If I could give Culinary Excellence 100 stars, I would. I have never worked with a business that cares so much about their clients. I was immediately impressed by their prompt communication, excellent tasting, and the amazing Jessica (the senior event coordinator). My husband and I were looking forward to our wedding last July. Unfortunately, two days before our wedding, my partner was involved in an accident. He was in a coma, and we had to cancel our wedding 2 days before the event. As you can imagine, it was an extremely difficult time. Jessica and the rest of the staff were very supportive during my partner's recovery. Both Jes and Chris checked in with us, and their words meant a lot. Most vendors would probably keep the entire cost of the catering, especially since the event was cancelled two days before the date. If this had happened, we never would have been able to have another wedding. Culinary Excellence, however, did not keep the cost of the catering from the cancelled event. Instead, they catered our wedding this past summer without penalty. This is of course a very special circumstance, but I believe that it truly demonstrates their dedication and kindness to their clients. The food was absolutely delicious. We received so many compliments from the guests, and many guests would like to use Culinary Excellence for future catering needs. The wedding cake was also the best wedding cake I have EVER tasted. Thank you Culinary Excellence. And thank you,, Jessica for everything! Words cannot express how much I appreciate you and the rest of your staff. read more

Culinary Excellence is everything their name says and more! I am a little slow in writing this review, they were the caterer for my daughters wedding in April 2014. They are simply the BEST, my only regret is that I did not have them do more. Jessica and Chris were a dream to work with. They really know their business and were able to work with us well and within our budget. About 25% of our guests were vegan and vegetarian which would have been a challenge with any other caterer, but not Culinary Excellence. The food was amazing, we are still receiving compliments on how wonderful the food was. Additionally, the presentation was amazing. They also did the flowers for the wedding party, which were absolutely beautiful. The facility was supposed to have all the tables set up prior to Culinary Excellence arriving, but the person from Heather Farms (the venue) showed up very late. As soon as he opened, Jessica and Chris had their team jump in and set up the room, no questions asked. They are extremely professional and kept me from worrying about any details. I would definitely have them cater any event and strongly recommend that anyone who wants professional planning, wonderful food, great flowers and a stress free event use Culinary Excellence. They are simply the best. read more

Food was EXCELLENT!!!!!!! What really stood out was the staff. Day of the wedding chaos struck due to weather and traffic. I sincerely mean it when I say it would have been a complete catastrophe without Jessica and her crew. There was so much to stay on top of and move around and Jessica did it with so much poise and grace. We have only to thank her and her staff for pulling the night off, despite the unplanned. Jessica made sure we were fed properly, as you can at times forget to eat as the whirlwind of the day takes hold and people are pulling you in all directions. I have to say the VERY best meal I have had at any wedding was ours. Culinary Excellence is a class act operation. Trust these folks, your guests bellies will thank you. Plus, our cake was gorgeous, not to mention all the help they gave us with decor. Thank you so so much to Jessica and the Culinary Excellence Team. My family and guests mentioned to me several times during and after the wedding how wonderful they were and how mind blowing good their food was. These guys have it down, hire them you most definitely will not regret it. read more

We hired CE to provide the service, tableware and chairs for our wedding this past August. We used another caterer for the food. Our experience with CE may not reflect the experiences of others they have worked with however in our case we had certain expectations which CE had set that weren't completely met. The tableware, linens, and chairs we rented from them were great, no problems there. The staff providing the service that day were respectful and friendly. We didn't receive any complaints from our guests regarding the staff. We did receive feedback from our guests that they didn't get any cupcakes and we had ran out of tonic water for all the vodka we purchased. Unfortunately after the wedding we left our venue with 5 dozen cupcakes and 5 bottles of tonic water that went overlooked by CE. There were some other things we had previously talked about with CE that did not happen. Other guests mentioned our caterer seemed overwhelmed. Her other partner was unable to work the event due to some unforseen circumstances so not sure if the oversights on that day were due to this. Also, during the planning phase we had an incident with one of the partners and asked for some clarity regarding our concerns. One of the partners took accountability for the misunderstandings and she did a good job addressing our concerns. I was disappointed with the reply we received from the other partner since I didn't think it was client focused but my husband tried to keep a decent relationship with him because all that mattered was that our expectations were met on that day. Unfortunately due to all these circumstances we left the experience feeling disappointed as we continue to hear more comments/feedback from family and friends who attended the wedding. Then again, everyone kept telling me nothing goes according to plan on your wedding day so I guess that's one thing I did expect. We rolled with it and still had a great time on our wedding day read more

