Used Culinary Excellence for our wedding day doing our catering, flowers, linens/tableware, lighting and coordination and couldn't have been happier! Fantastic food, extremely smooth event, all of the flowers and lighting were beautiful. Couldn't have been happier! read more

This review is embarrassingly overdue. My wife and I married last June in Berkeley, CA. Culinary Excellence was among the short list of approved caterers for our venue. Although the point of contact would normally be a coordinator, we had the rare fortune of being able to work directly with the owner. Christian was a consummate professional who was clearly experienced in catering weddings and other special events. Incidentally, he is a trained pastry chef and worked as medical physician (cardiologist) in a former life. Like any given wedding, planning was a daunting and stressful task but Christian and his team at Culinary Excellence made it less daunting and stressful. Every step of the process was done very smoothly and professionally from the initial tasting, to the planning, to the execution. The wedding itself was beautifully catered by Culinary Excellence who provided the furniture, the hors d'oeuvres, the entrees, and the wedding cake itself. They also had lawn games available for rent. The staff that serviced the wedding were also very professional and friendly. As a welcomed bonus, Christian also offers to bake your wedding cake for you on your first wedding anniversary. This is so you don't have to observe that weird tradition of freezing your wedding cake to eat on your wedding anniversary. I would happily Christian and his Culinary Excellence them to anyone planning to get married in the Bay Area. read more

We used Culinary Excellence to cater our November 2007 wedding, and we were very pleased all around. We chose them because after all the tastings we attended, Culinary Excellence was the most promising combination of food quality and estimated price, and that was despite the fact we caught Christian on an off-day. Things only got better from there. My wife and I had our wedding at the Julia Morgan Ballroom (a fantastic venue, BTW), and we had some ideas about how we wanted things to look, but we weren't sure about the specifics. Christian understood our vision right away and brilliantly filled in all the details. In fact, he took the look of the wedding to another level. All we really had to do was listen to Christian's ideas and say "that sounds great". The wedding was elegant and simple. We didn't get to eat much of the food, but what we had was great. The salad alone was so inventive and attractive we almost included a picture of it in our wedding album. We received all sorts of compliments. I've already mentioned Christian a lot. We thought he was great, but the rest of the staff at Culinary Excellence was great, too. Katherine, in particular, helped us a lot, too (largely through email). Culinary Excellence owns a lot of it's own supplies. Using them will save you some rental fees, but obviously your options are limited if you go that way. Overall, we were very happy. We highly encourage anyone to check into Culinary Excellence for any catering needs. read more

Culinary Excellence catered our wedding at the Brazil Room in Nov 2016. We had actually booked them 18 months earlier wanting to get our caterer selection out of the way and they certainly did not disappoint. We worked with Jessica for the entire duration. She was very quick to respond to all inquiries, including our very first one, which was why we booked them - because all other catering companies took weeks and sometimes months to respond back! The contract and pricing are very clear and reasonable. They were able to price match us on some items like gobo and lighting. Not only were their prices reasonable, but the food was also delicious, according to our guests :-) I also hired Jess to be our Day-of-coordinator since they are an approved caterer for Brazil Room and she knows the venue like the back of her hand. We had a great wedding with them! read more

There are not enough stars to do justice to the amazing work that Jess and her team did for our wedding. One of our best decisions was to hire Culinary Excellence as a one-stop-shop to do our food, flowers, decorations, lighting, and coordination. CE was very familiar with our venue, the Gardens at Heather Farm, and gave us great ideas when planning. From start to finish Jess was a fun, friendly, and hyper-organized breath of fresh air. We had an unexpected problem pop up four days before the wedding, and she went above and beyond to take care of it for us so we could focus on enjoying our wedding. Not a single thing went wrong (that I noticed) during the wedding, which went smoothly due to Jess + team's upbeat professionalism behind the scenes. The food was incredible (the team made sure we tried all the cocktail hour appetizers, and the shortibs got rave reviews from our guests), our flowers were exquisite, our cake came free with our dinner package, and every element of the reception setup was spot on. The one piece of feedback for CE would be that their pricing structure was somewhat opaque (it was not always clear why elements cost what they did, perhaps we should have asked more questions), but overall I'd definitely advise anyone to do themselves a favor and choose Culinary Excellence so they can enjoy a well-run event! read more

