We used Culinary Concepts for my daughter's wedding and they were less than okay. The price is high and we were willing to pay it for all that they promised, however, those promises were not kept. They ran out of food, were slow to serve, left before the reception was over, rushed guests, picked up cake before it was even eaten (guests were dancing) and while we paid for individual cake boxes for guests to take home a slice as well. Gina (the coordinator) boxed up the leftover layers of cake in huge packing boxes and left. In the end we had to throw away layers of cake that cost a fortune. They did not put out all the chocolate covered strawberries or the chocolate truffles and the servers who were left unsupervised actually took the center pieces and flowers that belonged to the bride. I would NEVER recommend their company. read more

Could not be more pleased and impressed by the high level of professionalism and service I experienced with this company! Culinary Concepts catered for my wedding a few months ago. NOt only is their food fantastically delicious and tastefully presented, they took the stress away by taking care of every detail. They made the experience SO easy for me! I would use them again in a heartbeat and highly recommend!! Love this caterer!! read more

We used Culinary Concepts for our 7/19/14 wedding, and everyone LOVED the food!!! We first met Chef Donald and Sous Chef Chris at the Orfila Bridal Show in 2013. We came to the show specifically to find a caterer, so we brought my best friend (and Maid of Honor), who is a chef with plenty of catering experience. She was able to ask the questions we never would have thought to ask, and she was thoroughly impressed with Donald and Chris. We also all agreed that the albacore bruchetta they brought for us to sample was our favorite of the day! We scheduled a tasting, and after working briefly with Kathy (owner), we were one of the first couples to have the opportunity to work with Christie as she started working with Culinary Concepts. Christie was absolutely INCREDIBLE to work with!!! She was professional and fun, and was extremely responsive whenever we had questions for her. She made sure everything was absolutely perfect on our wedding day, and the server staff was extremely professional and friendly! One of the servers brought a plate of hors d'oeuvres for us as we were taking bride and groom photos in the vineyard (during cocktail hour), to make sure we didn't miss out. He even followed us around as we stopped between bites for photos... so fun! When my husband and I snuck away for sunset photos, we had only gotten a chance to have a few bites of our dinner. When we returned to our sweetheart table, one of the servers let us know that our entrees had gotten cold while we were gone, and offered to bring us new ones. I said it was alright, but she insisted, which I thought was so sweet! She brought us new plates, and we were able to enjoy a hot, delicious dinner! I highly recommend Culinary Concepts for your catering needs, whether it is for your wedding or otherwise!! Hors d'oeuvres: -Beef wellington tart -Curried chicken salad on coriander dusted flatbread -Panko & pecan crusted brie with jalapeño jelly -Albacore bruchetta First course: -Caprese salad Main Course: -Dual entree (chicken and salmon) with rice pilaf and vegetables -Vegan/gluten free option of quinoa stuffed poblano peppers read more

Culinary Concepts catered our May 2015 wedding at Scripps Seaside Forum. Merlot was a pleasure to work with. She answered our questions quickly and efficiently and kept us on track with payments. The food was amazing (a small selection: lamb chop lollipops, caprese skewers, steak, salmon with avocado/mango salsa) and we and our guests were very happy! read more

Culinary Concepts - Caterers Near Me - San Diego, California

I hired Culinary Concepts for a social event aboard the USS Midway Museum. What can I say, they were FANTASTIC! The entire team at Culinary Concepts is a pleasure to work with. We really relied on them for their expertise in feeding a large group of people in a cost efficient yet elegant manner. They met and exceeded our expectations beautifully. The decor was impeccable, and the food is the best I've had from any other caterer that my company has worked with. My clients were thrilled, and we are now trying to figure out how we will top our next social event. Wonderful Job Culinary Concepts. I cannot wait to work with you again. read more

I have used Culinary Concepts on many occasions and they always go the extra mile to ensure all details are covered. Their staff are organized, efficient, timely, and over the top friendly. They make each guest feel like a VIP. I would recommend them to everyone. Wonderful job! read more