Let me start this review by saying that if I could give Jessica and Culinary Excellence a 100 stars, I would happily do so! Hiring them was one of the best decisions I made throughout the wedding planning process (besides saying yes to the groom!). Jessica and I exchanged well over 150 emails during the 9 months of planning, and she promptly responded to each one! She helped me so much throughout the planning process! All of the details she put into our special day made everything come together so well. All of my other vendors have raved about working with Jess! It makes the day run so smoothly when all the vendors work together as an amazing team! Jessica and Culinary Excellence did our food, bartending, flowers, dessert table, rentals (chairs, barrels, tables, linens, etc), and lighting (uplighting and bistro lighting outside). She had such great taste and vision in making our day so beautiful. I am not a visual person, and I did not have every creative detail mapped out, and everything Jessica did was so much more beautiful than I could have imagined! She helped us create a gorgeous outdoor barrel bar for our wine-themed wedding. She did beautiful flowers with the succulents I had grown in my garden, as well as hydrangeas, lavender, roses, scabiosa pods, etc.. I told her I wanted a lot of texture, and she nailed it! As a former wedding catering staff myself, I was very insistent that I wanted great service from the staff. I was very impressed with the staff of Culinary Excellence. They were engaging my guests, and I did not see a single dirty plate sitting around! Many of my guests commented how fun Gwen was! They also did a great job of checking on myself and the groom, and getting us whatever we needed. Jessica also went out of her way to buy these awesome cork water bottles for the table, since she thought they would go so well with our theme. It really helped to tie everything together. I've had SO many people rave about the food! Everyone loved it! And we've all been to enough weddings to know that's it's pretty rare for everyone to be so wowed by the food! We did a buffet with stuffed pork, sirloin pasta, grilled vegetables, 2 delicious salads, and a twice baked gruyere potato. Appetizers were tray passed lomi lomi salmon wontons, fried ravioli, and fig goat cheese flatbread, as well as a cheese and cracker station. I had a lot of Gluten allergy people in attendance and in the bridal party, and Jess and her team were great at modifying the menu to have it mostly be Gluten Free. For the wontons, we did half on cucumbers, and our entire entree buffet was gluten free. She also got gluten free bread and crackers for the cheese station. Jess also had the chef modify the blueberry cobbler to be GF as well. Desserts were a small ceremony cake, blueberry cobbler, macaroons, mini key lime pie tarts, mini 7 layer cakes, and chocolate cookies. After the ceremony, Jess personally delivered apps and drinks to myself and the groom, and made sure we had a moment to admire the reception space. The entire night, she was actively involved in making sure everything ran smoothly. The breakdown at the end of the night was super quick, too! All in all, our wedding turned out to be a beautiful, September San Francisco day, and Jess played a huge part in that. We are now FB friends and have plans to get a drink next time I am in the Bay! read more

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Finally done with all the wedding and post-wedding craziness, so I can compose this well deserved review. Culinary Excellence and their staff were basically amazing. We were looking for a caterer that could do as many of our wedding jobs as possible. We did our flowers, cake, lighting, food, and service all through CE, and it made planning a wedding SOOOO much easier. We just needed to provide the music, photographer and officiant. Jessica took our vision (concentrated down to 12 "pins" on our Pinterest board) and executed flawlessly. My wife and I were blown away with some of things that they were able to accomplish. Our centerpieces where exactly what we were looking for. We said we wanted these flowers in wooden boxes, and Jessica found exactly that. They were also able to work through some of our more strange requests. They, for instance, found a way to hang lanterns from the ceiling using fishing wire, which added that special touch to an otherwise drab ceiling. They also we able to hang lights outside, which framed in the patio at the Temescal Beach house nicely. Mind you, these were both extra costs, but once we agreed on them, they made it happen. The food was amazing. The appetizers at the tasting were what caused us to go with them initially. People kept commenting on how good everything was. My father even went back for seconds on vegetables. The cheesy potatoes were the biggest hit, and I think each of our guests gained a few pounds. The service staff was super attentive to us as well, so the bride and groom actually got to eat dinner at their own wedding. And, boy am I glad I did! Bartenders were nice, servers were polite. Everybody on the staff was great. For everything you want, try to be as specific as possible with these guys, as they will execute to your word as close as they can. When you're vague, they might play it safe. For example, we didn't care too much about how our cake should look, and went with their "basic" cake that they provided for free as a promotion at the time. It was nice, but not WOW. Mind you, the inside of the cake was amazingly delicious (thanks Chris), the outside was just simple, with a few flowers and some ribbon. Had we gone in saying, make the cake look like this, they would have (just charging us the difference from the free cake). Another couple that we saw at the wedding fair was doing just that (specing out their cake exactly). So ya, these guys are excellent, but only as good as you describe and pay (to be fair) them to be. Overall, I wish (and not at the same time, not) I had another wedding to plan, as I would go straight to these guys. Superb value for the money, and the piece of mind that Jessica and her team provided on the wedding day and those leading up to it was appreciated. Thanks Culinary Excellence! read more

