Catering Penn Dental's 2026 Graduation Celebration
How Tasty Table Brings Hospitality to Philadelphia's Premier Schools
A Graduation Worth Celebrating
There are a handful of moments in a person's life that justify the word milestone. Earning a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine is one of them.
A few weeks ago, the Tasty Table team had the honor of catering Penn Dental's 2026 graduation celebration. It was not our first event with Penn Dental, and it will not be our last. Over the past several years, we have become a trusted catering partner for the school — handling everything from faculty lunches and continuing education sessions to alumni events and now, graduation itself.
The Penn Dental 2026 Graduation Menu
Graduation receptions have a specific rhythm. Guests arrive in waves. Photos are happening constantly. Conversations move quickly between proud parents, classmates, faculty, and family who flew in from across the country. The food has to match that energy: walkable, beautiful, generous, and approachable.
Here is what we served:
Vegetable Crudité Cups
Individually portioned, garden-fresh vegetables presented in clean, modern cups. Easy to grab. Easy to hold. No double-dipping, no awkward plates, no wilted trays. Aesthetic and functional.
Philly Soft Pretzels
You cannot host a celebration in Philadelphia and skip the soft pretzel. Warm, salted, and unmistakably ours. A nod to the city these graduates have called home through four years of one of the most demanding professional programs in the country.
Fresh Fruit Skewers
Seasonal fruit on skewers — colorful, refreshing, and made to be eaten between handshakes and hugs. The kind of detail that photographs beautifully and tastes even better.
Artisan Cheese Skewers
A modern take on the cheese board. We pulled the best of an artisanal selection and put it on skewers — same elevated flavors, small reimagining that defines our catering style.
Cookie and Brownie Tray with '2026' Decoration
The signature moment. A custom-decorated tray celebrating the Class of 2026 — UPENN branding, the year prominently displayed, and the kind of presentation that ends up on every parent's phone. Because the food is part of the memory.
Why Penn Dental Trusts Tasty Table
Penn Dental is one of the most demanding clients a caterer can have, and we mean that as a compliment.
The school operates at the intersection of academic rigor, medical professionalism, and Ivy League standards. Their events host faculty who have shaped the field of dentistry, students who will go on to lead practices across the country, alumni who give back to the school, and families who flew in for one of the most important days of their child's life.
Graduation Catering in Philadelphia: What Schools and Families Should Know
If you are planning a graduation celebration in the Greater Philadelphia area — whether at a university, a high school, a private school, or in your own backyard — here are a few things we have learned from catering hundreds of these events.
1. Build the menu for the room, not the spreadsheet
A graduation reception is not a seated dinner. People are mingling, photographing, hugging, and crying. The food should be walkable, sharable, and elegant in the hand. Skewers, cups, hand-held bites, and beautiful platters work far better than plated meals in this context.
2. Plan for the photo
Whether it is the '2026' cookie tray, a custom-decorated cake, a school-color theme, or a signature mocktail with a branded straw, the food at a graduation will end up in hundreds of photos. Lean into that. We help our school clients design menus that celebrate the institution and the moment.
3. Build in dietary flexibility
University crowds today reflect every diet. Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, vegetarian, kosher, halal, allergy-conscious. We build menus that quietly accommodate everyone without making anyone feel like a footnote.
4. Don't underestimate the parents
The graduate is the star of the day, but the parents are paying attention to every detail. They notice the food. They notice the service. They notice when something is off. A well-catered graduation makes the school look excellent in front of the people who write the alumni donations a decade later.
5. Hire a caterer who understands campuses
Loading docks. Parking permits. Building security. Service elevators. Setup windows. Universities have a thousand logistical wrinkles that a corporate caterer will not anticipate. We have catered enough campus events across Philadelphia to navigate them without slowing down your team.
Tasty Table: Graduation Catering Across the Greater Philadelphia Area
We cater graduations and university events throughout the region, including:
University of Pennsylvania (Penn Dental, Wharton, Penn Medicine, undergraduate programs)
Drexel University
Temple University
Villanova University
Haverford College
Cabrini University
Eastern University
Local private and parochial high schools across the Main Line, Center City, Chestnut Hill, and the surrounding suburbs
Whether you are planning a graduation reception for 50 family members in a backyard or a 500-person university event in a historic ballroom, our team can build a menu, design the presentation, and execute the day at the level the moment deserves.
What Sets Tasty Table Apart for University Catering
We are a chef-driven catering and hospitality company based on the Main Line and serving the entire Greater Philadelphia area. Our work is rooted in three principles:
Scratch cooking. We do not reheat. We do not cut corners. Our chefs prepare everything with clean ingredients, sourced as locally as we can manage, and treated with respect.
Unreasonable hospitality. Borrowed from the restaurant world and lived out in our catering, this is the conviction that small acts of disproportionate care are what build loyalty and create memory. The custom '2026' decoration on the cookie tray is not a line item. It is the point.
Aesthetic intentionality. Presentation matters. The way the food looks on the table, the cleanliness of the setup, the uniformity of the service staff, the small details that elevate a room — none of it is accidental. Beauty is part of the meal.
If you are planning a graduation, a commencement, an alumni reception, a faculty event, or any other university celebration in Philadelphia, we would love to be part of it.
Ready to Cater Your Graduation in Philadelphia or on the Main Line?
To Penn Dental's Class of 2026: congratulations. It was an honor to feed your celebration, and we wish every one of you a long and meaningful career.
To every other school, university, family, and event planner in the Greater Philadelphia area: graduation season is one of our favorite times of year. We would be glad to help you make yours memorable.
Contact Tasty Table today to start planning your graduation catering, alumni event, faculty celebration, or commencement reception. Visit our website or reach out to our catering team directly.
The table is ready. It always is.
— Matt Soldano Owner, Tasty Table