Culinary Concepts is amazing. They catered our wedding on May 11. The food was magnificent! The steaks received compliments from people don't ordinarily eat steak. The fish was cooked to perfection and was a hearty serving. The staff was also impressive. They were so nice! We received many compliments about how pleasant and thoughtful they were. A definite recommend! read more

I have been working with Culinary Concepts for three years, and specifically Gina, on conferences and gala dinners. She is outstanding in her job and the level of service is flawless. CC's food is outstanding. They keep up with current food trends and serve high quality fare. I have hired CC for lunches as well as cocktails and dinner. All my events have been very successful when I partnered with CC and Gina. I can't recommend them enough. read more

We got married at the Scripps Seaside Forum and used Culinary Concepts as our caterer. They were WONDERFUL! Kathleen is one of my favorite human beings on the planet. She not only helped create a delicious menu with beautiful presentation but went the extra mile in helping us plan with all of our other vendors as well. I was nervous to go with a buffet hoping that the quality of the food would not go down. I was definitely not disappointed - it was seasonal, sustainable, and decadent. We are extremely thankful to have worked with such an attentive and amazing staff in making our food more than perfect on our big day. read more

Looking for a wedding caterer in San Diego? Save yourself some time and call Culinary Concepts. They are fantastic. Our wedding venue gave us list of about 10 caterers we had to choose from. We called almost all of them, and it was so clear from the beginning that CC had BY FAR the best customer service. Some of these companies act like they don't even want your business but that was never the case with CC. I interacted mostly with Kathy, and she always made me feel like they were sincerely invested in providing me with an excellent event. And they really did! We worked together on a custom menu (my fiance's family is Brazilian, so they made the whole menu Brazilian-inspired), they arranged a beautiful tasting where we got to try all our chosen menu items (that part was really awesome), and we had multiple sit-down meetings with the chef. In short, incredible customer service from day one. Sadly our wedding is now over - it was last Friday - and everything went exactly as planned. The food was amazing and the staff was friendly and happy to be there. I got so many compliments on the food from our guests, it was presented beautifully and fit for foodies. I also felt like the whole Culinary Concepts team worked together to make the whole event seamless, since they helped with the party rentals and flow of events. I just couldn't recommend these guys any more! If I ever have another occasion to hire a caterer in San Diego, I will not think twice. I don't know why these guys don't have more reviews, because in my mind, they deserve a stellar reputation! Choose them, you won't regret it. read more

Culinary Concepts was wonderful to work with! I have been in the industry over ten years and Culinary Concepts did a fabulous job making the event day seamless. The food was deliciously presented and their staff catered to the needs of our clients effortlessly. I was very impressed with their service and look forward to working with them again in the future. read more

My fiance and I found out that our original caterer was going to be going out of business and would no longer be able to cater for us. This was 6 weeks before the wedding so needless to say we were freaking out just a bit. I contacted Culinary Concepts after reading about them on here and they were available and more than willing to help. Unfortunately they were just out of our price range but Gina was able to help us out in an entirely different way. She was so helpful and offered to look over the quote of any company we were considering to see if it was missing anything or if we needed to be asking any questions. It came in so handy and if we had a higher budget (and ours wasn't really that high to begin with) we would have definitely gone with them. read more

They were great. Food was incredible, service was wonderful. The staff was totally organized. I used them for a surprise party for my husband, and it was great. The dinner, appetizers, etc... it was all delicious and had a great presentation. I would use them again! read more

Culinary Concepts worked with us to create a wonderful menu for my the Celebration of Life event we put on in honor of my Mom. They accommodated a number of precise menu requests, delivered a tasty menu and allayed any concerns I had about the food staying fresh despite driving up a bit further outside their home base. Food was displayed nicely, simply, and exactly in keeping with our aesthetic.They did a great job. Cheri was excellent to work with and did most of the pre-planning and communication with us. Our servers Paul and Lauren were wonderful too. read more

