Culinary Eye catered our wedding in April and they did a fantastic job! Everything from the appetizers to the entree to the dessert and the sangria was delicious. We would highly recommend them for your wedding or event!! read more

Culinary Eye Catering - Caterers Near Me - Oakland, California

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This catering company just started doing meal delivery and pick up! I ordered three meals from them last week and they were absolutely wonderful. The food quality and taste were beyond anything I've every experienced with a meal delivery service. They are well known for outstanding food at fantastic weddings and parties, and now they will drop it off right at your doorstep. The portions are good size, even had a few extra meals. I've already ordered again! I was getting really exhausted with all the meal prep and shopping and cleaning up, so I was ready for restaurant food again. I was nervous about food safety issues at local restaurants, but I have met the owners through our local school and I am very comfortable knowing they will use the best food safety practices. If you are looking for really delicious gourmet meals at home right now, Culinary Eye is totally worth every penny. read more

As our year anniversary approaches, I keep reflecting on what an amazing wedding we had. John was like Xanax. He helped us with every aspect of the wedding, rentals, color schemes, room set up, even recommended a chalk board artist that was incredible. The food was AMAZING. Everyone from our meat eating family members to our raw vegan friends had plenty of delicious food to eat. John and his crew are professional, funny, very talented and an absolute pleasure to work with. Thank you! read more

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The venue that my wife and I got married at listed Culinary Eye as one of their preferred vendors. We met with John and expressed to him what our vision was for the wedding, rustic chic, garden chic, casual and he put together a menu that fit our theme. Not only did John prepare a menu that my wife and I agreed on, he was able to work within our budget which was most important. Because our budget was on the lower side, I feel that we didn't compromise on quality. Once we agreed on our menu we were invited to a tasting. We had to pay for the dinner tasting but it was applied to our overall bill at the end. John and his team try and source local ingredients that are seasonal at the time of our wedding which we liked. We made minor tweaks to our menu but for the most part our menu stayed in tact. After a few months we're we're invited back to John's showroom to pick out our linens, stemware, and dinnerware. At this time John really comforted us as both my wife and I started to feel the pressures of the wedding planning. He made us feel at ease. The dinner tasted fabulous from what I remember. We were so busy mingling with our guests that we really didn't finish our dinner HOWEVER our guests raved about the dinner and mentioned how the food tasted so good!!! Even during the wedding John checked up on us from time to time. Overall I would recommend John and Culinary Eyes in a heartbeat! O would recommend them any day of the week and twice on Sunday!! I forgot to mention that we got married during Labor weekend which was one of the hottest days on record! So despite the triple digit temperature l, John and his team did an AMAZING job!!! Attached are some photos that our guests shared with us. read more

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The best of the BEST. Highly recommend. Our wedding was an evening event @ SF City Hall - and was listed as a recommended vendor. My husband and I (as well as guests!) were not disappointed. The food was delicious, creative, and looked beautiful. From our stationary appetizer (Cheese/Fruit/Jams * More), to passed appetizers and dinner. Each detail was perfect. Make sure you fill out the questionnaire they first give you - you will NOT be disappointed when you see that the proposal they come up with is literally custom to what you and your significant other wants! Not only did we love the food, presentation and outcome - the professionalism was unmatched. You will not be disappointed. read more

I am a corporate event producer for Kennedy Events and have hired Culinary Eye at least 6 times in the past year for the following reasons. 1. Responsiveness 2. Creative solutions 3. Professional team 4. Gorgeous design 5. THE FOOD IS OFF THE HOOK I have obscenely high standards and this team hits the mark and delivers above and beyond every time. My last event with them they served 350 guests lunch at a conference in 11 minutes. That's insane! read more

My husband and I chose Culinary Eye as our caterer for our wedding in August 2019, and they did not disappoint. To this day, our guests still swoon over the food from our wedding - from the cheese and charcuterie table, to the main course, dessert, and popcorn table! We were lucky enough to meet Ray, the Executive Chef, during our tasting, and he was very attentive. My husband has severe dietary restrictions due to a health condition, and the Chef made it a point to come out and ask how we were liking the food. Aside from the food, the production team at Culinary Eye also went above and beyond to make sure the presentation was perfect. I can safely say that without John and his team, my wedding would not have been as wonderful. read more