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Wow! Culinary Creations delivers a superb meal. On line ordering is easy. Responses to questions are prompt. And the meals are incredible. Make sure you try everything on the menu! read more

Jessica and her team at Culinary Excellence are absolutely amazing! My wife and I worked with Jessica for both catering and day-of-coordination for our wedding. The food was excellent and reasonably priced, and having Jessica as our day-of coordinator was just a godsend. She is a seasoned professional who knew our wedding venue like the back of her hand. When my wife was having trouble pinning her wedding dress before our first dance, Jessica personally helped us out and made it work. During our planning process, Jessica was always prompt with her replies and astute with her suggestions. We couldn't be happier with how everything worked out. read more

Jess was wonderful! We received so many compliments on the appetizers as well as the dinner meal! The only complaint was that they wanted more food! Such a fabulous experience. We are already planning when we can book next with them! read more

I had Chris and Jessica cater a super high end wine dinner party at my house and all I can say is - WOW! Chris and I sat down and planned out a menu based on the wines that I had selected. We tasted each one and he had some great ideas about pairings. The finished menu took my breath away but not as much as the actual dinner. The technique involved was incredible and the quality of the ingredients was out of this world. Lobster two ways, duck two ways including homemade pate. A5 Wagyu beef with black truffles - need I say more. This was a 7 course menu that was really 9 courses - it was a once in a lifetime experience and I have to say that Chris and Jessica with Culinary Excellence hit this one right out of the park. If you don't hire them for your next event, then you are missing out. read more

We used Culinary Excellence for our wedding two weeks ago, and there aren't enough good things to say about it! Alanna, our DOC, was prompt, professional, and respectful, from the very first e-mail until we picked up our leftover supplies a few days after the wedding. We felt 100% confident entrusting her with the responsibilities she took on. She communicated quickly and always left us feeling taken care of. Our menu was mostly vegan and CE was extremely accommodating. At the end of the night, everyone raved about how delicious everything was. Our only regret is that we didn't use them for our flowers and decor. read more

Culinary Excellence catered my daughter's wedding at the Brazilian room on Halloween. Katherine worked with us from beginning to end, and it seemed that there was never a problem that she didn't have a quick and great solution for. The room exceeded my expectations, thanks to CE's table settings, and my son's recommendation of uplighting, and glowed with warmth and elegance. The buffet was beautiful, and Katherine was happy to take some of our extra decorations and work it into her presentation. When it came to the food, the fact that many of the quests when back for seconds, and some even thirds speaks for itself. And what can I say about the cake that Chris decorated! It was inspired by the cake in the movie "the Corpse Bride", and Chris can be flattered to know that I think it was even more beautiful than the one in the movie. Culinary Excellence went above and beyond to make a memorable evening, all within our modest budget. read more

Culinary Excellence Catering - Halloween 2010 Wedding - Caterers Near Me - Oakland, California

It's one thing to attend a great wedding that serves great food... it's another to be served great food by the great chef himself! My sister and I had attended a friend's wedding, but I was fasting that day so I couldn't eat until later in the evening after the food had already been served. My sister went to the back to ask if we could have a couple to-go boxes made for when I could eat, but the chef insisted that to-go boxes weren't necessary and that he'd put a couple plates aside and warm them back up when we were ready to eat. Lo and behold... we had told Christian that we could eat at 8pm, and he was there at 7:59pm with two plates serves like them just came out the oven... Christian you're the man! When there are a couple hundred people to tend to, and I wasn't even part of the grooms entourage... way to make someone feel special and give outstanding customer service! I will definitely, absolutely refer Culinary Excellence every chance I get... keep up the great good and great service! read more