If I was the nervous bride who didnt eat on her big day, I still would walk away completely happy with the experience with Culinary Excellence. So many guests were raving about it! But alas, I MADE SURE to have that food, so I can also speak from my experience as a bride :) \ We tried food at a few wedding fairs and none came close to Culinary Excellence. The other caterers all just reminded us of the normal nothing special humdrum wedding food. Nothing that stood out-bland, over salted, too greasy etc. Nothing was special about what we tried from other caterers......and then we discovered Culinary Excellence. SO GOOD. We set up a tasting with them and knew we found our caterers. My husband is quite the foodie and has a very particular palette so for him to be happy in addition to my being happy was a BIG deal. From the start Jess (Manager) was easy to talk to, helpful, professional, flexible and quick to respond to questions. She made it easy to plan our menu, budget, dietary needs, and design an amazing and unique cake. Chris was on site during the day of our wedding. He made us feel like royalty. He checked in with us throughout the day/evening, making sure we were getting what we needed. He kept us on the schedule we requested. And perhaps most importantly, the appetizers, food and cake were delicious!!!!! The staff also did an excellent job quickly and efficiently cleaning up the tables, chairs, and supplies they had brought. I would recommend Culinary Excellence in a heartbeat to anyone looking for a caterer. They are amazing! read more

Chris and his employees at Culinary Excellence helped to make my wedding the most spectacular and least stressful event of my life. They made everything run so smoothly and they took care of so many details that weren't really their responsibility. For example, they set up the cake that was provided but not stacked by another vendor. Also, they searched for our personal champagne flutes that we had used and then forgotten where we had set them down. All of this was happening behind the scenes; my husband and I were eating and drinking and socializing and were never bothered with any of these problems. The food was very good, and we had many compliments on it (I'm not really a foodie so I can't really comment further). What I can say is that Chris went to extraordinary lengths to provide beautiful gluten free meals for my mother and brother who have celiac disease. They both have extreme sensitivities and are very nervous about eating out, but the specially made meals from Culinary Excellence were 100% safe for them. So for anyone with food allergies/special requirements, or if you just want your even to run smoothly, Culinary Excellence is the caterer for you! read more

Last weekend, after a 15 month delay, we celebrated our daughter's Bat Mitzvah reception, and Culinary Excellence delivered a wonderful and tasty evening of food. The owner, Christian, showed tremendous energy in setting up everything just right. We learned this was their second event at the same venue that day, and their energy was still great. We really appreciate the hard work all of the CE staff provided leading up to the day, and well through the evening. read more

I chose Culinary Excellence to cater my wedding at the Brazil Room and I am so happy that I did. We interviewed three other approved caterers and chose CE based on (1) great tasting food, (2) fair price, and (3) my initial meeting with Katherine. They definitely exceeded my expectations. Katherine was a pleasure to work with - She was flexible, let us customize every facet our our menu, and was gracious and organized on the night of our reception - working well with our DJ and guests. And the food was excellent! Chris was also talented and receptive. CE does flowers, too - something which I was initially a bit skeptical of, but the price was just too good. I met with Chris at the flower market and we chose the exact flowers for all the bouquets and even made mock arrangements right there so I could see how they would look. The flowers on the day of the wedding were vibrant and gorgeous - even more than I had hoped for. Chris also made coordinating menus and arranged our simple and elegant table settings. I would highly recommend CE for other events. At times I was nervous that they were too good to be true, but they are absolute gems of the industry. read more

This review is long overdue. I have nothing but the best things to say about Culinary Excellence. Jessica was extremely helpful in working with us on the budget for our wedding. She was always very on top of getting back to emails within that same day as well. She was open to our ideas and had good ones of her own as well. Chris is seriously the best person I could have ever hoped for to help us on our big day. He is the sweetest most caring man ever! My family couldn't stop taking about how he went above and beyond to make the day special and flow with ease. We had a few hiccups with our site location and he just fixed everything and made it perfect. Chris's attention to details and time frames is impeccable. The wait staff were great as well. We never had an empty cup in the building. They were at the site location on time, actually early! The food was just as we had remembered from the tasting...WONDERFUL If I could give you one piece of advice for your wedding day. HIRE THEM. read more

The Culinary Excellence team was incredible! Food was fantastic, they were on time and polite and set everything up for us. I couldn't have been happier. read more

This review is long overdue, but Jessica and her team catered our wedding back in the summer and they were extremely helpful with all of our needs every step of the way. From having to schedule an additional tasting, to last minute additions to the ceremony sites in terms of decor, etc. Everyone also love the food, and she worked seamlessly with our day of coordinator. We tried a few other catering places, but both in terms of taste, the amount of menu choices, and pricing, Culinary Excellence was by far the clear choice, and we were glad we chose them! read more