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I booked Chris's catering service Culinary Eye to handle catering for a home reception for 50 guests who came to my house after a chapel-based memorial service. Chris was very helpful in the planning stages to make sure both the cuisine and libations reflected my tastes and style. He was exceptionally collaborative, creative, and patient in addressing my vision and concerns and in syncing the logistics of the food and bar layout to fit the layout of my home and to assure that the serving method would be compatible with the "informal, welcoming, Irish-wake" feel I was going for. The crew showed up on time, was well organized, and laid out a great, user-friendly presentation that included a broad assortment of sumptuous dishes. The servers moved among my guests and me in a pleasant, supportive, and unobtrusive manner that allowed us to enjoy good food and the company of one another during this special gathering and to not have to deal with the distractions of cooking, serving, and / or clean-up. Culinary Eye's support, professionalism, and gracious manner took a huge weight off my shoulders and allowed me to focus entirely on my guests. If you opt to book this teams' exceptional service, you will be in excellent hands. read more

The owner is extremely unprofessional and rude. I would be very careful about what they say they will provide in terms of quality food and what you get the day of. They are way over priced and the quality for simple breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks was subpar. I would not recommend them or use them for any future events. I thought 5 out 5 was a real score from yelp but not I am convinced these were fake reviews. read more

07.26.12 I met Chef John over a year ago at a cooking class. Not only is he a great cook, an excellent demonstrator, but boy can he hold a conversation! I wanted to work with Culinary Eye last year for this event. The popular guy that he is, John was already booked for that night. So this year, we made it a point to lock it on both of our calendars, three months in advance. I was throwing a three part work function. Three courses, three houses. One bus, one catering company. Imagine the logistics! John made my planning as easy as can be. He selected a menu based on my description of the dinner guests, and made tweaks to cater to my personal preferences. On the menu, house one: Crispy crab cakes with house made remoulade Miniature angus sliders with point reyes blue and wild arugula Burst cherry tomato and aged balsamic toy box panzanella Confit garlic and ricotta crostini Appetizers were a feast in itself. But John warned us that a bigger feast awaits us at house two. I had to hold off on my fifth slider and board the bus, with a tray of crab cakes in tow. House two: -Salad of pickled beets, summer mellon, wild arugula, shaved peccorino, poppy seed vinaigrette -Roulade of honey and wild thyme glazed chicken, sauteed spinach, and toasted pine nuts -Oregano and thyme marinated bavette with salsa verde -Grilled broccolini and purple cauliflower with crumbled goat cheese, roast apricot, and spiced almonds -Creamy mashed potatoes -Garlic and rosemary torn crouton ceasar salad By then I'm ready to waddle home, but alas, the party must move forward to house three. On the menu: Nutella and fluff pop tarts Triple chocolate brownies Fresh strawberries with chantilly cream If you're not drooling by now, you need new reading glasses. The entire process has been extremely pleasant, cordial, fun, and professional. I can't wait to work with John again. read more

I just polished off the last of the leftovers from the Cinco de Mayo party that Culinary Eye catered for us. Tear tear. I normally make all of the food for our annual party, but with a newborn and a two year old, I opted to hire a caterer and John came highly recommended. John and I met in person a few months before the party to discuss my vision for the menu. He quickly followed up with a sample menu that was exactly what I was looking for. I didn't change a thing. Before the party we corresponded via email to finalize the details and he called the night before just to touch base again. He showed up two hours before the party started and I was immediately impressed with his professionalism, efficiency and organization. He worked in my kitchen like he had been in it a million times! As soon as the first guests arrived, he had all of the starters out on the buffet and was soon passing other hors d'oeuvres. The food was beautifully presented and absolutely delicious. During the party, he replenished the food as needed and checked in with me before he served the entrees. My guests did not stop raving about the food. Although I planned to return to preparing the food for next year's party, there is no way my food could even compete with what John made this year. Plus my friends made me promise that I'd hire him again next year. We're planning to make it a tradition. I can't say enough good things about John and Culinary Eye. read more

We have ordered six dinners during the shelter-in-place and each has been scrumptious. Every one is a complete meal, with a main dish (schnitzel, pasta, chicken, enchiladas, etc), salad, a starch, veggies and all the trimmings. Just pop the box in the oven for about a half hour and a delicious meal awaits. We even ordered dessert. And it was delivered! The company also offers flowers, wine, kids' meals and activity kits, soup, breakfast burritos and a few additional options. You can make a donation to help food service workers and the company also provides meals for health care workers. I appreciate such a socially responsible approach to the pandemic. I rarely order take-out, but this has given me several much-needed breaks from cooking. And I have never reviewed any business or product but feel this one deserves high praise. Try it! read more

