Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lucia Bruno. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Lucia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about your team building process? How did you recruit and train your team and knowing what you know now would you have done anything differently?

The first couple of years it was just me. I was the office person, the cook, the marketing, the menu designer, the bookkeeper, I wore all the hats. One person would come to help me a couple days a week for food prep. It was long and tiring days while not rushing it too much. My husband was always there to support and guide, but he had his own company to run. The growth at the beginning was slow on purpose, I was still raising my kids and since this work can be consuming I wanted to build it slowly.
I had a lot of family helping at first, when we had events I would hire staff for the day and was always lucky to get wonderful people for my team.
It was hard to hire full time staff, you never have enough money coming in to support it and it is scary to commit. The first full time person I hired for sales and office work was around 2016, it was great and we did a lot of networking and were added to many event spaces as their preferred vendor, from then on it started growing, and we were very busy, I would work some days 17 hours, many months without any days off, but that’s what happens when you have your own company. Today we are still a small company and many of the people that started with me are still with me, but we have 12 full time employees plus 3 that work part time at the bakery and we still hire for events based on the needs.
I think if I did it again I would have worked a few years with a catering company to get some experience of the field in this country first. I had experience but not in the US.

Lucia , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I come from Argentina and was born in a beautiful large family of 10, I’m the youngest with my twin. Always lived a life full of happy moments and a childhood surrounded by family, good times and amazing fresh food. Our home was always the welcoming home where we could have 25 guests any given lunch on a regular Saturday or Sunday. We have always loved food and how it brings people together! We are a family-owned and operated small business nestled in the small town of Nokesville VA, dedicated to providing a unique experience in the art of catering and events. Originating from Argentina, we are now bringing our expertise and joy of cooking to the United States. We specialize in European cuisine with an all-natural flare and delicate flavors. We take pride in our Customer-focused services to ensure every special request and need our clients may have is professionally delivered.

We provide a range of services to meet any event’s needs. Hosting events to allow our customers to enjoy their guests and party activities; hand-delivering food and dining supplies to their house, workplace, or event venue; supplying a special sweet treat or dining delight for the night, weekend, or a week of dinners for time constrained families.

Our products are always made from scratch and we believe that starting with the freshest and finest ingredients (organic and local whenever possible), deliver the best dishes and pastries. From our famous cakes and empanadas, every distinctive dish delivers unique flavors from a carefully developed recipe and family culinary traditions.
Together we make every event memorable!

Pampa’s Fox Catering is passionate about food and we take pride in taste and presentation. Food should complement the style of your day, so we work with you to create a personalized menu. We offer tastings and have a variety of services that include plated, buffet, and our famous grill station. Our professional staffing and bartending add our customer-focused services to your event.
We are preferred caterers in most of the wedding venues in the state of Virginia and Maryland, to name a few Morais Vineyards and Winery, Blue Valley Vineyard and Winery, Sylvanside Farm, Sweeney Barn, Strong Mansion, The Winery at La Grange, Comus Farm, Castleton Meadows. We also cater in DC where we are well known at the Embassy of Argentina, OAS, World bank among others

Starting with the freshest ingredients and focusing on every detail, we create the menu for your special event. We have a wide variety to offer. From passed hours d’oeuvres to a sit down dinner, cocktail parties, buffet style, to bar service. All of our menus are designed to fulfill every guest’s expectations. Special diet needs like vegetarians, vegans, gluten free, are considered while we develop the menu to please the widest palate ranges leaving no detail unattended.

One of the services that sets us apart from other companies are our Asados. While new to the United States, a long-standing tradition in Argentina known for its love of beef and fine wine is an event known simply as ‘Asado’ (grilled meat). An Asado is a family and friend oriented experience focused on slowly grilled meat cooked over an open-wood fire. While the meat slowly grills, Pampa’s Fox Asador starts the dining experience with a wide variety of flavorful appetizers. For the main course, we serve different cuts of beef, chicken and chorizo (Argentine sausage). Side dishes include roasted potatoes and a variety of traditional salads you can choose from. Following the Argentine tradition, there is always chimichurri at the table!

In 2023 we opened a Bakery in the small town of Nokesville, Pampa’s Fox Bakery!, we love baking fresh cinnamon rolls, medialunas, and lots of delicious items and have the opportunity to meet new friends every day through the love of food.

From that very first event until today so many things have happened and we have been part of thousands of beautiful events, we are grateful to all the clients that trusted us and continue to do it! We love what we do!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

To build our reputation we have always been consistent and truthful to what we promise. Our customers and their feedback is proof that we are constantly working to keep our products and service top notch. We take great pride in what we do and how we do it. Customizing each menu and event, making sure that what we do represents our customers, their companies, the couple’s heritage, etc.
Our food is all cooked from scratch with the best ingredients we can source, using organic and local as much as posible. We stay a small company to never compromise the quality of our products and our services. Our staff is knowledgeable and always ready to go above and beyond our client needs.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I never thought I’d have a catering company! I went to school to be a graphic designer, I worked in that field for quite some time, had my own company with two other friends in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I moved to this country in early 2002 and was pregnant with my first kid, worked here in the graphic design world for a little bit until my son was born and then had the most amazing job being a mom full time while doing some small side stuff. On 2013 the opportunity came up to start a catering business with the hope that my twin, who has a big catering company in Argentina, would come to join me here. With all the tools I had from when we worked in catering there and the network of people I had built in my years here where I was always the one that would cook for events and host parties, the story began.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.pampasfoxcatering.com
• Instagram: pampasfoxcatering And pampasfoxbakery
• Facebook: Pampa’s Fox Catering

Image Credits
All the photos are ours