Last Friday was my third time working with Gina and her team for my company holiday party and it was a huge success! Everyone had a great time with much thanks to the CC team! Food was delicious (so many guests complimented it), the staff was incredible and friendly. I enjoy working with CC every year and look forward to future years! They are so accommodating, which is a huge plus when you have so many other things to worry about. Also, kudos to my favorite bartender -- Roberta!! read more

We had a very short time-line to plan a meal for 40 people and a very restricted budget. Cheri did an excellent job working with me to come up with a menu that fit our needs and our budget. The food was EXCELLENT, as was the service. I would highly recommend Culinary Concepts. read more

Culinary Concepts is an exceptionally organized catering firm. Working with the owner Kathy K was a great experience. It's not all about the food at Culinary Concepts. It was about the entire experience plus the food was delicious. I recommend my corporate clients to CC with pride and confidence. read more

Culinary Concepts (cateringspecialist.com) catered a corporate event and the food was fresh and delicious. Had the beef satay, a chicken salad, fresh veggies, a spicy hummus, spring rolls, and bruschetta with bread crisps. It was so good, I'm considering them for a private event. Thankfully, and miraculously, there were left-overs to enjoy today! read more

Culinary Concepts catered our wedding last Friday and did an absolutely AMAZING job. The food was delicious (we had many of our guests compliment the food and presentation, saying it was the best wedding food ever). Mallory was exceptional to work with. She went above and beyond to ensure our vision was executed perfectly. We could not have been happier with how our Big Day went, thanks to Culinary Concepts. We HIGHLY recommend them to all you newly engaged couples out there! read more

We could not have been happier with our experience with Culinary Concepts! Emilie and her team took their time to make sure our menu was set exactly to our liking and the results were fantastic. We loved our wedding day appetizers and dual entree (steak and halibut) meals. All of the food came out hot and fresh and all of our guests kept telling us how awesome the food was. We highly recommend Culinary Concepts to anyone looking for a great caterer for their San Diego wedding. read more

Well it's been nearly 9 months since Kathy K. (Business owner of Culinary Concepts) commented on my review and said she be responding to me privately to discuss my concerns. I gave her ample time to respond, and I know they have my and my wife's contact information which haven't changed and I still have not heard from anyone....Down to 1 start for even worse customer service. read more

I'm a meeting planner who hires caterers often for off-premise events. My greatest fear is that things can go wrong when so many moving parts are in play. Working with Culinary Concepts is always a great experience and the best part is, the food is amazing; better tasting and more creatively presented than upscale restaurants and hotels. The pre-event consulting is priceless, turn-key planning, attention to detail with so much creativity. My most recent experience with them was a very large and complicated corporate dinner event at Balboa Park. A total success and we received rave reviews from everyone. I'll be back every chance I get because I know Kathleen Doeller and her team will create a home run event for my clients! Open a location in Scottsdale! read more

We had hired Christie Gowdy as a wedding coordinator. She gladly took our deposit. Our wedding date got closer and closer and we never heard anything from her. We reached out to her multiple times before the wedding. Finally, about 40 days before the wedding, after not hearing anything, we hired another coordinator. Eventually we heard from her and she said that she had "switched businesses." She promised to return our deposit after touching base with her accountant, but we never received our deposit after several inquiries. We've now had to resort to preparing a claim against her in small claims court to get our deposit back. Would not recommend at all. There are many great caterers and wedding planners in San Diego, Christie Gowdy is not one of them. read more

we used culinary concepts for our wedding (march 06). Rina was a big help to us with logistical advice and coordination. she was always quick to reply, communication was easy and everything looked and tasted great. there was a lot of flexibility in the menus. prices were higher than some of the other caterers we talked to, but we found the service was worth it. read more

I have to say that Culinary Concepts provides a great service with excellent food. We hired them for our wedding in August and almost all of our guests commented on how amazing the food was!! With that being said, stay away from Gina Elisaon. She almost ruined our wedding charging us over $300 on the DAY of our wedding and she said they would not cater our wedding if we did not pay up. The problem is that it was her mistake and she blamed us for it. She was rude, condescending, and downright awful to work with. Again, Culinary Concepts was great and I highly recommend them, but DO NOT hire Gina to coordinate your event. Craig was very helpful and we would have been screwed if it had not been for him to save the day. In fact, we asked that she did not come to our wedding and to send someone else to set up our reception, that is how awful she was! A+ to CC, but F- to Gina. read more