The short review -- AMAZING food, OUTSTANDING service, simply the BEST. The details -- I was planning a wedding from the east coast all by myself, no wedding planner, no family/friend helpers, just me. I found Culinary Eye through a suggestion from the venue and then checked them out on Yelp. I had a few email exchanges and phone conversations with John then my fiancé (now husband) and I met with him on a visit to SF. Before we met John I was not at all excited about the wedding (marriage yes, wedding NO). John put us completely at ease with his laid back attitude while still being absolutely on point and detail oriented. When we left that first meeting I actually felt excited about the wedding! Culinary Eye is SO MUCH more than a caterer, they also did our flowers (for a VERY reasonable price) and John and his crew made sure everything (including decor) was setup before the wedding, went smoothly during and was all cleaned up after. John was everywhere doing everything and generally making sure that it was all perfect and that we were having a great time, which we were! The food was some of the best wedding food I've had. Everything was fresh, flavorful and moist. People were raving about everything from the arancini and mini slider (yes like silver dollar sized sliders) apps to the marinated steak and even the lentils at dinner. All of the staff were wonderful -- attentive and genuinely friendly. John is also the pastry chef and made a delicious cake for us AND homemade ice cream - THREE different kinds! As if this all wasn't enough, when we stumbled back into our hotel room after the after party, we found a basket with leftovers from the dinner and a nice big slice of cake and a bottle of wine with a nice note from John. Floored. The only downside is that, after so much constant contact, I won't be hearing from John anymore -- though I think this is definitely upside for him!! read more

Damn it. Someone else already started out the exact way I was going to .... "I can't say enough good about these guys." John, Collins and co are completely awesome. Awesome chefs, awesome hosts, awesome guys. I've been able to taste their food 4 times in the past few months -- at our tasting (which was so much fun, much more so than Fork & Spoon), at Jacin Fitzgerald of Lovely LIttle Details' event (my wedding planner) held at Blu Bungalow, at a sit down family-style dinner for 17 people, and at our wedding. Oh -- and the morning after our wedding since John packed up a picnic basket of goodies for us to nosh on at the hotel. So 5 times. We got continuous compliments on the food from our guests. I trusted John and his taste (haha) so much that we asked him to cater for a family dinner held a few days before the wedding. We discussed the meal very generally and I just knew that he would come up with something amazing, and he did. He made a ridiculous pork chop -- thick & juicy. We all asked for the recipe. And the fried green tomato apps -- we asked for that recipe too and immediately got a lesson as we watched Collins make it in the kitchen during the party. John also made two different salads for the family dinner. I'm just so-so on salads. I usually eat them because they are healthy. But I gobbled them up because they were so dang tasty. John & Collins just go above and beyond. I can't even go into how many times they just surpassed expectations -- not just with quality of food. These guys are amazing. I'm lucky to have found them. read more

Last month, Culinary Eye catered our wedding rehearsal dinner party on a private residence/vineyard property in Healdsburg, California. The concept of the party was to welcome our friends and family to Wine Country and we thought the best way to do that was to have some really kick-ass wine country food to serve them. Wow, I cannot express to you how happy we are that we chose Culinary Eye to cater this event. The menu (below) that Chef John put together was positively outstanding. The entire night, people talked about the food (while helping themselves to seconds...and thirds...and fourths...) Not only was the food quality and preparation 5 star, the service was outstanding, as well. Here's the menu Chef John crafted for our Wine Country party: --Passed Small Bites: Pulled Lump Crab and Cress in Endive Crispy Arrancini with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto --Artisan Cheese Board with Assorted Crackers, Grapes, Strawberries, and Seasonal Fruit --Baby Gem Salad with Green Goddess Vinaigrette --Build your Own Taco Station (This was a HUGE, HUGE hit) --Grilled Flat Bread Pizzas with Burrata, grape tomatoes, and basil oil on flat bread with crumbled Sausage, Marinara, and Roccolo --- Dessert Station: Meyer Lemon Shortcake, Mixed and Marinated Berries and Peaches, Sweet Chantilly Cream, Meyer Lemon Shortcakes I would highly recommend Culinary Eye to cater your next event. read more

John and his staff were professional and friendly! They provided the food and rentals for our wedding and everything came out great! They were flexible with working with the other vendors to ensure a seamless event. All of our guests enjoyed the food! If you're looking for good quality catering, Culinary Eye should be at the top of your list! read more

