We hired Chef Tami for our first annual marriage retreat over Valentine's Day weekend, and it was truly an amazing experience from start to finish! She arrived right on time, fully prepared, and brought such a warm, friendly, and pleasant energy into the space. Not only was the food incredible, but she went above and beyond in ways we didn't even expect. She helped us set the dining room table and even showed us the proper way to arrange everything, from the forks and water glasses to the champagne glasses. It felt like we were getting a full fine dining experience right in our cabin! I honestly can't give enough compliments about Chef Tami. She created an unforgettable experience for our couples. And to top it off, she left the kitchen spotless! You would have never known a full gourmet meal had just been prepared in there. If you're looking to hire a private chef in the Lake Arrowhead or Big Bear area, I highly recommend her. We will absolutely be hiring her again! read more

Tami Pounds - Caterers Near Me - sky forest, California

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We hosted a garden gala event to raise money for a local nonprofit (Rim of the World Special Athletes) that helps disabled children and adults, and they hired Tami Pounds to cater the event. Tami took the time to visit our gardens in advance to get a lay of the land, and was full of great ideas of how to best position the food tables. When the date of the gala arrived, Tami's crew arrived hours early to set up and were dressed professionally, which was very impressive. The chef and her crew worked tirelessly for 4 hours to keep hot and cold charcuterie delights fresh on the tables, including serving them to guests as they enjoyed the gardens. The food was absolutely out of this world, truly world class - with a large variety of both savory and dessert choices. My favorite was the bacon wrapped dates, which were absolute heaven. We host charity events throughout the year and we will definitely be hiring Tami Pounds to cater our events. She brings such a love to her work and the beauty of her food and gourmet deliciousness will be appreciated by all our guests. read more

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Whatever all the good things you can say about a person/business is, Tami checks all the boxes. We recently had Tami and her crew cater for our wedding and it was just perfect. We worked with Tami to come up with a menu, we came in with expectations, and she blew them away. Tami and her team were so incredibly friendly and helpful during the event. You could tell that they all genuinely cared about the service they were providing, but also about us. Truly customer-centric, and just good people. The spread we got, as mentioned before, blew our expectations away. Everything was so delicious and visually appealing. Our party had around 40 people and all 40 guests raved about the food and drinks. Leading up to the event working with Tami was great. We were in contact regularly and she was prompt which gave us a lot of confidence. We never felt that we were in the dark or getting ghosted. Google only allows a 5 rating, but frankly Tami and her team get a 10. If you choose Tami, you will not be disappointed. Thank you again Tami for being a part of our special day! read more

Tami has provided our group a wonderful buffet dinner every month for almost 3 years! We love her like family and highly recommend her services! read more

Thank you Chef Tami for providing another amazing dinner for the Gideons International Camp of Lake Arrowhead. I hope you continue to be our personal Chef! Every meal is delicious and prepared with love. God bless you Chef Tami! The Gideons love you! Rita Beasley Auxiliary Gideons International Lake Arrowhead Camp read more

Love chef Tami pound. I was Refered to her by the owners of the castle in the Forest. My family and I organized a weekend vacation in lake arrowhead. We wanted to experience luxury and feel pampered. Chef Tami did the most amazing job preparing all three meals for the two nights that we did stay at the castle. Her food was amazing and her presentation was fabulous. I would definitely recommend her to any one who loves food. read more

I did not ultimately end up hiring Tami due to last minute cancellations of the event. I would like to speak to her professionalism and follow-up. Tami knew all the right questions to ask and had great communication. Tami made a beautiful menu and has extremely reasonable pricing, especially compared to the people in the area. I wish things would have worked out differently to have her cater it, however if the opportunity arises I 100% would contact her first. read more

