I used Nourriture for a family reunion and Chef Eric was amazing. His creative style in preparing…read morefood is unmatched and, well, the FOOD is simply delicious! I have no complaints - delectable food, beautiful plating, and service at its finest! I highly recommend Eric Teachout for whatever your culinary needs are!

I hired Chef Jay for my husband's 35 birthday party (18 people). This is the first time I've hired…read morea personal chef and didn't know what to expect, what to ask, what it would cost, etc. I spoke with Chef Jay on the phone first, around mid-December, and talked about what I wanted. He was very honest and straight forward, which I liked. He gave me a exact quote over the phone and didn't pressure me to use his service. (The quote was very reasonable and within my expectation.) We continued to communicate over email the next few weeks leading up to the party. Chef presented the four-course buffet menu to me and we only made one small change to the dessert item. He also suggested the wine pairings and told me what he would cover (plates, napkins, flatware) and what I needed to rent (glasses, linens). On the day of the party, he was punctual with his arrival time. He was very professional, friendly, and answered any questions we had. He was very transparent and shared cooking method, ingredients, etc. All of our guests could come up to him, ask him any questions, and he took the time to answer them all. Once the dinner started, Chef did a menu walk-through with our guests and talked about the wine pairings. Throughout the night and the dinner service, he was very autonomous and very discrete. He never interrupted the meal or stopped me from entertaining my guests. He also cleared plates as guests finished their meals. As I had to play hostess, I forgot to grab my dessert and Chef Jay made sure that I wasn't forgotten. He served me the dessert to save me a trip, which I thought was very sweet. On the topic of food, everything was fantastic. The food was cooked well, seasoned well, and portioned correctly. He made a chocolate dessert and when he talked about it, he called it a simplistic, humble dessert. He really downplayed the awesomeness of the chocolate brownie!!! If you use him, make sure you ask for this dessert! My husband is a big chocolate dessert fan. We dine out a lot and get chocolate dessert wherever we go. My husband said this was probably the best dessert he ever had. He was excited that we some leftovers brownies. The feedback I received about Chef Jay, the party, and the in-home, private chef experience were all positive. Once the party was over, my husband could not stop talking about how great the food was, how professional the Chef is, and what a great time he had. Our guests kept asking me how I found the Chef (I found him through Yelp) and they didn't know such service existed. They thought it was a really unique experience. Chef Jay left my kitchen the way he found it - clean and tidy. I would hire Chef Jay again and again. You'd do yourself a favor by hiring the Chef!

I have had Jay cook for us on several occasions and it has been nothing but top notch service and…read morethe food is always incredible. It is so nice to have guest come to our house and have someone else wait on us. All I have to do is have wine and a clean kitchen and he does the rest, he even brings his own dishes to serve the food on. He will also pair beer and wine to every dinner, he makes it so easy. When our dinner is done, my kitchen is spotless. It is so nice to have a fantastic 5 star dinner in your home while my child is sleeping, between the child care costs and dinner you actually save money be having Jay come and cook for you.

Some of the most amazing dessert's I have ever tasted......THEN I find out they are sugar free!!!…read more Unbelievable! Love love love you guys!

Easy going tour. My group was chill and interested the entire time. I'd recommend anyone coming to…read moreSeattle to try one of these tours. The weather was perfect and learned some interesting facts. I would suggest stretching a little before starting so you'll get the hang of standing for some time. However, as a first timer on a segway, I caught on quick and it was really relaxing.

My mom has a fascination with Segways and loved the tour she went on in DC. When a Groupon popped…read moreup for a super-discounted Segway tour a couple of weeks ago, I bought a couple in anticipation of her visit, and ended up going with her this past weekend along with my dad and the boyfriend. Segways are dorky, and tours are pretty much always corny. That said, this was pretty fun. It starts and ends at the Waterfront. I had never really explored Pioneer Square before, so I really liked that part. The tour included a stop at the Klondike Gold Rush Museum (the only indoor national park) as well as, of course, Pike Place Market. We got OUR pictures taken several times by Japanese tourists, so that was random. Unfortunately, this was super expensive, even with the two Groupons, so I don't know how much I'd recommend it per se, but if you feel like splurging (or your visiting family members do) definitely go for it.

We worked with Kelly at Seattle Parks to host our party at Alki Beach Bathhouse, and they were…read moregreat! When a large city event got in the way of our original date, they worked with us to change dates painlessly, and early enough in the process that it was no trouble at all. They know that they're more experienced than we are, and worked with us to make sure we had the proper event insurance, banquet permits, and everything else. The venue was exactly what we wanted, a nice, basic blank space to have our Wedding Reception-esque party for 65 in. That headcount felt good for having sitting & eating, with our caterers inside as well. We could have easily fit at least 20 more in. Melinda at the venue was also a breeze to work with, helping us get checked in, worked with Parks & police when we couldn't get trucks down to the beach, and checked us out easy-breezy! I look forward to the next opportunity I have to throw a party, because Parks venues are a great option!

