Blackstone Caterers

My husband and I hired Blackstone to cater our rehearsal dinner and welcome drinks in Newport Rhode Island at the Tennis Hall of Fame this past October (2022). We booked them a full year in advance. Overall, the experience was pitiful for the price. I would not recommend Blackstone to anyone. I have worked with many caterers in my life - both for professional and personal events - and have never seen a more ill-equipped team nor a more deplorable owner and manager (Karen Tungett). The food, service and staff fell short of quite literally every one of our expectations. For starters, the staff passing the wine couldn't tell our guests what was on their trays - whether it was a Pinot or a Cab...whether it was a Chardonnay or a Sauvignon Blanc, etc. Not a great first impression. We quickly noticed a similar trend when the hors d'oeuvres were passed. When asked, some of the staff couldn't tell guests what they were serving nor could they say whether they met certain dietary restrictions (which the staff had knowledge of ahead of time). So all the people who had noted restrictions and allergies were unable to eat any of the hor d'oeuvres because Blackstone didn't think to prepare anything for them. To emphasize how poorly prepared and knowledgeable the staff was, I kid you not, when asked about a Burratta and mushroom toast, the staff member carrying the tray told a guest "I believe it's cheddar cheese and mushroom." What caterer doesn't know what they're serving. On top of that, many of the passed hors d'oeuvres were luke warm at best. The quality, taste and amount of food we had for the price was rather pathetic and the service was even worse. If you look at their Facebook you can see they are constantly looking to hire new people to work their events who want to "earn extra money" - these folks are clearly inexperienced, but sadly, even some of the individuals working our event that appeared to be seasoned, weren't so seasoned or knowledgeable. When we called the owner Karen Tungett to speak about our experience, it was like talking to a defensive teenager. Karen Tungett had virtually no sympathy and instead offered excuse after excuse for what took place. She was wildly unprofessional and I would describe her customer service skills as simply appalling. STEER CLEAR OF BLACKSTONE!