Culinary Eye Catering is amazing! From their professionalism to the food (yummy), everything was perfect for our catered work function! Chef John himself is a pleasure to work with! He was super relaxed and responsive to every single request we had! I would recommend Chef John and Culinary Eye to everyone looking for a caterer, whether it be for a wedding, work event, party, etc. read more

Absolutely amazing! The entire team over at Culinary Eye helped to make our April 27, 2014 wedding a dream come true. From the first meeting I knew they are who we were going to go with. The food, professionalism and everything about them far exceeds anything we could have hoped for. Everyone at our wedding have told us that it was the best food they have ever had at a wedding and in general. Thanks to the team they helped to make our wedding run so smoothly, even attending the rehearsal just in case they needed to help. I would recommend them to anyone for any occasion! read more

John catered our wedding in September and did a fabulous job! He took a real interest in crafting a menu that was authentic to us. I never expected so many of our guests to specifically compliment us on the quality of the food, and we loved that we were able to serve family style. read more

Culinary Eye Catering - Entrees served family style at our request, salads were plated. - Caterers Near Me - Oakland, California

If you're someone who cares about food being not just being incredible, but a true experience, than look no further than John and Collins. We had been looking fruitlessly for caterers for our wedding for weeks - my husband is a huge foodie, so we had no problem portioning a good part of our budget towards making sure the food was a memorable experience. Our only request - blend together my Chinese and my husband's Italian heritage into family style dinner. Well, we had endured from other high-rated Yelp caterers some terrible tastings and terrible menu ideas ("let's alternate the Chinese and Italian courses!") before our wedding coordinators Honey & Twine introduced us to Culinary Eye. John and Collins had us at "Hello" - from the questionnaire where we were asked about our most memorable food experience, to getting a COMPLETELY CUSTOM menu of ingenious Chinese and Italian food marriages, we became totally excited to meet John and Collins. The passion with which Collins spoke about researching the histories of the 2 cuisines to find points at which they intersected still brings me chills. And the tasting....!!! Outstanding. Ricotta stuffed potstickers. Homemade fermented chili sauces. Soy roast cod with pesto. A CHINESE CAESAR SALAD with FISH OIL instead of anchovies - SO CLEVER!!!! Which we didn't even choose because there were so many spectacular flavors to choose from!!!! Suffice to say at the wedding, everyone made a point of saying (and continue to tell us!) the food was incredible. But that's not ALL! You also get the most caring, hardest working guys in the business....example: the TaskRabbit we'd hired to build a small stage for our ceremony and was supposed to bring it to the venue ended up cutting her finger off....in other words, no stage. But I had no idea, because when I walked down the aisle, there was a little stage! BECAUSE....John had actually scrapped together materials to build a stage for us before the ceremony WHILE getting ready to cater! And neither my husband nor I had to bat an eye for this incredibly generous gesture! Amazing! You're lucky if you can get a chance to book these maestros! read more

Such a top notch crew with such a keen eye for detail and design. Working with them has made event planning so effortless for our company. They go above and beyond to assure that everything is perfect and you can rest assured they have all bases covered so you can actually relax and enjoy your event. They have a customized approach in creating a menu and design that meets all your needs and are so flexible with special request. I highly recommend culinary eye for their amazing service, style and food. We couldn't be happier. read more

The Culinary Eye team knocked it out of the park for our wedding. The food, service, all of it was excellent. Allison and her team were easy to work with and delivered in spades. Thanks guys, well done. read more

Culinary Eye Catering catered our wedding reception cocktail and dinner. They were amazing! John Silva and his team are awesome. The food was phenomenal. The service top notch. Everything about the process from start to the actual event was great. Their food and presentation was one the things we were most excited about for our wedding and it all lived up to the excitement. We received lots of compliments about the food from our guests and you could tell it was a highlight. I very highly recommend Culinary Eye. read more