Culinary Excellence in Concord, serving the bay area. What can I say? THE BEST......... We decided to get married and the search was on for some awesome food. First off we found the site we wanted to get married at JSM (Jefferson Street Mansion). With that came their "preferred vendor" ewwww. What a rip OFF I'll tell you (Haute Stuff). Horrible customer service since they were the company you use automatically. Nice offer to already have a caterer chosen but really. The price quality and taste we far from anything "wedding like". I was very displeased and expressed that. Be sure you are honest upfront and call out anything you don't like. The wedding experience is overwhelming. Don't let people run you around and tell you, decide for yourself and speak up.... Even if it is a Bridezilla moment you're allowed a few hehehe. It was the best thing we ever did. Once I expressed my dislike I was encouraged to find that perfect someone to make our Wedding Reception Dinner beyond memorable. Culinary Excellence from the get go was THE PLACE. Christian was a dream come true. He will try his up most to please and meet your needs within your budget. Also he has great ideas and is someone now I seriously call a Friend. He was that awesome I miss the guy already. Its very import to not only like the work but the people you will be dealing with for your wedding or any large time-consuming event. You'll be talking to these people as the day gets closer more then you want to. I can say Culinary Excellence gave the extra umph in the night. Nothing could have made it better. People are still talking about the spinach chicken. YUMM I recommend it. The staff was superb. They even made sure my son got a whole pitcher of lemonade at his table since it was his favorite at the tasting. Also made trips to serve us appetizers while we all took pictures. Talk about detail. They were here to please and that's exactly what they did. Above and beyond Excellence. Don't hesitate to consider this company for any catering needs. I do suggest trying two places though, i want you to really experiece how great this company is and know not all wedding vendors are this wonderful. You should always compare. But I have no doubt in my mind in the end you'll pick the right company for you. I couldn't image anyone else beating this place. Thanks CE you made the best day of our lives the best night not only for us but our guests as well. read more

Culinary Excellence Catering - Tables set up - Caterers Near Me - Oakland, California

I cannot even begin to describe in words how happy we were with everything Culinary Excellence did for us (of course... another shout out to Danny). The food - excellent. The prep - excellent. The service - excellent. The staff - excellent. What really did us in was just the level of compassion and attention that Danny put in to us, our wedding and how smoothly he made the entire process. Culinary Excellence is a catering company, there are no delusions about that. They have catered a million events before and will cater a million events after us. And yet, Danny was present, attentive and really cared about us, what we wanted and about our specific event. He was with us every step of the way and we could not have imagined a better product than what he delivered. Recommended as highly as possible! read more

We hired Culinary Excellence for our wedding at Gamble Garden in Palo Alto. Alanna, our coordinator, did a great job. She was responsive, attentive to detail, and easy to work with. As a first time bride, I didn't have any experience organizing a wedding, and Alanna helped me with everything. The food was excellent- our guests kept making comments how good the food was. Our wedding cake was vanilla with passion fruit which everyone seemed to like a lot. I don't know what other companies are like as this was my first time having a catered event, but I was quite happy with the experience. read more

Culinary Excellence was absolutely wonderful for our wedding at the Brazilian Room. We are so happy we went with them. We loved that they provided more than catering services and we went with them for our flowers, decor, chuppah, coordination, and cake. All of it was fabulous. They were professional, caring, and attentive throughout the whole process. Chris is a wedding pro and truly does whatever it takes to make your wedding perfect. Before the ceremony he checked in on us and brought us water and even thought to bring me a straw so I wouldn't mess up my lipstick! So many people commented that the food was the best they ever had at a wedding- and we agree! It was beautiful, fresh, and delicious. The Culinary Excellence team took the stress out of wedding planning and the wedding day and allowed us to be present and truly enjoy our wedding. Hire them- you won't be disappointed! read more

In the beginning, we did interview different companies and we ended with Culinary Excellence because we liked the interactions we had with both Christian and Katherine. Through all the planning sessions we had, we never doubted that our reception would be anything less than what we expected. The most important part is that we're happy, since we're the people getting married(hah hah) and that our guest are happy. We had guests comment on on how great the staff was, how attentive they were and just how impressive the flow of the whole evening went. We couldn't agree more. During dinner, we enjoyed the flow of the meals. It was great choreography. We want to truly thank you for the beautifully decorated cake. The passion fruit chocolates at the end were perfect to end the night. The fruit platters were also great. We saw this as a great evening made possible by the two of you and your great staff. Great food, great cake, great service, no wonder we picked you!! read more

We recently hired Culinary Excellence to cater our wedding and they did an amazing job. Chris and Katherine were always available to us to answer all of our endless questions, and they could not have been nicer not more professional throughout the entire process. We wanted to go with CE because in addition to the, food they were also able to provide us with all of our tables, chairs, linens, glassware, basically everything you would need to have a great wedding. Every time we met with them in person before the wedding it was effortless and professional. The day off our wedding, Chris basically took care of everything. We were able to just relax and have a great time, while Chris and his worker bees scrambled around and took care of all of our needs, including a few last minute requests. The food was delicious! We got many compliments on how great everything was. I would highly recommend Culinary Excellence to anyone that is thinking about tying the knot, and I will go out of my way to tell our friends what an awesome and easy experience working with them was. read more

AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING! I hired Culinary Excellence for my wedding. Danny was sooo great throughout the entire process. He would say things like we strive for that "culinary excellence" which I thought was cheesy at first but it is totally the truth. A big reason why I decided to hire them was because they were able to do so many things..food, cake, rentals, lighting, flowers. It came in so handy when at the last minute when I needed to add a stage for instance. They even added little touches I didn't ask for, they really wanted to make the day super special for me and my husband. They didn't price gouge too. I was so afraid that every little detail would cost me a million but it really didn't! The food was delicious. The bouquets were AMAZING! They were able to accommodate my New Orleans traditions with a cake pull and a grooms cake that was shaped like an awesome shark just as we wanted! BTW- the cake was carrot cake which was soooooooo good, I am craving it now! On top of all that Danny and Chris were so warm and nice. Danny was there for us all the way up to us walking out the venue. Definitely hire this company! read more

Chris and Katherine went above and beyond in all aspects of making our day happen the way we envisioned. We enjoyed our own wedding and reception because of CE. Per my original review - we hired CE almost a year ago to cater our wedding this past September 09. In that time frame we had many touches with them regarding the layout of the venue, the menu, additions/subtractions, the entire look and feel of the event, coordination with our other vendors and finally - execution on all the plans. They happily adjusted and readjusted as we attempted (ahem!) to stay within a budget. Katherine gave solid advice on what would "show" and not "show" - so we could decide on what to cut (cost on) and what to really put our money into. We had a special linen we wanted to use and Katherine got it for us! CE was flexible on every aspect of the plan - really providing us the opportunity to put our thumbprint on our event and make it "ours". We were blown away (and so were our guests) with every detail of the event - the food was amazing and plentiful. The plated salads were artfully displayed and tasted even better! The buffet (though I didn't see it in all its glory as we were served) was beautiful - it was elegant and understated - exactly what we wanted. Chris made our cake - which not only was delicious it was fanciful. The desserts were to die for... my cousin ran up to us and with his mouth full he beamed "creme brulee !!!... OMG it is good!!!" and scurried away in search of more. The servers were friendly and polite to our guests and Chris went to every table to ask if everyone enjoyed themselves! I had several guests comment on this, they were happily surprised and flattered. Chris also went around, while guests were excused to the buffet, and refolded their napkins! Wow! We can't recommend CE more highly. They also have brand new facilities that are state of the art in Oakland. We got a tour and were really happy to see Chris had implemented many "green" processes in how they deal with waste. read more

Amazing on every level, from the first consultation to the picture perfect wedding reception for my son's wedding at Piedmont this past weekend. Alanna Zerby is a dream to work with, she is super friendly, has wonderful suggestions and goes above and beyond to make you and your event her top priority. The food was spectacular, every bite delicious. Our guests are still raving about the quality, from appetizer to entree. The cold food was cold, and the hot food was hot, not one person had any negative comment. Alanna and her staff are professional and attentive, making us and every guest feel special. No request was too much. Many of our guests have made it a point to tell us how fantastic the service was from bartenders to bus persons. Culinary Excellence played a huge part in what we are being told was "the best wedding ever". I highly recommend them for any event read more

Culinary Excellence handled our wedding and we loved them. They took care of virtually everything, food, cake (I've uploaded a photo of this), bartending, lights, sound during the ceremony, flowers (centerpieces, bouquets and boutonnieres), tables chairs at ceremony and at the reception, outdoor heating. They also handled all the day-of coordination. I shudder to think how stressful it would be to keep track of that many vendors and details if we hadn't chosen to do go with these guys. They have a lot of experience (expertise really) with running weddings, which we do not as it was our first and only. They also know all the east bay venues inside and out. The food and cake were great. They cooked up a bunch of options for us to try and we picked out our favorites and it all worked out pretty well. Also, we wanted an hors d'oeuvre (that we had on our first date) that wasn't on their menu of options and they just made it, no fuss. The bartenders, too, were great. The lights and sound and flowers were all great as well. But what really stuck out was the wedding coordination. They walked us through all the details and decisions we needed to think about and helped us distill our, admittedly vague, vision into an actual event. They made the whole process very stress-free, which we are grateful for. read more

Culinary Excellence Catering - They made this. - Caterers Near Me - Oakland, California