I don't think I've ever written a bad review for someone before. As a small business owner, I never want to hurt someone's business over what might have been a fluke moment. But Tami Pounds was so unbelievably awful on the retreat I hired her to cater May 12-15, 2024, at The Perch at Twin Peaks that I want to warn others. Tami single-handedly almost caused me to have to cancel my retreat halfway through, and as it was she and her breach of contract cost me almost $12,000 on TOP of the $6,100 I had already paid her in full, in advance, in good faith to cater the entire retreat. In addition, I have contacted Tami four times via email and once via text to try to resolve this, and she hasn't had the decency to reply even once. If she had bothered to reply to me even once and been human about this, I would not be leaving this review. This could have easily ended my business. As it was, I've had to borrow quite a bit of money and change my business plans for the next year as I try to recover from the loss she caused. The documentation of what happened took me and my admin person 15 hours and 43 pages to write up, so I'll just hit the major points here, in chronological order. * From the first night, there wasn't enough food * She didn't even make dessert I had paid her for that first night * The food wasn't labeled as we had agreed it would be * Her help didn't show up, so the first day's breakfast was almost three hours late. This threw off the schedule for the entire day, not to mention meant that 24 people didn't have breakfast on time. * Because her help never showed, my admin assistant went to Tami's kitchen to help so the food would get made, which meant I had no admin person to help me. * The first day's breakfast food was partially labeled, but Tami reversed the labels for the vegetarian and meat dishes so all the vegetarians all got bacon. Luckily everyone but one person caught it in time, and that one person was very gracious. * All the subsequent meals were late and each meal got worse and worse in terms of taste. * Tami got more and more surly and defensive as the days went on * The food was supposed to be mostly organic, but the bread and some of the desserts she dropped off were still in their packaging from Walmart . I had paid her to bake all the desserts, not buy cheap cupcakes from Walmart. * She didn't provide enough vegetarian meals the second night and argued when we asked for the other meals. After two hours, my admin person just went to the market and bought veggie burgers and made them for everyone at 10:30 pm at night * In the confusion of my admin person having to go help Tami, one of the retreat participants who has celiac was given gluten and spent the entire day throwing up.( I refunded her money for this retreat and comped her the best room at my next retreat as an apology). * My admin person and I spent every spare moment troubleshooting the food issues and planning how we could finish the retreat with everyone having enough food, on time, and their dietary needs met. We stayed up well past midnight every night on top of all the other work we were doing, did not get much sleep, and did not get much food as there was never enough food to go around. * Tami was supposed to serve an in-person pasta bar onsite the last night of the retreat, but she had gotten so rude that I asked her not to be there in person. I asked that she drop off all the food she had already made, and then I hired several local people to serve it. * Tami was so upset by this that she and her daughter came back on site later that day and started grabbing all the items that I had paid them to use for the retreat, such as drink containers and outdoor umbrellas. They got violent enough that my admin person asked me to have everyone go into their cabins and lock the doors until further notice. So I HAD TO PUT MY RETREAT ON LOCKDOWN BECAUSE OF CHEF TAMI. I've been running retreats for decades and have never had something even close to this happen before. The Perch had their property manager come to help get Tami and her daughter off the property, and then they changed all the locks in all their cabins in case she came back. It was appalling. * Needless to say, this meant Tami didn't finish out the retreat. Luckily my admin person brought together several local friends of hers and they finished out all the meals for the retreat. This meant I hired three more people in addition to my admin person. They were phenomenal, but paying all of them for about 20 hours each and then buying more food even though I had already paid Tami for all the food was a huge part of my loss. There's more, but I'll leave it at that. The only time Tami even apologized was when she texted me to tell me the first breakfast would be late. I have explained in every email how damaging this was to me and my business, but in the past three months she hasn't responded at all. If you're running a retreat, steer clear of Tami Pounds. read more

We had a last minute wedding due to our original plans being canceled due to the wild fires in Yosemite. We decided to do it in Skyforest. We came across Tami and she was super cool and responsive with every request we had. Her food looked and tasted great! If you're looking for a personal chef caterer, you can totally rely and count on her to not let you down! read more

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She is excellent! Every item I have ordered is filled with flavor and her loving energy! I can't say enough about her wonderful food!

If you are looking for and in need of a personal chef for any of your events, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Chef Tami! She is very professional, very easy to work with, cooks delish food and just does above and beyond! Her work is quality and she is reliable. You can totally see her passion for culinary and does it from the heart! I will definitely use her again and again and again for all my private parties/events! read more

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Perfect! Chef Tami provided an amazing culinary experience for my husband and I while vacationing in Lake Arrowhead. The meat and ingredients she used we're of the highest quality and everything was cooked to perfection. She provided lunches and dinners for two days and was very reasonably priced. Chef Tami was professional and very kind. It was very comfortable having her in our home. We've already scheduled to have her cook for us again on our next trip. Highly recommend! read more

Amazing food and service. Able to mobilize quickly and efficiently. Tami is the best. Thanks so much 10/10

I am very satisfied with the high quality food Tami provided for my event. She was able to cater to a large group with no problem. I will definitely be using this catering business again. Thank you Tami. read more

A large group of friends and myself needed a caterer in a pinch. Tami came through for us. She was no hassle, reasonably priced and the quality of the food she provided was excellent. We asked for barbecue and she got it smoked and delivered. read more

Tami was the private chef for our weekend retreat in Big Bear. She curated a wonderful menu, and everything she prepared was delicious, nutritious, and fresh. She was professional, on-time, and able to adapt quickly when things didn't go as planned. While baking the dessert for one of our dinners, her oven stopped working. Tami was quick to pivot, going above and beyond to find an alternate solution that met our group dietary needs. I was so impressed! Ultimately, Tami is someone you can rely on and trust to create and deliver a beautiful menu that meets your needs! Look no further for a personal or private chef. read more