First and foremost, please let me preface that my husband and I have very type A personalities, and that I used to cater with an upscale company in San Francisco. With this said, couples reading this already know we expected A LOT from the catering company we were going to use for our own wedding. So let's break down what was great and what soured our day. 1. Nikki, our catering event coordinator, was superb! Her responses were always lightning fast, which made our communication and cooperation a lot smoother (we were planning our wedding about 300 miles away!). She was flexible with us regarding payments and even set a date to meet with me to go visit our SF Flower Mart. I know it must have been difficult since we were only able to go back to SF once every 2-3 months so I understand any stress that may have placed on our vendors. Nevertheless, Nikki did not let any of this deter her from completing her job. She scheduled phone calls with me to confirm details, and even visited our venue by herself (which I must stress was NOT an easy task). 2. Tasting: During our tasting, we met with Chef Collins. He was on point with the food and spent about 30-40 minutes with us discussing taste details, options, and even accommodated a change in one of our last minute hors d'oeuvres. So now that we've highlighted the team, let's get down to the nitty gritty details of our wedding day. Remember my type A personality??? I had tried my very best to organize all of our table setup and decor into totes. I had spoken with Nikki regarding the setup and our vision. Come the day of, despite how 90% of our visions were carried out, there was still a couple of misses. First off, we had wanted the staff to set up a backyard corn hole toss which consisted of putting 4 legs onto a wooden slate. During our photography session during cocktail hour, my husband and I found the corn hole STILL in the box, tossed on the side. We do not know why this was the case except that maybe staff was assigned to set it up but did not do so. My brothers had to grab it later to set it up themselves. I had to admit this really showed the lack of professionalism and organization. When I walked by our guest dinner tables, I noticed that the metal ball stands used to clip our table numbers were just tossed inside the mason jar table setting. These stands are meant to stand. When tossed inside the mason jars, it tips over, making the table number tip over. This looked really unorganized and messy to us. Furthermore, the pebbles we requested to have inside each mason jar before the votive was placed inside, was MIA. Additionally, all of our votives were LED but almost none of them were turned on. Despite the late sunset, I had assumed all the votives would be turned on. Trust me, I tried very hard to overlook this but it showed in our photographs. Lastly, my husband was very excited for his s'mores table. The setup there was 95% accurate, but we had purchased glass vases to put some pebbles in. Then we would have marshmallows replaced on skewers by staff to be placed into these pebble-filled vases. Instead, a solo vase filled with pebbles was seen with no skewers in it. Unfortunately, things start to unravel more so. We only had 10 children at our wedding (thank goodness). During serving, one of the kids had asked her mom to help cut up her chicken fingers. Upon cutting the chicken, my guest discovered the chicken was still raw. Yup. RAW. She didn't believe it so she cut up her son's chicken fingers as well. My husband was so bent up on this that he quickly took it back to the kitchen, only to have Chef Collins tell him that it was probably just a hiccup with one piece of chicken. That pretty much sent my husband off the wall. Words were said in the kitchen and servers quickly came out to retrieve all of our children' plates. We considered ourselves lucky that it affected only our kids' menu and not our adults', but can you imagine if our kids all ate them and ended up with food poisoning? To make matters worse, adults all know kids have a short attention span. By the time new plates were brought out to our kids (about 20 minutes), all the kids were over it. From the looks of it, it didn't look like they had enough chicken fingers either, thus substituting some adult chicken onto the kids' plates. I know many people who get married will tell you not to focus on these minuscule details but when it is your wedding day, and you've been told not to worry by a vendor, you expect them to deliver 110%. We worked very very hard in order to create a budget involving awesome vendors. Culinary Eye delivered a highly delicious menu on our day but the raw food pretty much changed our view of the company from then on. Culinary Eye was professional and diplomatic in refunding all of our children's plates. However, I did not feel that this rectified the event that took place. We will always remember that our kids had raw chicken for dinner on our wedding night. read more

Background: - Wedding reception at Thomas Fogarty Winery. - Food: buffet-style, gourmet tacos, ice-cream cone station for dessert, all foods halal - Main contact: John Silva Overall: There is no doubt that our wedding was amazing because of John Silva and his team at Culinary Eye. We and our guests could not have been happier with everything they did for us. They were very respectful of our unique theme, budget, and difficult schedules. From start to finish, John did an incredible job and made a world of difference. Choosing Culinary Eye was by far the best decision we made throughout the wedding planning process. They were higher in price than others on the preferred catering list from the venue, but we chose them because 1) they provided more comprehensive service offerings than other caterers (assisted with design elements), and 2) their food and design aesthetic was more modern, young, and fresh/seasonal than the standard caterer. Menu/Food: - Fresh/seasonal ingredients - Custom menu developed based on our tastes/preferences - Sourced from a halal butchery and ensured all foods were halal Involvement/Services provided: - Menu suggestions, development, and tweaks - Tasting session of our personal menu - Rentals: walk through with the rental vendor and suggestions on design - Centerpiece design - Walk-through of the SF Flower Market to choose centerpiece elements - Day-of design set-up for centerpieces, welcome table, and other areas Service: Throughout the entire wedding planning process, John was there - making sure we had all of our bases covered - catering and beyond. It was clear very early on that he knew what he was doing and really looked out for our best interests to make sure we had the best event possible. His professional insight, diligence, and expertise were evident throughout - telling us what would work and what wouldn't, as opposed to simply being a "yes" man - as we found with other potential vendors looking to simply win additional business. This was especially helpful in menu creation. He was always receptive to our objectives and preferences - making sure the menu and the event were exactly how we wanted - even if it meant getting out of his comfort zone and learning new things (food style and unique dietary restrictions, for example) throughout the process. If it's important to you - it's important to the Culinary Eye team - and this really meant a lot with an event as important as our wedding. read more