Culinary Excellence just catered our wedding on 6/27/15 at Preservation Park in Oakland. THEY. WERE. AMAZING. That's really all there is to say, but I'll say more. We worked with Jessica the whole time (over a year); she was incredible throughout the entire process. Let me back up and say that I plan events for a living so I was...let's just say...an extremely organized bride. I was honestly nervous that my vendors wouldn't live up to my organizational standards. Turns out I had NOTHING to be concerned about. Jessica was always a phone call or email away, quick to respond, super on top of things, and always there to address my many (many!) questions. We also hired CE to bring/install our dance floor, do our centerpiece flower arrangements, and paid a little (seriously, super reasonable) extra for Jessica to act as our Day of Coordinator. On the wedding day, Jessica and the rest of the CE staff were simply wonderful. She was there to make me laugh and keep me feeling like a normal person. She went above and beyond -- from making sure our decorations were set up just-so to getting me a beer during cocktail hour. The rest of her staff were friendly, attentive, professional -- everything you could want. Um, and the food? IT IS SO GOOD!!!! We are still getting comments from guests about how unbelievably delicious the food was. Everyone kept telling us, "Oh you won't have time to even eat at your own wedding!" But once we tasted our menu we made a vow that WE WOULD EAT! And eat we did; in fact Jessica told us she had never seen a bride and groom eat so much at their own dinner. What can I say? It was that good. She also packed us leftovers, which we then savored for the next few days and continue to talk about every night when we look forlornly into our sad refrigerator. The other thing I want to mention is that we chose the "Budget Menu" -- by far the absolute best deal we could find when we were researching caterers. In fact, at a meeting with another caterer I told the woman what I was hoping to pay per head (which was what CE was quoting) and she laughed in my face and said, "Good luck finding that price in the Bay Area." Um, thank you because that's what we paid with your competitor! And Jessica/CE never once made us feel like we were "budget clients" -- they treated us like a priority from start to finish. I know our guests would be shocked to find out what a good deal we got. In short, HIRE THESE PEOPLE!!!!!!!! read more

In a nutshell, the absolute best. Culinary Excellence catered our wedding this August and we couldn't have been happier. Not once did they bat an eye at our wacky ideas for rock opera marriage vows or our Bride of Frankenstein meets The Creature From the Black Lagoon theme (trust me, it was beautiful!) Out of all the caterers on the approved vendor list for our venue, Culinary Excellence came in with the best bid and gave us the most value for our money. Everything was included in the bid - absolutely no hidden fees, which means a lot when you are planning a wedding (as soon as a vendor hears the word "wedding" the cost usually jumps 20%. Given this, I was frankly surprised at the bid Katherine sent us - it was so reasonable). My husband and I love good food and love to cook and eat, so the bar was set long ago for the possibilities of deliciousness at our wedding. We had to have amazing food, and more importantly, amazing rice (my husband is Japanese and to quote, "We aren't having any of that damn bird-seed rice at our wedding"). Katherine totally got how important that was and on the day, the rice was perfection - short grained stickiness all the way! They crafted a delicious Hawaiian/Cali feast that our guests are still raving about: Kalua Pork, mini SPAM musubi, halibut with buerre blanc, an amazing salad with papaya, bananas and mac nuts, roasted asparagus, crispy new potatoes, mini sliders on King's Hawaiian sweet rolls, seared ahi on cucumber, lomi salmon wonton crisps, and much more. Many of our guests had seconds and even thirds. AND they made 3 vegan meals for our more "high maintenance" guests :) at no extra charge. The service and staff were amazing. The room looked gorgeous and drinks flowed throughout the night. We had a blast thanks to these guys. The video of our wedding reception mosh pit is the proof! read more

This review is long overdue. Alanna Zerby and her team at Culinary Excellence were incredibly attentive, organized, proactive, incredibly helpful. They really ensured our wedding reception was a fun event for us and all of our guests. We hired Culinary Excellence to cater our wedding reception, and Alanna as our day of coordinator, and we couldn't be happier with our decision! Alanna was incredibly helpful throughout the whole process, and was very familiar with our venue and was able to provide a lot of very helpful advice and tips. And she was incredibly accommodating with my last minute questions and changes. When the day came, my husband and I were able to just have fun and enjoy the day, because Alanna and her team handled everything without a hitch. The food choices at Culinary Excellence were delicious, we went with the Pork Tenderloin and the Vegan Mushroom Lasagna. We LOVED it (my husband and I both eat meat and still wanted seconds of lasagna). The mushroom tart appetizers were a huge hit as well. We got lots of great feedback from the guests on the food as well. The array of items available at Culinary Excellence makes it very easy to pick options that will meet a variety of dietary needs of guests. They were also more than willing to accommodate special requests, such as a second dessert of bowls of fresh watermelon (my husband's favorite), as well as setting out on the tables bowls cheese curds shipped in from my home state of Wisconsin, which all helped to make our reception very personalized. We also got our sound system, lights, and flowers through Culinary Excellence. Everything was set up and ready to go by the time we got there, and the flowers were beautiful. It made it much easier for us to plan with Alanna overseeing everything and with Culinary Excellence being out one-stop-shop for all of our event needs. We really can't thank Alanna and Culinary Excellence enough. Fantastic service, delicious food, and a beautiful event all at a very reasonable price! read more

