Rudy's Inflight Catering

What It Is: Rudy’s Inflight Catering provides prepared food and other onboard concierge provisioning services at New York–area airports and, through sister company Aviation Services Network, at hundreds of other North American airports. 

How It Grew:Brothers Sal and Rudy Celentano ran a New Jersey restaurant popular with patrons who operated aircraft from nearby Teterboro Airport (TEB), but the two declined requests to sell boxed lunches for their passengers. However, Sal’s sons Joseph and John, New York University grads who had worked at the restaurant growing up, offered to provide in-flight meals, launching the company in 1983 from the restaurant. In 1988 Rudy’s moved to a 6,000-square-foot facility, and in 1998 it opened a 17,000-square-foot purpose-built catering kitchen near TEB. In 2003 the Celentanos launched Aviation Services Network (ASN), a North American alliance of independent catering companies. In 2004 the company opened a catering facility at New York’s Westchester County Airport (HPN). The following year Rudy’s opened a kitchen in Chantilly, Virginia, that it sold in 2016. A HACCP (Hazardous Analysis Critical Control Point)-compliant and FDA-inspected company, Rudy’s has afleet of refrigerated GPS-tracked vehicles for food deliveries,including high-lift loader trucks for large aircraft, and its TEB location has grown to 23,000 square feet. ASN catering companies serve more than 400 ICAO airport destinations in North America.

What It Offers: 

Onboard Catering. Extensive standard menu; seasonal and international menus including Arabic, kosher, and Japanese; and custom orders, available at about a dozen New York–area airports.Catering with similar standards and pricing provided throughout North America through ASN. 

Onboard conciergeprovisioning. Includesfresh flowers and arrangements, handwritten custom menus, linen and laundry service, glassware and china service, and cabin amenities.

Notable Achievements: Helped bringbizav catering into the modern age through its contracts with NetJets and Flight Options. Pioneered the use of glass dishes, metal trays, and other non-disposable items in onboard catering. 

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Quote:“You can make the best food in the world, but if you can’t package it the right way and deliver it to the airplane on time, it doesn’t matter what you’re serving.” —Joseph Celentano, CEO

FAST FACTS:

Founded: 1983

HQ: Teterboro, New Jersey

Employees: About 140

Revenue: Under $20 million

Principals/cofounders: Joseph Celentano, John Celentano