Oh, Seattle Design Center...so much potential as a wedding and large event venue. Yet, so poorly…read moremanaged. Let me explain. We had a beautiful wedding at the Seattle Design Center in May 2012--both the ceremony and the reception in the Atrium (the largest room). The venue is gorgeous--ridiculously high ceilings, full of skylights that bring in natural light, neutral tile flooring, a gorgeous grand staircase--part of the second floor balcony. The square footage is enormous and could easily hold 500 people if you wanted to. The BIGGEST PERK of the SDC: you can bring in your own caterer. That, and it's quite reasonably priced compared to other Seattle venues that would hold 200 or more people The biggest downside: the people who are supposed to be helping you plan your wedding in fact know next to nothing about the wedding business--they are managers at Molly's Salads, the daytime food cart! After booking the SDC officially in April 2011 (13 months before our wedding), our SDC "wedding coordinator" changed THREE TIMES. That meant we had to connect with the newbie each and every time to make sure they could accommodate some of our special needs, like having a small religious fire for our ceremony (don't ask). And also confirming (again and again) the rehearsal time and date, as well as where the bridal party would have space for changing and storing stuff. Needless to say, we had to be very proactive in dealing with the SDC and made sure to get everything in writing. They provided very little outside of signing the contract and some tables and chairs. If it had not been for our stellar wedding planners of Blue Ribbon, this event could never have happened. Thus, I am torn--the SDC is a stunning venue, but really needs to focus on event management and hiring people who know what they are doing.

I've booked two fundraising auctions at SDC, and am about to sign a contract on a third. As the…read moreother review mentioned, they had some turnover, but since last Fall there has been one person in charge of booking, Jenifer, and she is GREAT. The rest of their event staff, the people who are on-site managers during the event, are amazing, too: they helped us with everything from weird electrical stuff to dimming the lights for the video portion to moving stacks of chairs over and over as we got the tables set up, and stayed to the bitter end as our worn out staff and volunteers cleaned up (they clean up their own tables and chairs, we rented additional tables and catering-ware which we had to secure for pick up). Both of our events there looked stunning, and our constituents (who have been to many venues over the years) have only given us positive feedback on the move. Plus it's reasonably-priced AND has its own parking lot. I think this is one of the best venues in the city, and I look forward to putting on more events there in the future.

As a musician, I play a lot of weddings and people often ask me about affordable event and…read moregathering spaces. The newly renovated Dakota Place Park Building in West Seattle is a great new venue run by the City of Seatte which can accommodate up to 200 people. It's former City Light substation, located within walking distance of California Junction, a popular neighborhood with lots of shops and restaurants. The building retains some of the old brick architecture, but has lots of modern amenities such as a full A/V system with video projector and built in sound system, a catering kitchen with icemaker, and comfortable tables and chairs. The best part of this venue is the adjoining outdoor patio, which would be great spillover for guests during the summer when weather is nice. Venue rental includes one staff member, who will stay throughout the event and help coordiante cleanup. Visit the city website for more information! http://www.seattle.gov/parks/Reservations/DakotaPlaceSpecialsFlier.pdf

We reserved the Dakota Place Park building for our Dad's 90th birthday party. It worked perfectly…read morefor our group of 100. They have a great setup with tables that roll into place and then lock. We only set up tables for 50 and left 1/3 of the room for people to stand and mill about looking at memorabilia. They have an AV system that we used to show a video of the birthday boy's life. The AV on the east wall didn't work, but the AV on the north wall did. They have screens for both. The venue is open every Saturday morning to go and look and plan for your event. We recommend using that time in the weeks leading up to the event. We rented the building from 1-6 and our event was 2-5. That left very little time to get all the tables and chairs set up, catering to arrive, set up the AV, etc. If you plan well, as we did, you can do it, but we had to develop a good plan on the Saturday morning strategy sessions. Also, be sure to test your video a few times on the Saturday mornings. That's how we found out, on the day of the event, that the HDMI doesn't work on the east wall. Some thoughts: bring your own hangers if guests will be arriving with coats, they only have about 10, but they do have a nice portable coat rack. We put signs on the steps off Dakota directing people to use the west entrance, which is handicapped accessible. It worked well to only use one door. Parking is problematic, as there are only about 3 spots, but no one complained. The Parks Department staff are very helpful, but they're not AV experts, and we didn't expect them to be. You have to figure out the video system mostly on your own. We chose not to use the wireless microphone (provided) because we were sure everyone could hear us. However, once we got 100 people in there absorbing sound and making noise, we wish we had. All in all, it was super. Hopefully they get the HDMI fixed on the east wall. We had to change our seating plan at the last minute once we found out it was not working (the video played, but kept pausing inexplicably). (Oh, and you have to call and bug them after 10 days to get your deposit back...they don't seem to have any sort of system in place to process the refund, but after a couple of calls we got ours back no problem). Great venue. Great staff. Plan Ahead!