our team.

The Green Planet team is made up of motivated & talented career restauranteurs. Each member of our ownership group has 10 years or more in the restaurant business with combined experience of over 50 years. We started Green Planet because we saw a way to give back in a tasty way. Meet the people behind this vision:

Chief Creator: Daniel Whittaker

Daniel Whittaker started his hospitality career while still in school at The University of Alabama. After graduating he moved to Chapel Hill, NC and took a job at Rum Runners USA as Business Developer, where he grew the company
by 40% and completely restructured the marketing and retail portions of the business.

Started in 2007, Green Planet Catering has seen at least 30% growth each year and has included a range of aggressive, supplemental projects including a sustainable farm-site and biodiesel production facility. His current projects include: Creating the first ever public/private partnership education farm with N.C. State on their Agro-Ecology site, an extensive herb garden at the GPC office, and the "greenovation" of his new home in downtown Raleigh. At the beginning of 2011 he started Whittaker Consultation which focuses on consulting work/seminars for companies focused on local food, sustainability, and/or community education. Daniel sits on the board of the newly formed SoleMates Foundation (a non-profit aimed at collecting donated shoes for domestic delivery to those in need) as well advisory council of the N.C. Conservation Network.

Chief Financial Officer / Co-Owner: Pete Pagano

Pete Pagano has several years of restaurant experience that spans the globe. From managing a cafe in Guatemala, a pub in Ireland and serving as COO of a chain of restaurants in Belgium and Luxemburg, Pete brings an international flavor to the team. Apart from Green Planet, Pete owns a successful restaurant in downtown Raleigh. He currently sits on the board of several downtown committees as well as on the board of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance.

Executive Chef

Executive chef Christi Preddy was born and raised in North Carolina. In addition to a formal education, Christi trained under chef Christian Clements during her internship at Figure Eight Island.

Christi discovered her niche for catering while training under chef Lottie Arnold at A Southern Thyme in Wilmington, NC. Once relocating to the triangle, Christi trained under chef Tom Ferguson of Durham Catering Company. This is where Christi learned the importance of supporting local farmers and procuring as much as possible from within this region. Christi likes the food to speak for itself by using clean, subtle flavors.

(Image by: Juli Leonard - N&O)

Marketing & Event Guru

Rebecca Carraway graduated from NC State University in May 2010 earning a degree in Public Relations, and two minors in Business and Design. After spending her final semester interning for Green Planet Catering she joined the team full-time to help grow the business and push their marketing efforts even further.

Sales Machine

Dawn McCreary is originally from Detroit, MI. She studied Public Relations and Marketing at Eastern Michigan University with the dream of working in the wedding industry. Having explored everything in weddings from floral design to entertainment, she brings a great eye to the team. Personally, she's a painter and a yogi. Her friends sometimes call her "Red," and say she's spirited and bubbly.