Culinary Excellence was great as our caterer and for our day-of coordination for our wedding. The food was amazing and worth every penny! Service was good and they were very understanding of a few different dietary needs. Jessica was our day-of coordinator and was very thorough in the planning stage and kept us on track throughout the day. We also used them for the lighting for cocktail hour and reception and all of it looked great. We were a little nervous about them being stingy with pouring drinks but it ended up being just fine. This was a wonderful company to use for catering for a wedding on a budget; we were able to pick and choose the add-on's that mattered to us and not be forced into certain packages. They made our wedding day run smoothly so it was amazing and everyone loved the food! Thanks so much! read more

After planning my wedding for the last year, I just married my best friend on August 22nd. It was a total success, and a large part of that was the dedication and skill of Culinary Excellence and their staff. My husband and I met our coordinator Jessica at the Brazilian Room's open house, and she was almost instantly our choice. She is so charming, funny, and warm, and none of the other caterers seemed to be as interested in talking about our wedding as she was. After getting a very reasonable quote, we decided to go with CE and Jessica. As others have mentioned, Jessica is always on top of her game. Every time I emailed with a question, a thorough response would be given within a few hours. When we met for the tasting and to plan, everything was well displayed and my options were clear. We ended up going with the "budget" chicken buffet option with 4 passed appetizers. All of the food was delicious, and I received a lot of compliments. Speaking of compliments, the staff at CE was celebrated by all of my guests. From the bar tending, serving apps, and checking in, each person was happy, smiling, and generally seemed interested in making sure that every guest was having a great time. CE also did our flowers, and they did an excellent job of making my small budget stretch. The flowers were beautiful and plentiful. On the day of, Jessica was truly a magician. She knew what I needed or was curious about before the idea was even solidified in my mind. I really can't say enough about how at ease I was knowing that she was there and making sure that everything went off without a hitch. Long story short is that you should hire CE for your wedding or catering needs. I would do it all again in a heartbeat! read more

We chose Culinary Excellence to cater our wedding reception at the Temescal Beach House. The team there is very accommodating, and Jess was great to work with for discussing details for our food and venue set up. We had a lot of last minute changes due to weather, and they were super easy to contact and work with to make it how we wanted at the last minute. The food they served at the wedding was excellent and was just like the tasting, and we received a lot of compliments from our guests that it was some of the best catered food they have had. The service during the reception was great, all the staff is super friendly. The quotes we received as we updated our reception plan were always clear on the pricing, and it was nice that Culinary Excellence could provide services outside of just the food. Highly recommend for use in catering your wedding reception or event. read more

I never write reviews, but I was so thrilled with Culinary Excellence that I feel compelled to share. I got married at the Brazilian Room in Berkeley a week ago and just had the best experience imaginable with Culinary Excellence. Jessica was so much fun to work with and has such a great sense of humor. She made our experience easy and we actually looked forward to all of our meetings with her (especially the cake-tasting, which was awesome). When I saw the room completely set up on our wedding day, I couldn't believe how beautiful it looked. It was so much better than I imagined it. Jessica was so sweet at the wedding (she gave me hugs all night to keep me from getting nervous) and, even though she was running the show, she never looked frazzled or stressed. She was totally professional and polished all the time. The food was so excellent! We got lots of compliments on it (especially the salmon with mango salsa and the potatoes au gratin) and my husband loved the tri-tip. The cake was delicious (especially the pumpkin spice with cream cheese frosting) and our guests raved about that too. The service was flawless. Right after the ceremony ended, my husband and I went to the bridal suite to change shoes and decompress, and had a waitress come by twice with plates of appetizers for us. And she was so sweet; she asked which ones were our favorites so she could bring plenty of those. All of them were SO good! But our favorites were the mini beef wellingtons and sun-dried tomato and feta stuffed puff pastry. Good enough to ruin your appetite for :) Everything was so great! I think this was the easiest part of the wedding for us. I highly recommend Culinary Excellence and would gladly use them again. read more

