If you're hungry, if you love soup, especially Beef Barley and Potato Leek, go to the freezer section, pick these two big containers out, and run to the local bakery for some fresh bread .... You will be SO HAPPY !! read more

Good food, nice people, frozen and refrigerated meals. Ready to cook and serve no fuss well prepared entrees.

Very tasty, excellent food. Chicken shawarma kabobs and best spanakopita. Generous portions, reasonable price. Pleasant positive communications and even offered platters and utensils. Highly recommended as caterer. read more

The owner is friendly and the store was clean and organized. I only needed a few small items and she was very helpful. The homemade salad dressing was wonderful. The location is great, I just wish they were open a little bit later so I could pick up dinner there on the way home. read more

Much of the food is made in house. Fresh & yummy. It's a very clean and comfortable environment to have a bite or a snack. They have a refrigerator filled with pop in and grab items, such as wraps and sandwiches for example. Fresh soups and more. I'm a longtime Forestville resident and it's nice to see this cute little place doing well. read more

I haven't used the catering service but the coffee house portion is excellent. It was difficult to find off the road (I didn't even know where the post office was) but now I make it there any time I can. Great non sweetened Chai Latte. read more

Mixed berry scones are the best! There's lots of selection for savory items. Outdoor seating and a bit inside. Go there you will not be sorry! read more

Wonderful! We have been using ALH for years - whether at work or for provate events. We usually get the big party veggie platter every year for our harvest party. Just wonderful. They do what they say they will when they say it at a fair price. Use ALH for any of your catering needs with confidence!!! Trini and Lisa read more

This is by far my most favorite place in the North Bay. I was a Berkeley cafe kid growing up and have found nothing with the quality and selection like this little gem up North. The owner is super cool, the place is always dialed in and very clean, and the food is amazing. The hand-made treats and baked goodies are unparalleled. I love bringing people to this store and getting food. I will go out on a limb and say there's probably no competition outside of speciality shops in San Francisco. A must-visit for anyone in the area. Better food and deserts than anything in Forestville, Guerneville, Sebastopol or on the Coast. read more

When I walked in, I was immediately greeted with a pleasantly dressed store. The shelves are arranged nicely, and they have an open deli bar to pick from. they serve many different treats, I picked a refreshing sandwich and the sesame noodles with gingered mushrooms. This was the first time having a cold noodle salad for me, and it was an amazing experience. Love the gluten-free options and the honors system outside with half-price goodies. The tables outside were clean and very nice to sit and eat. read more

This place is so adorable! Such a great addition to Forestville with gourmet foods and really nicely-curated gifts to buy. Adding to the ambiance is presumably one of the co-owners, a friendly young Mario Kart lover who is quite welcoming and kind. read more

A scrumptious gem, hidden in Forestville! Decadent meals and desserts, great coffees and home style items to purchase. We have never had a bad meal here and the scones are a must. Definitely worth driving into Forestville to go to A La Heart, you won't be disappointed. read more

Great place to pick food for a picnic on your way to the beach. This not a deli. All items are ready made for you to pick up. Salads and sandwiches ready to go in their refrigerator. I had a tri-tip sandwich with caramelized onions and Pt Reyes blue cheese. I added fresh made basil aiolis. It was delicious! Friendly people to help you. I'll definitely be back to pick up one of their salads. read more

This place has become a staple in our lives. We can count on delicious food to go. Just run in and whatever you grab will be yummy. I particularly like the soups and breakfast burritos. Lots of fun items to buy if you are looking for a hostess gift! Honeys, jams, sauces and more. read more

Contacted them to possibly cater a party for my wife's 60 th birthday . What a easy and great experience. Marianna was wonderful to work with She made things so easy for me as this was the first time doing something like this. Great communication, fair price, the food showed up when promised, and the quality and quantity were amazing. Brian F, Sebastopol read more

We stopped in on Saturday. Great chicken salad and cheese spread next to the Post Office in Forestville. Excellent selection of new local wares and to-go items. The cookie was yummy too. Bright, colorful, and clean. Glad to see some ala-cart options for easy weekend pickup. Will be back soon! read more