I recently had someone e-mail me regarding another caterer that I reviewed on yelp and while my response for this vendor was well thought out, I noticed that my attention quickly turned from that vendor to Culinary Excellence. I wanted them to know that Culinary Excellence goes above and beyond to make special events memorable AND relaxing. The owner was easy to work with and went the extra mile to make sure things were just right. I didn't have anything to worry about, as Culinary Excellence made sure that things were perfect from start to finish. I used Culinary Excellence in 2006 for an October wedding at the Brazilian Room in Berkeley. My wedding ceremony was outside on the patio and the reception was inside. Culinary Excellence set up the chairs for the ceremony, the tables for the reception, the buffet tables, the cake table, the guest book table, the gift table, the bar, etc. They also brought all of the chairs in from the ceremony and placed them at the tables. They even placed printed menus at each table setting. I had a seating chart - they followed my chart and put the table numbers on the right tables and the cards with the name of the guest and table number at a larger table where guests could pick up their name card and find their table. This worked out well. Since I had a flautist and harpist at the ceremony and reception I did not want a DJ set up. In turn they were able to provide me with a speaker system and mic so we could make toasts, etc. I did something a bit nontraditional and had a formal afternoon tea for my guests. In turn, I had tea pots at each table with a selection of teas and each table had a three-tiered stand with tea sandwiches, scones and sweets on them. I also had heartier fare at the buffet. Culinary Excellence made sure that the tea pots were refilled with hot water and that guests were having a good time. At the end of the day they let me choose one of the tea pots to keep! They also made sure that everything was cleaned up. I had nothing to worry about and that's exactly what I wanted. It made the day so nice. I should also mention that since afternoon tea was not a common type of service to provide they had a private tasting and provided a WIDE variety of things to choose from - it was more like a meal than a tasting and I was so appreciative that they did this for me since I was spending the majority of my wedding budget on catering. At the time they also provided tastings for all of their prospective clients (sort of like a tasting party) where they set up tables, had vendors like dj's, florists, etc. show up and they showcased popular menu items. They also had a raffle and I won a case of champagne; I used this for the toast at our wedding since we were not planning on serving alcohol at the afternoon tea. In short, I would definitely recommend Culinary Excellence. read more

Chris, Katherine and the rest of the Culinary Excellence team are total professionals. They really know how to throw a party! And besides being an amazing caterer, you can trust your day going smoothly because they are there behind the scenes making sure everything is running smoothly. If anything went wrong, I would never have been able to tell. I was able to have a wonderful time at my own wedding without thinking about what could go wrong because I was in such good hands. We had our wedding at the Brazil Room in Berkeley which is a venue they are very familiar with. It is a real bonus to go with a caterer that has that experience. All of our guests raved about the food, we had a very well rounded menu that everyone could enjoy. The presentation of the food and table settings were tastefully done which really created a warm and intimate atmosphere. All in all, I was very happy with choosing Culinary Excellence as my caterer and I would recommend them to others as well. read more

Culinary Excellence in general (and Danny in particular) are ABSOLUTELY. FREAKING. AWESOME. My (now) wife and I had our wedding ceremony and reception at the Brazilian Room in Tilden Park, and Culinary Excellence was our caterer--and Danny served as our day-of coordinator. Throughout the entire process leading up to the wedding, Danny was super-friendly, super-helpful, and super-accomodating. He didn't try to upsell us on anything we didn't want, and cheerfully accomodated some of our stranger requests. If Danny hadn't have been coordinating our wedding, I would've invited him anyway just because he was such a nice, awesome guy. And day of, everything went off without a hitch. And the food, of course, was delicious. We ended up having to do two tastings prior (since we totally made bad choices for the first tasting) and it was no problem. Wedding planning is a headache. It's tiring and grueling and something nobody ever wants to go through again. But Danny and Culinary Excellence were a bright, shining star for us in that process--I highly recommend them. read more

We got married last week and chose Culinary Excellence as our caterer. We worked primarily with Jessica who was amazing throughout the whole process! While some of the other caterers were slow to respond, Jessica was quick to respond, professional, helpful and above all a friendly and easy-to-work with person. I'm one of those brides that asks a million and one questions, so I really appreciated how accommodating and patient she was with me. On the day of our wedding, the set-up, food, and decor was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. All the guests kept coming up to me to compliment the food and also the professionalism and friendliness of the entire staff. Chris designed our wedding cake, and when I saw it I was floored. It was exactly what I had envisioned, with the cascading flowers down the side of it. Mid-way through the night, I had an allergic reaction to something, which I believe was the make-up since I don't normally wear a lot. Jessica offered to drive to the nearest Walgreens and pick up some Benadryl to calm the hives I was developing. Fortunately, one of the guests had some medicine but for Jessica to offer to do this shows they are willing to go above and beyond to make sure the bride and groom are okay and having the time of their lives. I highly highly recommend Culinary Excellence. You will not be disappointed. read more