Culinary Concepts was great to work with. They catered a cocktail party I had for 30ppl and working with them was seamless. Cheri contacted me soon after I sent an inquiry and we figured out a menu shortly thereafter. My questions, corrections, and requests were dealt with promptly and Cheri was very easy to contact. The food was delivered hot and on time. Bravo to the talented culinary staff for the fab food. The beef Wellington tarts were the biggest hit, the chicken satay, beef empanadas and shrimp skewers were not far behind. All the sauces were phenomenal as well. In short- STAFF: friendly, prompt, talented culinary staff. FOODS: super yum and nice presentation. I will definitely work with them again and recommend them to anyone. read more

I have been turning to Culinary Concepts for my high-end special events for more than 15 years and they never fail to impress my clients. They are extremely professional, detail oriented and attentive. They make me look good...and the food is ALWAYS wonderful. They have done three parties (buffet lunch, sit-down, plated dinner and model home grand opening) for me in the past 2 weeks and everything was perfect...from the flowers and food displays to the coordination of the necessary rental items. Thanks, Javier, Mallory, Kathy and all the staff and Chefs. read more

Just got married at the Martin Johnson at UCSD recently and we selected Culinary Concepts as our cater. Of all the choices we made, this was probably the one we got right the most. The food was fantastic (guests were telling us how much they loved the food afterwards) and the service was excellent. I was busy throughout the day, but I remember the manager magically always appearing when I most needed him with a cup of water or other beverage. You can not go wrong selecting Culinary Concepts as your wedding caterer. read more

We used Culinary Concepts for our wedding on 1/14/12 and I can't say enough good things about them. I worked mainly with Gina, and then Kevin and Craig as the wedding date approached, and they were all great! Very quick to reply and answer questions, and were more then happy to do a site walk-thru, etc. The food was amazing and it looks as good as it tastes! People are still raving about the food, and how it was the best food they have ever had at a wedding. The food was a very important part for me, and they surpassed my expectations. I would recommend them to anyone!! read more

Attended an event that Culinary Concepts catered and thought the food was outstanding for such a large number or people (over 1000). Will definitely use them for my next catered event. read more

They were the caterer's for my daughter's wedding last night and the food was excellent. Many guests noted it was the best wedding food they had ever had. The servers were professional and on point. Book them and you and your guests will have a great meal! read more

Culinary Concepts did such a fantastic job catering our wedding this past June at the Scripps Seaside Forum!! Merlot was our catering specialist, and she was great to work with. She worked with us throughout the process, arranging our tasting, conducting a walk-through with our day-of coordinator, selecting and adjusting our menu, keeping on top of our table layout & seating (even up to the last minute!), and more. She was very careful in handling the dietary restrictions, and even helped us save a bit of money, when our guest count turned out lower than expected which would otherwise have increased the per-person price. Javier was our banquet captain, and he made sure the service & food quality was top notch. He & the team served tray passed appetizers and cheese & veg displays at our cocktail hour, and served plated dinners of salad with a choice of bourbon mustard glazed tri-tip, crispy skin herb roasted chicken or stuffed bell peppers. During the ceremony, they presented a water station (very popular with the heat we had that day!) and after dinner service, they presented a coffee & tea station. We loved the food (though the versions at the tasting were a tad better) & the service, and we heard great reviews from guests for both as well! Also, my dad suffered a bit of heat-stroke towards the end of our reception, and one of the staff tended to him (along with members of my family), and regularly checked on him. (I wish we had gotten her name!) It was clear that the staff cared for our event as a whole, and not just the food, which meant a lot to us. My husband & I being fans of food & cooking, were very careful in choosing our caterer. We found Culinary Concepts to have the most flavorful, inventive food, mostly sourced locally, with professional & personal service, for an amazing value. We wish we could have the food at our wedding again!! read more