Really nice prepared meals - can take come for heat & eat / freeze. Home made quality, bought items for my daughter to make meals easy after her new baby was born this week. read more

A La Heart catered my wedding on April 25, 2015 and they did such an incredible job. I was definitely a type B bride and didn't give them a ton of direction and I was blown away with how great everything went. The day was absolutely perfect. The food was amazing and the servers were all so kind to me and my guests. It was such a special day for us and they made me feel like they were also invested and not just going through the motions. Planning a wedding is extremely hard and stressful and I couldn't have pulled it off without their help. Having caterers who order the rentals and provide a day of coordinator (THANKS SARA!!) made a huge difference. read more

A La Heart Catering - Beautiful buffet set up! - Caterers Near Me - Forestville, California

We couldn't have asked for a better catering team for our wedding this April! Wow! Mariana and Cinnamon were an absolute dream to work with - they're more than wonderful caterers, they're practically event planners. Not only did they help us pick a delicious menu that would suit our guests and budget, they truly understood our 'vision' for the event and helped us set everything up so it flowed perfectly. Cinnamon even personally checked on our guests with food allergies and our vegetarians during the evening to make sure they'd found the alternative options. And she pointed this hungry bride to the leftovers after the party had ended, so we could taste everything we'd missed while enjoying the reception! I'd recommend A La Heart over and over again! read more

A La Heart Catering - Can't get enough of the delicious dessert bar! - Caterers Near Me - Forestville, California

We loved working with A La Heart for our wedding. Mariana and her team were knowledgeable, professional, detail-oriented, all while being super easy to work with. From our first phone call, we were put at ease and knew we would be well taken care of. We asked for a fully vegan meal and A La Heart delivered!!! The food was fresh, delicious and prepared/served beautifully! Even our meat-eating guest commented on how great the food was. A La Heart is a full service catering company which means that they take care of all of your rentals and staffing in addition to the food. The prices are competitive and Mariana worked hard to accommodate our budget. We had two separate tastings. One to sample the vegan offerings and one to sample our finalized meal. The chef is very talented and worked with our tastes and preferences to craft our ideal menu. The staff were attentive and efficient. We were delightfully surprised to find a beautiful spread of apps and drinks post-ceremony for us to enjoy together in our first moments together as husband and wife! Mariana was communicative and available for phone calls and emails. There were no surprises. The contracts were detailed and she updated them promptly when ever there were changes. She also did a site-visit walkthrough and worked well with our day-of coordinator. A La Heart really helped make our wedding day a success! We are grateful for all of the work that they did! read more

Mariana and her team from A La Heart are truly a gem. Mariana is more than just a caterer, she was so in tune with the whole concept of my vision for my wedding, beyond food/beverage. She is very organized and super responsive to all communication. She helped with ordering linens and figured out exactly what we needed for our day so that things ran flawlessly. Not to mention the food, which is amazing! Mariana and her team are organized and a welcome calm presence on a day that sometimes feel hectic. We would hire them again no question about it and I recommend you do too! Highly recommend! read more

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We absolutely can't recommend! Where to start?! Before we signed with her, everything seemed to be working well, and she seemed genuinely interested in our event and wanting to cater it. She was pleasant and good to respond to the initial emails to get the ball rolling, but then she started having an attitude and wouldn't answer any questions until we paid her a deposit. This should've been the red flag. But the communication was mainly through email so we thought we were prob just misinterpreting her tone. Then came the pushy sales tactic.... Mariana said she wouldn't answer questions from our event planner unless we paid her a deposit! So we caved cause we didn't want her to think she would be putting in time and ultimately not winning the business. Soon after we paid the deposit we hit a road block with the venue that was the start of her unprofessionalism and lack of passion she showed for us. She seems more interested in getting paid than about providing the service! It's unfortunate to have a caterer for parties that's not engaged in making your event special but rather how much money she can make or talk all about the money rather than that food and experience! It's safe to say we can not recommend A La Heart to anyone nor would we look to them for any of our future events. read more