Please, please, please reach out to me via Yelp if you have any questions about working with Culinary Excellence. I cannot sing their praises loud enough. Chris and Jessica strike the perfect balance between professional and friendly, artistic/visionary and following instructions, detail-oriented and flexible. Culinary Excellence is not just a caterer but a full-service wedding provider. For our reception at the Brazilian Room in Tilden Park, they handled the food & service, cake, flowers, lighting, bar, and decor. The only other vendors we worked with were the DJ and photographer (both recommended by Culinary Excellence, both excellent choices). Having a single point of contact for the vast majority of the wedding planning made a huge difference for me and obviated the need for an expensive wedding planner. The planning was fun, the food was delicious, the flowers were STUNNING, the guests were happy, the price was right. What more can a bride possibly ask for?! 5 very well-deserved stars. read more

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Jessica and her team are fabulous. Catering is one of those aspects of a wedding that has the potential to turn into a nightmare, being likely the most expensive and complicated one of the whole shebang. However, every step of the way with Jessica was great! She was cooperative and flexible during the contracting phase, reasonable and all-inclusive in her quote, and responsive with great, open communication the whole way through. She even packed us a doggy bag of leftovers so we could enjoy a second round of the delicious cuisine the next day. Those little things make all the difference in the world :) Highly recommended! Would definitely use Culinary Excellence again. And get the short ribs! Delicious!!!!! read more

I can't believe the attention to detail this company paid to the wedding guests and festivities at my girlfriend's wedding a few weekends ago. On top of paying close attn. to keeping the toast glasses filled, the photographer on timeline etc, I found out the food is all halal and of the highest quality. Hell if I'm ever getting married but I give these guys the double thumbs up for any 100-250 person event regardless of the circumstances. Meena read more

Culinary Excellence was beyond amazing!! They catered our wedding (including cake) and served as our day of coordinator. Tracy was a dream to work with. She was super responsive and really helped guide my vision from day one. We received a ton of compliments on the food (we decided to switch it up and had a fajita bar). And the cake turned out so beautiful, it exceeded all of my expectations. Culinary Excellence is a one stop shop - they were able to provide everything from table linens to bistro lighting to miscellaneous items to rent. They totally transformed the venue and made it look so beautiful. I highly recommend their day of coordinator service. It was so nice to not have to worry about getting my personalized items there. Tracy and her team took care of everything and it turned out perfect. Huge kudos and thank you to Tracy and the rest of the CE team -- I highly recommend working with them!! read more

We had our wedding reception just a couple days ago at a banquet hall on Stanford campus, worked with Danny for the catering. He was extremely patient, professional, and understanding with each and every one of our request. We also had Danny to take care of the decorations, flowers, lighting, alcohol, and cake. We didn't have to sweat over a thing. The food was great, and the servers they sent were very courteous. Many of guests were asking for the catering contacts after the reception. These guys made our wedding reception a total success! read more

Jessica is the best wedding coordinator ever! She has been so kind and charming through the whole process. She came up with wonderful ideas and blended our personality into the wedding seamlessly. She has been patient and kind while also running the whole wedding like a well oiled machine. The food was absolutely top notch as well. The salads were photo perfection and unbelievably tasty. Every guest was thrilled with their entrees, and Culinary Excellence was flawless about food allergies and special food requests. The head chef Chris was very sweet and tailor made a perfect meal for us. By the end of the wedding they felt like old friends. Could not have pulled off such a beautiful wedding without all of their hard work. Five stars isn't enough! Thank you so much for all your hard work. read more

Danny and his team just catered our wedding in August at Stern Grove and everything worked out wonderfully. even though it was a new outdoor venue for them. Danny replied to all of my messages,comments,concerns and questions from the very start to the very end. He kept meetings happy,exciting and was very helpful with every last detail. anyone who can handle my Italian mother in a positive and stress free way is great in my book. The food/cake was simply amazing. full of flavor, great presentation and perfect execution. Nothing was ever cold,stale, or not fresh. Our wedding cake was also moist and exactly how good cake should taste. We had so many great compliments about the drink and food as well as the pleasant service all around and throughout the day. Danny and his team accomplished everything we wanted and were never rude,in the way, or took anything away from our special day. This catering company does not disappoint, it is very reasonable priced, and makes your wedding day absolute bliss if you're stressed out about the plans, I can not thank them enough and hope to hire them in the future. read more

Just wonderful!! Culinary Excellence gave our daughter a fabulous wedding!! We all thoroughly enjoyed the delicious meal and attentive service, but they are definitely more than caterers - we used them to decorate and coordinate also, and it was the best decision we made to hire them. Jessica is fabulously helpful, attentive, and responsive through all stages of the planning process, and we worked with a very tight timeline. Everything was wonderful, and our daughter and her new husband were delighted that they had ZERO STRESS on their most important day - they have both mentioned that they wouldn't change a thing about their wedding. They were so pleased with everything. Thank you so much Culinary Excellence, and especially to Jessica!! read more