I hired Culinary Excellence, with Danny as the catering coordinator, for my San Francisco wedding in July 2016. We were recommended to him by a very good friend who had hired him for her own wedding. At the beginning of the process Danny was wonderful; very attentive, responsive, answered all my questions and seemed like a great fit. At our first tasting we were impressed by the quality of food for such a reasonable price. We decided on details at the tasting like upgraded linens, special napkins, chairs, etc. Before the tasting, Danny had confirmed we would also be having our cake tasting that day. At the end of the food tasting we realized that Danny had forgotten and we had to reschedule for another day. That was disappointing and a signal of future issues. When we came back for our cake tasting, we were excited as Danny indicated he had a lot of ideas for a special flavor we wanted. When we arrived there were only 3 flavors and only 3 mini cupcakes. We were highly disappointed in all the flavors and Danny fluffed it off as "well this is what we have". When we wanted to review all the special upgrades, we realized that Danny had not documented any of our previous choices. After this, when I would email him, I would not get a response for weeks or in some cases, no response at all (ex. we went with another florist because he never replied with the quote he promised us). We had originally hired Danny for extra coordinating, in addition to catering services. After the cake tasting and lack of communication, we canceled his day of coordination services. Overall, Culinary Excellence offers lots of services but they are too highly focused on the quantity of events and not quality. I originally wanted to hire them for catering, flowers, cake, coordination and more. The lack of communication leading up to the wedding lead me to choose other vendors; in the end Culinary Excellence lost over $6,000 worth of business with us. However, the food was excellent and high quality. We had a wonderful wedding day, but I would not hire Culinary Excellence again. They were a disappointment in the planning process and lack of professionalism. read more

Wow! I had my wedding last night at the Brazilian Room in Tilden Park, and Culinary Excellence did my catering, flowers, and my cake. They completely worked with us on our budget, and respected our decisions all along the way. Christian and Katherine were friendly and knowledgable, and truly passionate about their work. While I initially had some reservations about using my caterer as my florist, the price was too good to pass up. Let me just say I was completely blown away with *every* single thing these guys did. From the incredibly tasty food, to the gorgeous flowers (bouquets, centerpieces, altar pieces, everything exceeded my expectations), to the most delicious wedding cake EVER (chocolate marble almond cheesecake with marzipan covering, mmmm, I just about had an orgasm when my new hubby fed me my first bite), and great friendly servers. Trust me, I am a *very* picky bride, with particular tastes about every thing. I'm sure I drove them nuts with all my emails and double and triple checking of things. But I can't rave about these guys enough, if you are planning a wedding or an event, check these guys out. You won't be sorry. read more

We had a wedding in early May with this company and they couldnt have been more professional and attentive. Every detail was covered by their planner, Alanna, who let us cut loose during the reception while she took care of the logistics. The food was byond perfect from the apps to the entrées, everybody thoroughly enjoyed the themseves. The serving staff was polite and pleasant. I dont want to brag but we had what was titled as the "wedding of the century" (not self proclaimed) and this catering company was apart of the foundation. I would highly recommend them for any kind of affair. Thank you Alanna! read more

Culinary Excellence and everyone who works there are fabulous! They did our December 2007 wedding at the Brazil room. Our wedding was as perfect as it gets, and it was because Culinary excellence has worked this place a ton of times and really know what they are doing! Culinary excellence was within our budget and the food was AMAZING. Plus, they lent us vases and Brazil-room approved candle holders (who wants to buy and then keep 15 vases??) Chris went out of his way to make sure we were happy and comfortable and things were running smoothly, it really is part of what made the wedding so wonderful! They knew what they were doing so we didn't have to! I cannot recommend Chris and Katherine enough! Such nice people that love their work! (P.S. I also think the bad reviewer is not authentic...) read more

Writing a review from a different perspective.... I worked freelance as a bartender for awhile before settling down at my current 5 star restaurant. In my experiences with not only, Chris and Katherine, but also many of their clients, I have seen NOTHING but smiling faces on the clients, the staff, and Chris and Katherine themselves! They were AMAZING to work with! Unbelievably professional, yet LOTS of FUN!!! Exactly what you need when running a wedding reception or ANY other celebration! I never saw a SINGLE angry face in the ENTIRE time I worked with them. And I know when I plan that well.....you know....."event"....of my own, I will DEFINITELY be hiring Culinary Excellence to handle the details! MASTERS of service!!! read more