It was an absolute pleasure to work with Deborah, Cinnamon, and their team for my client's wedding that took place at Thunderbird Ranch in Healdsburg, CA. A La Heart's menu options are abundant which is great but difficult because we wanted to have everything she offered for the wedding. Email corresponding was easy and replies were quick. Which again is good because my client's live in San Francisco and myself in Los Angeles. Deb was also super flexible when it came to scheduling a tasting and choosing linens. On top of catering, we were able to go through rental needs with Deb which made it even easier for us since I didn't have to talk to another vendor. The situation benefited us more since we were to use Deb as our hook up to save some $$. The night of the wedding, her staff arrived on time and got to setting up asap. Cinnamon is super pro and working with her throughout the night, she was super calm and more than accommodating and flexible when the night's events seemed to go behind schedule. Her clam demeanor even calmed me down!! Seeing that she was not stressed out in any way made me feel like this is going to be a smooth evening......and it was. The guests loved the food...they loved everything. The spa water and lemonade set up after the ceremony was awesome, the hors d'oeuvres were devoured, and the dinner was cooked perfectly. Nothing was too dry or lacked flavor. If a guest wanted well-done, they got well-done. Clean up was super fast! Swift like ninjas! They were able to clear tables and keep trash clean (which made the venue owner super happy). The night's festivities ended at 10pm and I left the venue at 10:35pm. Deb's team runs like a well-oiled ship....thanks guys!!! read more

We will not be using Deb or A La Heart Catering again. The food was delicious. But not what we were promised. Deborah forgot our wedding and scrambled last minute to throw it together. I realize we were not the largest wedding she was doing, but we were still customers and deserved better. My wife attempted several times to contact Deb after the fact and absolutely no effort was made on her part to contact us further. I spoke with a couple of caterers and I believe all of them understood how frustrating the experience was, but also sided with Deb a little bit explaining the challenges of catering and catering weddings specifically. Though none of them condoned her not returning our phone calls. At a casual glance of my reviews, you will see that I am relatively easy to please. We do have high standards. I'm not going to extol the virtues of Chic Fil-a or In-N-Out. We have refined taste. We like the unique places in the areas we visit. Not every place has to be listed in Bohemian's Best of Category, neither. We like hole in the wall places along with the swanky international stars/recommends. We're not discount or freebee hunters. I don't think my wife and I have ever sought a refund. Nor have we accepted it when offered. Business is business. And small business is tough. Your margins aren't huge, your overhead is high. And by the time you comply with state and federal rules, it can be a challenge for a small business to break out of the red. But this category is Eek! Methinks not. I had to place a lot of thought into the 1 star rating. This is the first one I have ever written. And I'm not writing this days or months after. It's been over a year and a half. But time has a way of both clarifying an experience and distilling it to the essentials. So then, here are the essentials. We were quoted a modest price (which could purchase a very nice used car). We were confirmed that price twice by Deb personally. And we hit the green go button. 11 days before the wedding, we were given an invoice for twice that amount. It was shocking really. Twice the amount for 75% of what we ordered. We responded non emotionally and pragmatically cut the budget down so that we were paying what we had originally signed for but received 40% of what we had originally been quoted. We had 1 main course (instead of the 3 we had been quoted), which was very tasty, and 2 starters, a nice salad. We got rid of family style though that was our vision and was promised by Deb for our price. I was shocked at her glib indifference to our objections as well. She literally did nothing but shout at us, make many accusations, and tell us it was our fault. That we'd eaten out her profit and that she'd do the job for free since we were so unreasonable. We felt betrayed that we had been sold on her services and were not made aware of the problems until 11 days before our late June wedding. We felt we had no choice but to go with her services as to find a replacement would forfeit our deposit and be a challenge because of the time frame. My wife attempted two weeks after the fact to contact her on several occasions. In a very non emotional non confrontational way to give feedback and to be refunded on a couple of items that simply did not show up and another one that was underwhelming. While I appreciate that weddings and brides can have a reputation of being difficult, I can offer up my history of reviews as proof that we are not difficult. But not returning phone calls and brushing off customers is inexcusable in this day and age. The wide gap of promises made and what was delivered was inexcusable. The lack of any attempt to make it right was inexcusable. Peruse the reviews and you will see many satisfied customers. I'm sure that my experience doesn't speak to everyone's. But it caused us stress and pain. And my wife was not able to sleep over it for the 11 days to the wedding. And that combined with the shouting we both endured from Deb was very unprofessional to say the least. I would say to the prospective event planner or bride, buyer beware. And do plenty of follow-up with her. Get it in writing, and consider using someone else. Because when she was clearly in the wrong, she got defensive and yelled at us and then gave us something mediocre and wouldn't return our calls. We waited for 2 months in my wife's case before posting a review and I've waited long enough to post mine. We were not expecting a freebee, and we were appalled by her actions and dismissive behavior after the fact. This is an important lesson for local businesses. When a mix up or disaster happens, which is inevitable, always call and try to make personal contact with the client. Don't brush it off, don't sweep it under the rug. That's dishonest. Just try to make it right. If she had, we would have been singing her praises, instead of warning people about her. read more