Nutshell: John Silva and his team at Culinary Eye prepared and served an amazing feast for our outdoor wedding of 150. Countless guests commented on the food being some of the best they had ever had at any catered event. Culinary Eye was responsive, professional, and an absolute joy to work with. After one meeting, John and Collins felt like friends, teammates, and partners. They were as excited about creating something wonderful as we were, and they far surpassed our very high expectations. If you appreciate good food and are looking for a partner to work with to help prepare an unforgettable culinary experience for your guests, hire Culinary Eye immediately. Background: My wife is a Northern California foodie. Meals are a cultural experience. Salads are works of art. Meat and fish must be perfectly prepared. Flavors must be fresh and powerful. We sought a caterer who shared these values. We identified three potential caterers. John's proposal immediately stood out because (1) he had listened to what we had described, (2) he had elaborated upon and expanded our vision, and (3) he was timely with his response. After one phone call with John, we knew we had found our caterer. The tasting:. Several appetizers and courses were served, and we took copious notes. At the end, we sat down with John and his chef Collins and talked through every item. John and Collins are passionate about their food, but were open to our suggestions and preferences. When we had an idea that just didn't make sense, they told us, and they told us why. They were invested in creating an amazing experience for our guests, and incorporated and elaborated upon our feedback. Prep for the wedding: John arrived at 10 a.m. for a ceremony that would not begin until 5:00. Why 10 a.m.? Because that's who John is. John worked seamlessly with our wedding coordinator and our vendors (tent, tables, utensils, yadda yadda yadda). We did not have to worry about any of it. John introduced us to a bartending service that saved us time, money, and effort, and they were perfect. John and his chef came to the site weeks prior to the wedding to get a layout of everything. When we wanted to do anything related to the wedding, we'd call our coordinator, and we'd call John. The wedding itself: Guests were served bite-sized morsels to whet their appetites for the main event. They were flavorful, beautiful, and truly bite-sized. This meant no messiness, and plenty of room for the real thing. John and his team think about these things. John took it upon himself to make sure my wife and I got to the buffet, and personally re-loaded our plates with seconds. Wild fresh salmon and tri-tip for 150? Perfectly done. You think polenta is boring? Not the way they do it. Guests (many of whom were also northern California foodies) raved, ate, and raved, and ate some more. Defining story: We had a string quartet prior to and during our ceremony, and they had to be under an umbrella. During the ceremony, wind knocked over the umbrella, but somebody jumped in to hold the umbrella for the rest of the ceremony. Upon exiting the ceremony with my bride, I saw for the first time that that somebody was John. Having been through a wedding and knowing that 100 things can go wrong at any time, you want a team committed to executing their tasks, and making sure everything else goes as well as possible. You want a caterer who gets there at 10 am just in case, and who holds the quartet's umbrella because the music must go on. You want John and Culinary Eye on your team. read more

Culinary Eye taught my team how to cook for a marketing offsite. What an amazingly fun afternoon! These guys are professionals -- they are amusing, knowledgeable, creative and fun. They got us all into a top chef cookoff making ricotta, fried wontons, savory cookies, mini sliders - everything with a little extra flair. They answered all our questions, let us drink and hang, and were just simply great. I highly recommend. read more

