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Raleigh Convention Center Serves Over 86,000 Meals Post-Fire with Mobile Kitchen Solution
2/24/2026
RALEIGH N.C., – In the wake of the December 1st fire at the Raleigh Convention Center, the venue and catering partner Sodexo Live! have served over 86,000 meals, over 30,000 snacks and desserts, including over 20,000 custom menu options. These were served to nearly 30,000 event attendees from the mobile kitchen currently set up in Red Hat Amphitheater, one of the convention center’s sister venues. This is over 2,000 meals per day that the Convention and Performing Arts Center have served across their venues from the mobile kitchen setup. These preparations have included everything from vegan shepherd’s pie to sesame tuna bites.
Venue staff and Sodexo Live! have continued to show exceptional adaptability and resilience. As the venue has begun welcoming in its usual large-scale events, including sports tournaments, conventions, corporate meetings and beyond, the convention center team has employed this creative mobile kitchen solution to ensure continued high-quality service. The primary operational impacts to the venue have been in the kitchen, which led to the establishment of this mobile kitchen setup, which has operated for the past 6 weeks and will be in place through March.
The mobile kitchen provider services large scale events around the country and has set the RCC and Sodexo Live! teams up to provide the same high-quality service guests of the venue have come to expect while repairs are done to the venue’s permanent kitchen.
“This data really tells the story of our team’s resilience” said Kerry Painter, Executive Director of the Raleigh Convention and Performing Arts Complex. “To still be able to serve tens of thousands of meals and provide world-class hospitality to our guests while still recovering from this issue is really remarkable. Our team is made up of professionals who rise to the occasion, and for us to find not just a solution, but something that’s allowed us to keep operating at this high of a level is a testament to what a great group we have at our venues.”
In the upcoming month, the venue will serve an additional 100,000 menu items to 32,000+ guests at 40 events, ranging from gourmet gala dinners, to sporting event snacks.
About The Complex
The Raleigh Convention and Performing Arts Complex ("The Complex") encompasses four city-owned and managed facilities that bring together residents, out-of-town visitors and a host of performing artists from around the country and the world.
In the heart of North Carolina’s vibrant capitol city, three of the four venues welcome some 1 million visitors to downtown Raleigh each year. The award-winning, 500,000-square-foot Raleigh Convention Center is a leader in innovation, sustainability and guest experience. Next door sits the city’s signature open-air music venue, Red Hat Amphitheater, with 6,000 seats and a buzzworthy schedule of musical performances.
A short walk away, the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts offers four unique theaters, seating from 150 to 2,369, and is home to resident companies Carolina Ballet, North Carolina Symphony, North Carolina Opera and PineCone. Beyond Downtown Raleigh, Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek boasts a 20,000-person capacity amphitheater on 77 rolling green acres and regularly packs the house with big-name acts.
Learn more at www.raleighconvention.com/complex.
Contact:
[email protected]
RALEIGH N.C., – In the wake of the December 1st fire at the Raleigh Convention Center, the venue and catering partner Sodexo Live! have served over 86,000 meals, over 30,000 snacks and desserts, including over 20,000 custom menu options. These were served to nearly 30,000 event attendees from the mobile kitchen currently set up in Red Hat Amphitheater, one of the convention center’s sister venues. This is over 2,000 meals per day that the Convention and Performing Arts Center have served across their venues from the mobile kitchen setup. These preparations have included everything from vegan shepherd’s pie to sesame tuna bites.
Venue staff and Sodexo Live! have continued to show exceptional adaptability and resilience. As the venue has begun welcoming in its usual large-scale events, including sports tournaments, conventions, corporate meetings and beyond, the convention center team has employed this creative mobile kitchen solution to ensure continued high-quality service. The primary operational impacts to the venue have been in the kitchen, which led to the establishment of this mobile kitchen setup, which has operated for the past 6 weeks and will be in place through March.
The mobile kitchen provider services large scale events around the country and has set the RCC and Sodexo Live! teams up to provide the same high-quality service guests of the venue have come to expect while repairs are done to the venue’s permanent kitchen.
“This data really tells the story of our team’s resilience” said Kerry Painter, Executive Director of the Raleigh Convention and Performing Arts Complex. “To still be able to serve tens of thousands of meals and provide world-class hospitality to our guests while still recovering from this issue is really remarkable. Our team is made up of professionals who rise to the occasion, and for us to find not just a solution, but something that’s allowed us to keep operating at this high of a level is a testament to what a great group we have at our venues.”
In the upcoming month, the venue will serve an additional 100,000 menu items to 32,000+ guests at 40 events, ranging from gourmet gala dinners, to sporting event snacks.
About The Complex
The Raleigh Convention and Performing Arts Complex ("The Complex") encompasses four city-owned and managed facilities that bring together residents, out-of-town visitors and a host of performing artists from around the country and the world.
In the heart of North Carolina’s vibrant capitol city, three of the four venues welcome some 1 million visitors to downtown Raleigh each year. The award-winning, 500,000-square-foot Raleigh Convention Center is a leader in innovation, sustainability and guest experience. Next door sits the city’s signature open-air music venue, Red Hat Amphitheater, with 6,000 seats and a buzzworthy schedule of musical performances.
A short walk away, the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts offers four unique theaters, seating from 150 to 2,369, and is home to resident companies Carolina Ballet, North Carolina Symphony, North Carolina Opera and PineCone. Beyond Downtown Raleigh, Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek boasts a 20,000-person capacity amphitheater on 77 rolling green acres and regularly packs the house with big-name acts.
Learn more at www.raleighconvention.com/complex.
Contact:
[email protected]
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