If you know what is good for you, you will chose CE for your event. We hired CE to cater our wedding. They were our first and only tasting, and we decided to go with them halfway through our tasting session. The staff: WOW. Excellent customer service, excellent preparation, excellent presentation. Every staff member was great. We worked a lot with Jessica, who treated us as if we were their first priority at all times. Jessica was SO HELPFUL and we are so thankful to her for making our wedding so beautiful. Chris ran things during the wedding, and he was equally amazing and attentive. WONDERFUL people. The food: UM, WOW. Every guest raved about the food. This is not your average banquet catering food. This is gourmet deliciousness at its finest. We were allowed to design our own menu based on the theme of our wedding, and it was SO so good. CE did our cake too, and it was beautiful and tasty. The flowers: Oh, yeah, this is a one-stop shop. I LOVED having them take care of the food, the cake, and the flowers. The flowers were JUST PERFECT. We had tropical flowers cascading out of tiki torches, and they looked like they were on fire. It was so beautiful. We also had fresh leis instead of bouquets, and those were exactly as we'd pictured - fresh and exotic. The price: Weddings are expensive. CE worked with us to stay within our budget, but no matter how much they charge you, I promise, you will not regret your choice. The service, the food, the presentation, and the details were well worth the money. If I had to do it again, I would choose CE again. In fact, I wish we could do it again, that's how good CE is. We had our beautiful dream wedding thanks to Jessica, Chris, and everyone at CE. THANK YOU! read more

I am just doing a quick check in to tell everyone that Culinary Excellence is AMAZING. Our wedding was spectacular!! You will be sooo happy with CE. Service was like a 5-star restaurant. Chris, Katherine and their smiling helpful staff made everything happen exactly as promised. We were so proud to have them serving our guests. Katherine waited for what felt like 30 minutes during one of our epic family photos sessions just to check in with me to see if I was okay and if I needed anything. Food was delicious! My mom continues to get phone calls from friends and family about how great the food was. French and Persian people are picky! They are accustomed to delicious food, and Chris delivered BIG TIME. My relatives can't believe that Chris isn't Persian because his stews and rice tasted like their grandma's :) Cake and croquembouche. Beautiful! Most stunning example of a croquembouche that I have ever seen. And the cream puffs were so delicious that I can still taste them. Big regret - I didn't eat more! PLUS Chris surprised us with a very very beautiful and elegant cake. He incorporated jasmin flowers into the decor because it matches my name. He is so sweet! Chris' flowers made my ceremony unforgettable. The bright color combinations and beauty of Chris' arrangements are etched in my mind and make me almost want to cry with happiness because they bring such good memories of that day. My friends are sending photos of our flowers to their moms in order to get ideas for their own weddings. Overall coordination - PERFECT. Katherine was on top of everything from the beginning of planning to the end of the night and beyond. Nothing for us to worry about at all. Katherine's guidance and oversight helped my mom and I enjoy every SECOND of the wedding day with a big smile. read more

My wife and I had our wedding with CE as our one stop shop! They did everything and held our hands through all the coordination stuff, including keeping things on schedule while feeling easy breezy for us. Jessica was super friendly and amazing at helping with literally everything. The food was EXCELLENT and those salads were the talk of the town! If you are getting married in the Bay Area please save yourself the headache and reach out to these fine folks! read more

When you're choosing a caterer for your wedding you're making a big bet, and I went with Culinary Excellence. I worked with Jessica and she was so patient and responsive to my millions of questions, acting like I was the only bride she had to deal with when I'm sure she was super busy. They were great at working with my budget, and I was so happy that they were able to set up and break down all our decor. I was so nervous that my vision wouldn't come out right, but they did the setup better than if I'd done it myself. Jessica was also there the day of and made sure the schedule ran smoothly. I could not recommend them enough. read more