You know when you meet someone and they immediately put you at ease and you feel like you're meeting someone who will just talk to you like a friend and a normal person? That was what it was like meeting John from Culinary Eye. We met at Philz, had a chat about food and getting married and I got no sales-y vibe whatsoever. Just a guy who likes a party and likes food. Unfortunately they ended up being booked on our wedding day but when my siblings offered to throw us a day-after brunch, I said Culinary Eye would be great. From the looks of the menu, it was perfect and then the day of was perfect. John and team had a great spread, made it look pretty and fancy and perfect for the casual backyard garden brunch we wanted for our wedding guests. Our wedding cater was great - they did a solid job on food and rentals but they were definitely all business, contracts and it made me feel a little nervous about the whole thing (thankfully it all pulled off!) but I suspect if we had Culinary Eye, I wouldn't have had to worry at all. Highly recommend for whatever caterer needs you have. Thanks John! read more

Culinary Eye catered lunch for me and my bridal party on the morning of my wedding. I spoke with John briefly over the phone before the big day to go over some ideas in terms of what to serve. He had a carefully-planned menu to me within the hour! It was so nice to work with a vendor who took care of everything, showed up on time and was relaxed and responsive all the time. The food John prepared was delicious, filling and just what we all needed for a very long day : ) I've also had the opportunity to see John working in the kitchen and, even then, he's relaxed and having fun! I am always happy to refer people to Culinary Eye as I know they'll be in for a treat. read more

John, Collins, and team did an amazing job catering our wedding. If we ever have another shindig that requires catering, I'd definitely call up Culinary Eye! Hubbie and I worked closely with John for over a yr planning for our wedding and John was always patient and easy going despite the multiple changes and questions we had. We found him honest and hard working, never felt like he was trying to rip us off or nickel and dime us, while going the extra mile for us. John's partner, Collins, is super jovial and helpful. Since we've never planned a wedding before, John and Collins provided valuable guidance on what's worth spending money on and pushed back politely when it didn't make sense to cut corners based on their experience. These are the types of conversations that help build trust. Aside from being personable team, they know their stuff when it comes to cooking! When we were trying to select a catering company, we asked each of the ones we were considering to make David Chang's (momofuku) Korean braised short ribs in addition to all other dished they wanted to show case. John nailed the momofuku recipe! and he paired it with grilled heirloom peaches so that it fit our penchant for fusion cuisine and our wedding's napa seasonal theme. John's braise short ribs were flavorful (perfect balance of savory and sweetness), tender with some bite to it. He said that was because how David Chang likes it. That sealed the deal for us because it showed how diligent John is in trying to understand what his clients are looking for. It was clear he was the only caterer who really did his homework. Other examples of why Culinary Eye is awesome: - when the rental company delivered natural wood chairs the day before the wedding and we specifically wanted white chairs, we called John and he said he'd took care of it. He personally drove to the rental company the day of the wedding and trucked up the white chairs for us. Yay! - they assigned a server to follow us around during the wedding cocktail hour so that i'd definitely get some bites to eat. Yay! - we got doggies bags packed for us to consume after the wedding. Yay! - they offered to prepare cucumber water and lemonade for our guests so they would have a refreshing beverage when they arrived at the wedding. yay! - they only takes on a limited number of weddings/large events every year so that they make sure your big event is what they focus on and there's so many other concrete examples but you get the idea. Choose them and you won't regret it says the super detail oriented bride! read more

John Silva catered our small, intimate wedding in San Francisco at the Swedenborgian Church and did an awesome job. Because I lived two hours away and could not easily schedule appointments John was flexible and worked with me and my requests. He was the consummate professional, never pushed anything on us and made good suggestions. The guests, to this day, still rave about the food, presentation and service. I had one guest who had to leave the reception early to catch a flight and John personally wrapped a meal for this person. John also knew that my husband and I would be busy with guests at the reception and so prepared a meal for us to enjoy after the reception which was smart because we were so happy to have that meal and wedding cake when we finally got home, exhausted but happy! Thank you John for making our wedding to special and wonderful! read more

Our company had an open house scheduled and it was just 3 days before the big day when our caterer backed out on us... What a horrible feeling! Everything seemed to be falling apart and then I got in touch with John! He was super responsive and eager to help out. At the last minute, our date was pushed back by two weeks..... He didn't even seem to bat an eyelash at this last minute change. We've now had the open house and his food was on time, set up by John, beautifully displayed and delicious to boot! Thanks so much John for helping us out! read more