The whole team at Culinary Concepts (Christie, Aubrey, and Javier) did such a great job at our wedding last weekend! We were able to customize the entire menu, and they were able to do everything! Everyone at the wedding loved the food and had more than enough to eat. At the reception, they provided a private server to make sure that my husband and I had food and drinks throughout the whole night. Overall, their quality of food is great as well as their service! read more

The team at Culinary Concepts did an amazing job at our event on the USS Midway! We had a plated meal of Flat Iron Steak with Chimichurri Sauce and Butter Poached Shrimp with Lemon & Fennel sauce. Guests were raving about it! (Usually catered meals for 400 people are ho-hum, but this was oh-yum!) We were delighted with the food, service and overall experience & I would highly recommend them for anyone having a big (or small!) event!!! read more

Our church has had an annual women's event for the past 20-plus years. Speaking with many caterers, we found our perfect match with Culinary Concepts. They had the right price point for our budget but, just as important, was their flexibility in working through the issues required for an event for several hundred people. They made the catereing part of the event hassle free for the coordinators which was huge. Their servers were very cordial and professional. AND, the food including pasta salad, chicken Waldorf salad and more, were plentiful and delicious. We will definitely have them back next year. read more

My husband and I hired Culinary Concepts for our wedding on August 14, 2010. Now that the craziness of the wedding and honeymoon has died down, I wanted to write how wonderful we found CC and how much I would recommend them to anyone. We had a limited budget (we were paying for the wedding ourselves) but knew that the thing that mattered most to us was having wonderful food. We scheduled several tastings, and were blown away by CC's presentation. Firstly, we met with Gina in a private room and were given a tasting menu of what would be our full wedding meal. Our taste buds almost died from happiness. Gina also talked through all kinds of options, from linens to decor to the pros and cons of table service vs. buffet. They are a company that doesn't nickel and dime you either - no cake cutting fees or extra charges for cake serving set and the like. I actually found their prices extremely reasonable for the quality of service and the caliber of food. They are also amazing when it comes to handling special requests. I have a sister with a serious gluten allergy. So many caterers we talked to couldn't guarantee that her food wouldn't touch gluten. Immediately, Gina guaranteed that this was something they took very seriously. And they did - even better, on the wedding day they took special care with my sister without making her feel like she was causing a hassle. They called her by name (as opposed to, "Are you the gluten-free one?" which she often gets) and checked in with her several times to make sure she was comfortable. As someone who struggles with dining out, it meant so much they took the time and care to make her feel at ease. Danielle was on site on the day to make sure that everything was running smoothly...and I didn't have to worry about anything at all at the Reception. It went so perfectly and it seemed as though there was a never ending supply of food. I can't say enough good things about the food. There was not one single person who didn't RAVE about the meal...and by that I mean took the time to come up and say, "Amazing wedding, you look beautiful, we had fun...Oh my GOD, can I just tell you how AMAZING the food was???? Please tell your caterer we are in love with those beef wellington tartlets/braised short rib/wild mushroom ravioli....". I couldn't have asked for more from their servers either...they were friendly, courteous, and took care to make sure my husband and I were fed (which I hear is rare at weddings!). CC also had incredible vegetarian options - not just a throwaway-type meal. My husband and I got a bit of everything, and the wild mushroom raviolis were actually his favorite. We had very happy vegetarian guests (who were also all greeted and served by name). We were so happy with CC and would recommend them to anyone who is looking for a delicious, elegant meal with top notch customer service. To Gina, Danielle, and the rest of your team - we can't sing our praises enough. Thank you so so much for making our event memorable and delicious. I'm still dreaming about those deconstructed beef wellington tartlets - I can't wait for us to renew our vows in ten years so I can hire CC again! read more

