Today we’d like to introduce you to Melanie Hoover.
Hi Melanie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In a lot of ways, I was born into this industry. My family has deep roots in Pittsburgh hospitality. My grandfather ran the local Hotel and Restaurant Union, my grandmother worked in the industry, and I grew up around people who believed very strongly in taking care of both the people you serve and the people you work alongside.
Catering was also my first real career. I spent about ten years working front of house, and it’s how I met my husband, Aaron. He was a chef, I was on the service side, and food and hospitality were always a big part of our life together.
I eventually took a very different path professionally and spent 20 years with Allegheny County’s Department of Human Services, with my work evolving over the years into technology and project management. Meanwhile, Aaron spent about 15 years as a chef with Rania’s Catering. He and Rania had a very close relationship, and she often said she thought of him as a son. As she began thinking about retirement, Aaron purchased the business from her in 2022.
In early 2023, Aaron passed away suddenly, and I stepped in to take over Rania’s. It was certainly not the way I ever expected to return to catering, but looking back, there’s something very full-circle about it.
Today, I get to bring all of those parts of my life together: my background in hospitality, what I learned through 20 years of public service and project management, and everything I learned from building a life with a chef. I love being part of people’s events. There is something really rewarding about helping bring together all of the moving pieces behind a wedding, celebration, corporate event, or fundraiser and then getting to watch people enjoy it.
Rania’s has been part of Pittsburgh since 1984, and I’m incredibly proud to be the person carrying it forward into its next chapter.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely has not been a smooth road.
I took over Rania’s while grieving the sudden loss of my husband and helping our two children through the loss of their father. At the same time, there really was no transition period. One day Aaron was running the company, and then suddenly I was responsible for the staff, the clients, the finances, the events already on the calendar, and all of the decisions that come with ownership.
For a long time, I felt like I was building the plane while I was flying it. I knew more about the industry than I initially gave myself credit for because of my own background in catering, growing up around hospitality, and spending more than 20 years of my life with a chef. But knowing the industry and being the person ultimately responsible for the business are two very different things. I had to learn to trust my instincts and make decisions even when I didn’t have the benefit of years of experience as an owner.
I was also incredibly fortunate to have people around me who helped me learn as I went. Rania had built a strong team, and several longtime employees had years of knowledge about the company, the food, and how our events worked. My dad, who had owned his own business, also stepped in and helped me navigate the business side of things. None of us had every answer, but everyone brought something different to the table. It truly took a village, and in many ways it still does.
Another challenge was figuring out how to honor what Rania and Aaron had built while also helping the business evolve. Rania’s survived for nearly 40 years because Rania knew how to run a successful company and built an incredible reputation in Pittsburgh. At the same time, businesses change, technology changes, clients’ expectations change, and some of the systems and processes needed to change with them. Finding that balance between preserving what made Rania’s successful and building what we needed for the future took time.
And then there are the everyday realities of running a small business: staffing, rising costs, unpredictable schedules, managing multiple events at once, and making sure every client still feels like their event matters.
I think one of the biggest things I’ve learned through all of it is to trust myself. I certainly did not have every answer when I stepped into this role, and I still don’t. But I’ve learned that I can make good decisions, adapt when something doesn’t work, lean on the people around me, and keep moving forward. I’m incredibly proud of how far both I and the business have come.
As you know, we’re big fans of Rania’s Catering. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Rania’s Catering has been part of Pittsburgh’s food and event community since 1984. We are a full-service, off-premise catering company, and today we work on everything from weddings and milestone celebrations to corporate events, nonprofit fundraisers, and smaller private gatherings throughout the Pittsburgh area.
I think what we are known for is being able to create an event that feels personal rather than cookie-cutter. We don’t work from one standard package and try to make every client fit into it. Menus, service style, staffing, and logistics all depend on the event, the space, the guests, and what the client is trying to create. Some events are plated and formal, some are family-style, some are stations or cocktail-style, and some are simply really good food delivered to someone’s home or office.
The food matters tremendously, but I believe the service matters just as much. We want to serve really great food, but we also want our clients and every guest in the room to feel genuinely taken care of. Some of my favorite feedback is when a client tells me how incredible the staff was, how someone stepped in when they were overwhelmed, helped with something that technically wasn’t their job, or simply noticed what needed to happen and handled it. People remember great food, but they also remember how they were treated.
That is a big part of what catering means to me. It is not just preparing a menu. It is timing, staffing, rentals, room flow, communication, anticipating what is needed before someone has to ask, and making sure the person hosting the event can actually enjoy it.
I am also very proud of the longevity of the Rania’s name. A catering company does not stay in business for more than 40 years without doing something right. Rania built an incredible reputation, Aaron carried that forward, and I feel a real responsibility to protect that while continuing to grow and evolve the company.
What I want people to know about Rania’s is that we care deeply about the events we are part of. Whether we are serving 20 people or 200, our job is to make the experience feel thoughtful, well-run, and genuinely hospitable. I love that no two events are exactly alike, and I think that is one of the things that keeps this work so interesting.
What’s next?
Right now, my focus is on thoughtful growth.
I want Rania’s to continue growing, but not at the expense of the quality of the food, the service, or the experience our clients receive. A big part of that means continuing to build a strong team, developing more leadership within the company, and creating systems that allow us to handle more events without losing the personal attention that has always been important to the brand.
I’m also continuing to modernize the business behind the scenes. Over the last few years, we’ve made a lot of changes in how we manage clients, events, staffing, payments, and day-to-day operations, and I think there is still a lot of opportunity there. My background in technology and project management definitely comes into play because I am always looking at how we can make things more efficient without making the client experience feel less personal.
I’m excited about continuing to build relationships with venues, planners, companies, and organizations throughout Pittsburgh and introducing Rania’s to people who may not know us yet. We have this incredible 40-plus-year history, but I also want the company to keep evolving and feel very current.
More than anything, I want to build a business that is strong, sustainable, and able to keep doing what we do well for a very long time. I want our team to be proud to work here, our clients to feel genuinely cared for, and Rania’s to continue being a name people trust when they are planning something important.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rania.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranias_catering
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RaniasCatering/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-hoover-a6a554422/