I just got married at Preservation Park this past weekend and found Culinary Excellence through the venue's preferred catering list. I started communicating with Jessica almost 14 months ago and 40+ emails later, we finally arrived at our wedding day. We found Culinary Excellence to have the best prices and we loved everything that we tried during our tasting. We chose the 2 entree buffet and hand-passed appetizers. We got compliments from several guests about the food, including some relatives who are pretty picky about what they eat! The buffet line moved at a good pace and there was plenty to go around for 180 guests. We bought our own alcohol and dropped it off at Culinary Excellence the day before to have our sangria prepared ahead of time. Jessica was wonderful and added in a couple of the extra ingredients that I completely forgot about in the pre-wedding chaos. They transported everything, which was so convenient and helpful. We also brought our own cake, which Jessica's team cut and passed out at no additional charge. Jessica was a joy to work with! She was always cheerful, easy to communicate with, and super quick to respond. My husband and I are both in grad school, so we were concerned about staying within our budget, especially for food. Jessica was flexible with our menu and she worked with us to make sure that we were allocating our money wisely. On wedding day, she stayed from set up to clean up. She even made us plates from the buffet to ensure that we actually ate at our wedding! And she packed us cake to take home. Overall, I had a wonderful experience with Culinary Excellence! They made my wedding a huge hit and I could not be more thankful to have Jessica working with me throughout the planning process. read more

We were not initially planning to use a professional caterer at our wedding, but decided to at least check out the possible vendors associated with our venue. We found Culinary Excellence at a tasting event and were impressed with the variety of tasty food being sampled, as well as their many different services offered (e.g. setup/cleanup, cake, bar, games, etc), which were also reasonably priced. We hired Culinary Excellence for our 50-person wedding in Oakland at the Temescal Beach House. The tastings we did were fun, the food was very good and the final cake was way yummier than the cupcakes we sampled. As a minor note, there were a few typos in their food menu, but none led to confusion and that is my only real gripe. Coordinator Alanna was an enthusiastic professional to work with from the start and provided great advice and guidance throughout the process. The wedding day went seamlessly, and overall, we would highly recommend Alanna and the Culinary Excellence team. read more

Culinary Excellence Catering - Reception setup - Caterers Near Me - Oakland, California

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THE VERY BEST ALL INCLUSIVE PROFESSIONAL CATERERS ONE COULD WISH FOR!!!! Our daughter was married in our home last weekend and Culinary Excellence made the event perfectly and positively a fantastic experience from start to finish. The first great impression we received was at the tasting. In fact everything was so good that we had quite a time deciding what to select. However, my biggest surprise came when the food was served it was just as good as at the tasting!! Chris and Danny made the planning so very simple, taking care of all of our needs. They were completely professional and so helpful with all of the details. From the elegant flowers to romantic backlighting, beautiful table settings with lovely linens, exceptional cake and cupcakes, excellent and professional servers and chef, the experience was amazing!! Close in, we decided to go with an arch for the ceremony. When we requested it there was no problem, it arrived and was decorated with beautiful flowers!! As far as pricing goes, Chris and Danny made every effort to stay within our budget and I believe the expense was worth every penny and more. They really are reasonably priced and it was such a relief to have all the details handled by a single professional organization. Danny was just the best, he completely put me at ease with his reassuring demeanor. The wedding turned out to be just perfect, a spectacular memory maker in every way!!! Chris A. Montclair CA read more

Culinary Excellence catered our wedding at the Montclair Women's Cultural Art Center in Oakland in August of 2005. The food was amazing (delicious AND beautiful), and just what I wanted. Katherine, their event planner, was great to work with, and Chris, the owner, does incredible work. Everyone commented on how great the food was, and their pricing was very reasonable. I would absolutely use them for another event. Be very suspicious of the bad review. I think it must be a competitor or someone who bashes just for fun. Her review is so off-base as to be comical. Katherine and Chris were consumately professional, patient and kind...even when I was having a Bridezilla moment. read more

I cannot praise Culinary Excellence enough for making my wedding magical! Danny and Chris and their top-notch crew went above and beyond the call of duty. From the first time I met Danny to discuss my wedding plans to the moment I left the reception, he was supportive and creative. The food was wonderful, as evidenced by the comments my guests made. When I made changes to what I wanted, such as flowers, they made them without complaint. They even made 'care packages' for my husband and I to take with us after the reception. They quietly helped with the timing of the reception and made sure guests were comfortable and happy. They could easily charge twice as much as they do for the amount of personal attention and care they brought to their work. They are simply the best! read more