By Paul W. Pettas, APR
Sodexo Live!, the leading hospitality partner to the world’s most iconic venues, announced a multi-year renewal of its partnership with the Raleigh Convention & Performing Arts Complex. Sodexo Live! provides catering services to the Raleigh Convention Center and other venues that make up the Complex — Red Hat Amphitheater, Coastal Credit Union Music Park, and Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts — which together welcome nearly a million visitors each year.
Under the local leadership of General Manager Jamie Jenkins, the Sodexo Live! culinary team is a vital 
part of the Raleigh Convention Center’s award-winning sustainability efforts, which includes using 100% biodegradable food-service items; pledging to source a high amount of food from local vendors and farmers; donating excess food to community food banks; converting used cooking oil into biofuel; and
diverting 40% of its food waste from the landfill and into compost instead.
Sodexo Live! Executive Chef Phil Evans has spent years perfecting his craft in some of the country’s finest kitchens, including five-star and five-diamond resorts. From his beginnings working in the kitchen of three-star Michelin chef Marc Meneau in France, Chef Phil has also served as executive sous chef at the St. Regis in Houston, executive chef at the St. Regis in Aspen, and as executive chef at the North Carolina’s own acclaimed Umstead Hotel & Spa and Herons Restaurant.
The award-winning chefs on the team have prepared meals for four former U.S. presidents and world-renowned chefs Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, and Alice Waters, amongst others.
Through the extension of the current agreement, Sodexo Live! commits to providing significant capital contributions for enhanced guest services including new POS/CC systems, action stations, presentation items, and equipment upgrades.
Kerry Painter, CVE, Raleigh Convention & Performing Arts Director/GM, said, “We are happy to expand our work with Sodexo Live! as we invest in the guest experience for everyone who comes to visit our properties in Raleigh. Their long-term commitment to hire local employees and utilize local suppliers is important, as we mutually seek to be revenue drivers for the broader local economy through the calendar of events we host here on a regular basis.”
Sal Ferrulo, Executive Vice President, Sodexo Live!, added, “We look forward to continuing to provide our Raleigh partners with the unparalleled service experience they expect from us. We work with an ownership and a management team here in Raleigh that truly encourages us to focus on and innovate the guest experience as we invest together in culinary programs that will attract functions of all sizes to the City of Oaks.”
Paul W. Pettas, APR, is PR & Communications Director for Sodexo.