Culinary Concepts made our wedding! The food and close, personal service were amazing. I feel we really lucked out when we found them through our wedding coordinator, Weddings by Gina. Guests say they always remember the food, so we wanted the best dishes. Christie and Craig at Concepts helped us design the perfect menu with the best wedding food I have ever had! Craig was on site the day of ensuring everything went smoothly, and it did. Never once during the entire day did we have to worry about a thing. Every detail was in place and every guest was amazed with the terrific food and set ups. Christie even came and poured us girls with a bottle of champagne and glasses to calm the nerves before the ceremony. We orderd the ravioli, chicken picatta, and mahi mahi. We were unsure at first about which fish we wanted, so Concepts allowed us to come back for a second tasting to try various fish dishes with various sauces. Craig made us a personal mahi dish with a mandarin sauce off the menu. They really went above and beyond to make sure were loved each dish. When guests asked us which dish was "the best" we honestly told them we could not choose. At the wedding my husband and I shared all three because they were each amazing! Their costs were very reasonable given the high quality of their dishes, which also had beautiful presentation. If we had gone to a hotel we would have easily paid twice as much for a dry piece of boring chicken. With Concepts, the prices fit our budget while providing us and our guests a truly wonderful dining experience, as though we were at a five star restaurant. They took extra care in the floor layout as well. Christie took time to meet with me at the venue to walk through the entire day. I was pleasantly surprised to see a caterer willing to do so much beyond the food. They made sure everyone was on the same page for every little detail. When the day of the wedding came, I was able to focus on myself and my new husband, as I knew we were well taken care of. Thank you so much to everyone at Culinary Concepts for making this not only the happiest day for us, but a very easy, relaxing day as well, where we only had to concentrate on our family and friends and dancing! If you are looking for professionals with the highest quality menus and service, these are your guys! read more

We really enjoyed working with Culinary Concepts for our reception catering and they did a great job. The quality of food provided did not change from our personal tasting session to the actual event. Christie and the rest of the CC staff were all very available and helpful, answering e-mails promptly, talking us through menu and decor choices in person, and providing feedback on bar ordering (even though we did the purchasing on our own). I also appreciated that Christie and the team have a lot of experience working at the UCSD venues and could help guide us through the various regulations. Because we had two locations (CC took care of the ceremony rentals for us, as well), we ended up working with probably 5 different people as we got closer to the wedding. While it complicated things a bit since I wasn't always sure whom I should be contacting and I think some details weren't passed on to the right people, everyone was nice and extremely professional. As a bride working without a wedding planner, I thought it was great that the CC crew acted as day-of coordinators for both sites. They had names and numbers of all the vendors that would be setting up or making deliveries and made sure that people were there on time. Additionally, my husband and I especially appreciated the personalized service we received during the reception - they saved appetizers from cocktail hour for us to taste when we first arrived to the venue, brought our meals as soon as we sat down, and made sure to leave us slices of cake to eat during a break from the dancing. read more

I hired Culinary Concepts to cater an event that I organized for my company. The event was for 500 people on the USS Midway. Gina helped design a menu that was innovative, yet pleasing to the whole crowd. The set up kept people moving through quickly. The food was delicious and I heard lots of positive comments from our attendees. As a planner, I am so impressed with the level of professionalism and communication from the first communication through to the last invoice. I will definitely hire them again and happily recommend them! read more

This review is based on the consulting process only, as we decided to go with a caterer that my friends used for their wedding. I had called and emailed several caterers throughout San Diego including Culinary Concepts. Many of them never called back or they quoted me price that more than exceeded the budget I gave them. Mallory from Culinary Concepts promptly called me back, asked me questions, and really listened to what I was looking for. I mentioned that I wanted a more casual theme so I was thinking of doing stations. After discussing types of food, rentals, and budget, said she would put together a proposal in the next few days. The proposal Mallory put together really impressed me. The food stations were creative and fun, and it really broke down the cost of everything. Most importantly she listened to my needs and wants and stayed within the budget! If I didn't have the stellar experience from my friends wedding I would have definitely gone with Culinary Concepts. Their professionalism and great customer service has been noted and I would recommend them to anyone searching for a quality caterer. read more