Culinary Excellence catered our wedding last month at the Temescal Beach House in Oakland. They were on the East Bay Regional Parks approved caterers list. We actually contacted and even met with most of the caterers on that list and Culinary Excellence actually had the best food and the most affordable prices out of all of them. My husband and I loved Jessica from the beginning. She was straightforward and quick to respond, which is something we both appreciated, especially since we only had 4 months to plan our wedding. After looking at their extensive menu, we picked the following for our menu: Cocktail Hour: Mini-sliders with bacon and blue cheese on Hawaiian rolls and crab cakes Dinner: Caesar salad, roasted summer squash with sun-dried tomatoes, garlic mashed potatoes, tri-tip, and BBQ chicken (thighs and drumsticks). They also provided water and watermelon agua fresca and coffee service at the end. Considering that all of the food was cooked off-site and brought over, the quality of the food exceeded our expectations! Everyone loved the food and many people, myself included, went back for seconds! The mashed potatoes were amazing! At the end of the night, Jessica packed up some leftovers for me and my husband, which we finished off the next day. We actually brought in our own beverages and desserts, which they served for us. We did have to pay a little extra for ice cream service, but they allowed us to bring in all of our own supplies for desserts, which balanced out with the costs. We had ice cream sandwiches instead of cake. It was also great that we could bring our own drinks because we were able to save money by buying the beer and wine at wholesale prices. A few days before the wedding, we dropped off all of the beer, wine, and sodas at their warehouse and Jessica and her team took over everything to the location on the day-of. It was also great that they have party rentals because we needed a few extra tables and chairs, which we were able to get from them. One stop shop! Like many other reviewers mentioned, Jessica not only worked as the caterer but also as a day-of wedding coordinator on site. She helped move the party along according to the timeline we had shared with her and she was the lead contact for our vendors. They did a great job of setting everything up and they must've done a great job cleaning up because we got our full deposit back! If you're looking for a catering company that provides great food and service at reasonable prices, this is caterer for you! Jessica will work tirelessly to make sure your event is a success! read more

I can't say enough about CE and Christian, Katherine, and team. We got a menu and quote from Christian that was both delicious and affordable, and they really went out of their way to tailor the menu to fit our personalities and cultural tastes. What we got out of choosing CE was a very classy wedding event, menu, floral arrangements, cake....everything, without the pretense that other caterers sometimes exhibit. Chris took care of everything, down to the ceremony entrance music, made sure the wedding party didn't starve during the photography process, pinned on corsages and boutonniere on my family and just ensured that we had not a single worry throughout the whole day. We love Chris and CE! and would highly recommend them to anyone who wanted high quality and delicious food for a reasonable budget. Jen & Wen read more

Culinary Excellence Catering, especially Jessica, is nothing short of amazing. After meeting with and sampling several caterers in the Bay Area, my husband and I selected Culinary Excellence hands down. Not only is their food wonderful and service amazing, but they also are willing to act in the role of a semi-wedding coordinator the day of -- setting the welcome table, lining up the wedding party for the processional, etc. Jessica is a wonder woman -- talented, experienced, and always attentive to questions/needs. She's also incredibly observant and even saved me the last of my favorite cocktail at the wedding in a back room to give to me at the end of the night! Numerous guests (including those with special dietary needs) commented on the high quality of the food, as well as the gorgeous flower arrangements and decorated arch they created for us. They also worked extremely well with our DJ to coordinate activities throughout the night, leaving our minds free to enjoy guests and take in the moment. If we could give Culinary Excellence 10 stars we would; we highly recommend them! read more

My wedding was last weekend. The reception was at the Shoreline Center in Oakland. I had to choose a caterer from an approved list from the East Bay Regional Parks Office. I contacted a number of caterers on the list via both telephone and email. Only a handful actually got back to me and of those, Culinary Excellence was the most helpful and straightforward about pricing and what they had to offer. Since I am not from the Bay Area, I could not go to any tastings before choosing the caterer. All I had to go on was the remote customer service, so I chose Culinary Excellence. I worked with Jessica mostly through email and we also talked on the phone occasionally to work out the details of the reception. She was AWESOME! The preparation went smoothly and she made all the difference. On the day of the reception, we arrived at the Shoreline Center after the wedding and everything was set up beautifully. All of the staff was friendly and the food was amazing. I had so many compliments on both the salmon and tri-tip. They also provided a vegetarian option for our vegetarian guests. Overall, I am extremely pleased with everything that was done by Culinary Excellence and I highly recommend using them as a caterer! read more

They did an excellent job with the Mother's Day brunch. Much more than a takeout meal, really an at home dining experience. Loved the food and portions were generous. We'll order again. read more