John and his Culinary Eye team catered our wedding last month and they were incredible. From our very first tasting to the end of the wedding, John delivered. He was attentive to our needs and was willing to work with us to create the perfect feast for us and our guests. He even gave us the courage to scrap a traditional wedding cake and go for an ice cream bar for our dessert (he made our five favorite flavors for the night from scratch!). Choosing John and his team was one of the best decisions we made in the wedding planning process, and our guests loved it. People even asked for his email address to get a recipe for the steak sauce, and he emailed it to them! Beyond the food, John is just a solid, straightforward guy who is laid back and a lot of fun to work with. I wholeheartedly recommend John and his Culinary Eye team! read more

I am signing up just so I can rave about John and Culinary Eye! Mary B. is my mom and she (along with my dad and fiance's parents) hosted the party at my apartment. He came to check out my place a day before the soiree and to make sure we didn't have any questions. The next day he and his team arrived on time and set-up everything without needing to ask me a single question! I was able to worry about getting myself ready instead of making sure everything was OK in the kitchen. It was completely stress free! Everyone raved about the food and how efficiently everything was run. Every time I would try to help by grabbing a couple more beers or ice, it was quickly snatched out of my hand and reminded that it was my party and I shouldn't be doing a thing. To top it off, my kitchen was virtually spotless when they left! Thank you John and Culinary Eye!! read more

I've worked with Culinary Eye on a few corporate events now and am always impressed with their staff, service, attention to detail and delicious food. They're very professional and responsive to any questions or concerns I have. I highly recommend Culinary Eye! read more

I have no words to describe how good Chef John's food was. He and his team went above and beyond for us, making our Holiday Party simply amazing and completely enjoyable for all. Everyone at the party was in love with the Braised Short Ribs! I would and will recommend Culinary Eye Catering to everyone I know! read more

The team was amazing. We had an event for 30 people at an office setting, where we changed the layout several times prior to the event and the team managed our changes with grace, expertise, and professionalism. We had a beautiful bar setting with a cheese board and passed apps. The food was so delicious and the team was so friendly. I will definitely use Culinary for all future catering needs! read more

I've now been to a few events catered by Culinary Eye Catering, and each time I am impressed by both the caliber of food as well as the quality of service. The first party that I attended that was catered by John at Culinary Eye was a New Years Eve party. There were 7 courses, and each one was unbelievable. I don't eat very much meat and this must have been discussed in the planning of the party because to my surprise there was a vegetarian friendly alternative for every meat course, and to make it even better there was no fuss about it. The courses simply arrived with everyone else's and each one was delicious. The most memorable was the substitution that I had when the rest of the guests were having a crispy pork belly and butter bean dish (which looked amazing). When I looked down, I had what looked almost exactly like everyone's else's dish. As I cut in, however, what I found was a crisply fried piece of tofu filled with confit garlic and finely chopped chives. This was on top of sage butter beans and topped with a ginger apply chutney. Wow was it great. I feel like this guy can cook just about everything and I can't wait to go to another event catered by Culinary Eye to see what's on the menu next. I'd recommend John and Culinary Eye to anyone looking for a caterer who prepares food that makes you drool and has a team that makes everyone feel at home. read more

John with Culinary Eye is the best! He catered a party for me at an office this weekend and the whole thing went off flawlessly - the food was delicious and as-discussed, John arrived right on time to set up, presentation was lovely, etc. They were constantly refilling plates, cleaning things up, and generally making it very easy for even the party planners to enjoy themselves. Very professional, organized, and prepared. A couple years ago Culinary Eye also put on a Top Chef-style cooking class for a friend's birthday and it was awesome - great instruction, fabulous ingredients, etc. I highly recommend Culinary Eye for any catering/cooking party event! read more

We just got married yesterday and one of the first things we wanted to do today was thank John and his team for an amazing event - food, flowers, bartending, decor - and write a review so everyone else can have such a great experience. We wanted something casual but delicious and John + Collins came up with the perfect menu: the appetizers were my favorite (bite size "in n out" burgers, truffle fries, mini fried chicken on biscuits, deviled quail eggs with bacon, and bruschetta with burrata) and the main course was a close second (buttermilk baked chicken, pork shoulder, Mac n cheese, pickled veggies, and roasted potatoes). Everyone raved about it - SF foodies and Midwesterners alike. John also took care of the flowers and decor with very little input from us and everything looked awesome (and affordable). Maybe even better than the quality of the food and decor, John made us feel so comfortable and was a blast to work with - he sent us pictures to get us excited, showed me around the flower mart to get ideas, and sent us an awesome ceremony photo the next morning. I would highly recommend working with this team, they are the best. read more