Birchtree Catering is a small, female-owned company that focuses on local, seasonal ingredients and menus cooked fresh for weddings and events in and around Philadelphia, PA, including New Jersey and Delaware. We offer full service catering, including waitstaff, bartenders, rental items, day-of coordination and planning tools to make sure your event is seamless.
Our mission is to improve our local economy by sourcing locally, acting sustainably, and creating jobs within the Philadelphia region. We source from farms and markets that provide the best ingredients in our area, giving us the creative freedom to work with what’s seasonally available, and absolutely delicious. We prefer to work with small, local vendors for everything that we do, helping to create a demand for good quality products for us and our clients. Our waste is composted and recycled in our kitchen and at events, and we choose sustainable options within our company whenever feasible.
Birchtree began slowly in 2008, as owners Rasa Stirbys Benefico and Allegra Derengowski built their brand by using rentals kitchens, hosting tastings in their homes, and growing relationships with vendors and farmers. Their talent, determination and unflinching dedication has brought them to the top of their field, catering high-quality events all over the region.
Today, Birchtree has a beautiful commercial kitchen located inside Globe Dye Works, an old dye factory in Frankford, Philadelphia that now houses small businesses and artist spaces. We remain a small business with a dedicated staff, limited events per weekend, and a strong commitment to every client.
Our team was honored to win 2015’s “Best of Philly” for Party Food and has spent over one year on Yelp.com’s “Best of Event Planning and Services” list. Our food quality standards have been recognized by the Sustainable Business Network of Philadelphia, The Chamber of Commerce, The Knot Magazine and Philadelphia Wedding Magazine. To learn more about us, read our wonderful online reviews and visit one of our regular Supper Clubs, open to the public!
Where we source:
“Imagine, if you will, waiting 30-odd years to have a bite of something that changes your life forever. THAT was what it was like to bite into these gnocchi.” Philly Current Magazine
“You simply can’t go wrong with the local, beautiful, delicious food from Birchtree Catering. For nearly 10 years, this woman-owned company has been knocking wedding and party food out of the park and has received a ton of recognition for its work both from wedding resources such as The Knot and review-based sites such as Yelp…”
“At Birchtree Catering, owner Rasa Stirbys Benefico combined some favorites on her usual catering menu with her own Eastern European family’s Christmas traditions, all in keeping with Birchtree’s emphasis on seasonal, local ingredients. The meal opens with small bites of noodle kugel layered with Lancaster cheddar, Parmesan, and ricotta cheeses, individually baked in mini muffin tins and sauced with a brisket ragu. Next comes a liver pate…”
“Unlike any other industry awards out there, Best of B&B allows vendors themselves to choose the brightest stars (of the Gold, Silver, and Bronze varieties) from among their colleagues. As a result, these honors illuminate the cream of the wedding vendor crop. After all, what could be a more legitimate honor than a pedestal built by your peers?” – Borrowed and Blue
We love recommending other local small businesses for all of your event needs like desserts, photography, music, design, planning, and vintage and specialty rentals. We list some of our favorites here that deliver exceptional quality, and during your planning process we can curate a list that fits your vision.
Floral / Design
Devon and Pinkett
