the same attitude. For the folks at Pennington, every event is as important to them as it is to their clients. “We love what we do,” says Gail, “and we’re determined to make each party a great success.”