All Things Gaillard Center

As some of you have noticed, it has been a while since we have posted a blog.  The last two years have kept us quite busy with an important project – important to Duvall Catering and Events and to Charleston – opening the Charleston Gaillard Center.

Duvall at The Gaillard Center
Amelia + Dan Photography

A staple in Charleston’s performing arts and events community since 1968, the Gaillard started a huge rebuild in August of 2012.  The Gaillard aspires to be the anchor for Charleston’s business, cultural and arts communities.

In 2014, as the Charleston Gaillard Center (the Gaillard) began to look for a contracted exclusive in-house caterer, we stood out as SC’s only Leading Caterers of America representative, a local company with the reputation and resources to deliver the contract. This project inspired us to bring our creative energy, culinary savvy and passionate service team to this gift to the Charleston community.

With pride, we signed on to oversee all of the hospitality related functions prior to opening and after opening.  Our hospitality contract included everything from kitchen design to equipment ordering to licensing and event contracting in the opening phase.  After opening, Duvall was responsible for all aspects of building venue hospitality – back of house artist catering and performance bars in the Performance Hall as well as event catering in the Exhibition Hall.

Duvall at The Gaillard Center
Amelia + Dan Photography

For the past two years, we have stood on the frontline with the Gaillard, weathering the storms of construction delays and opening details and then hosting hundreds of events together.

Highlights include:

  • The First Catered Client Event for the CofC School of the Arts 25th Anniversary and one day after hard hats removed
  • The Grand Opening Gala featuring Yo Yo Ma for the Gaillard Performance Hall Foundation and our third largest event in company history and largest served dinner
  • The First Artist Rider for Brian Wilson with our true introduction to the “art” of the rider
  • The Retirement Gala for Charleston’s Mayor Joe Riley for the Post & Courier with Vice President Biden saying he loved our steak
  • The First Full Building Usage for the Democratic Debates with NBC and Google and the US Secret Service
  • The First Wild Rock Show for Experience Hendrix with “special” show cups

We practice an imperfect art, but we put our whole hearts into delivering this contract and will always be proud of the work we did here.  Every member of our team contributed to our service to Charleston’s Gaillard Center.

We are ready to introduce the new group taking over the exclusive in-house catering contract and we welcome Spectra to Charleston.  General Manager, Chelsea Selvaduri and her team are now available for your hospitality needs at the Gaillard.

We are moving into our 40th year in business with a renewed focus on the essential events that make up the fabric of Charleston.  Our calendar is filled with Charleston wedding catering, catering for company events and social event catering at Charleston’s most celebrated venues and most unique venues.  So here’s to a growth-filled two years just past and all of the exciting years to come.

Cheers Charleston!

Here’s a peek at the Gaillard through one of our favorite events – CVB Wedding Planner’s Luncheon.