First, I want to say that the food at my wedding was very tasty and we paid a very reasonable price. But I took off two starts because there were SO many day-of mistakes. 1. The wrong appetizers were served! I selected three appetizers (stuffed mushrooms, pizzeta with figs, and corn fritters)-- my favorite of the three, the corn fritters, was NOT SERVED AT ALL at the wedding, and instead Deb served polenta that I found to be flavorless. When I confronted her about it she said "well your husband liked them! "-- my husband used to eat plain rice with hot sauce for dinner so this doesn't say much. 2. Our bartender was Deb's daughter, and she was a pilot by profession. She did NOT know how to make drinks. The groom's signature drink was a whiskey smash, which she served by pouring Whiskey into a glass then pouring simple syrup on top and garnishing with mint. Essentially all of our guests were handed a water glass full of whiskey when they arrived (but hey, they all got drunk so I guess its okay). The bar ran out of limes before I even arrived at the reception 45 minutes later (after photos) and so she was serving drinks with large pieces of orange already floating in the glass. Everyone complained that she was very slow. 3. We were supposed to receive PLATED salads, which were supposed to be included in the price. THE MORNING OF THE WEDDING, Deb emailed me to tell me that she was not going to do plated salads because she had not ordered enough plates and did not have enough servers. When I complained she said, "You never confirmed the plated salad" even though we had emailed and discussed a few times and I had plated salad written on my timeline that I sent her MONTHS in advance. 4. Seating charts screwed up. The day of coordinator did not have the seating charts on the tables before guests arrived and when she did put them out they were in the wrong places!! Groups of people were split up and my cousins/ bridesmaids ended up near the back and far away from me. I am sure they felt snubbed. Unprofessional Behavior Before the Wedding: Deb was unavailable to do a final tasting until the Wednesday before the wedding, which added a lot of stress because we had to print the menu so last minute and probably led to the day of mix-up regarding appetizers. When my fiancé (now husband) did the walk through with Deb and the day-of coordinator, everything was very rushed and they left before we even selected linens. They made my husband measure the area by himself to determine how the tables should be set up which seems like a job for the coordinator. The week before the wedding, she told me that I could no longer do lemonade or water because somebody had gone out on disability due to a back injury from carrying around the containers they used. This should have been told to me right away, and not one week before the wedding. Also, use different containers! Figure something out! It was frustrating. We ended up compromising with lemonade and bottle water. The Thursday before our Saturday wedding Deb called around 6:00pm and asked how we wanted our ceremony chairs arranged. Keep in mind I answered my emails within the hour every time she reached out so this should have probably been addressed weeks if not months prior, but we said we would figure it out and send to her. At 7:30am the next morning she sent me 2-3 emails frantically asking about the arrangements then sends my husband an angry email about how she couldn't reach me. This really added to the high amount of stress we were already feeling the day before the wedding. Why didn't she tell us when we talked to her on the phone that she needed the arrangements before 8:00am??? She was so disorganized. At first I was very attracted to Deb's laid back style. I thought she was very sweet and that is the main reason we selected A La Heart, but she was responsible for SO MUCH wedding stress that I am not sure if I would have gone with them again if I could do it over. There are a number of other issues I can't even fit on this review as well. I was planning from New York so that may have added to the difficulty so if you are planning from Santa Rosa or Healdsburg you are probably okay but I do not recommend planning with her via email and telephone. read more

If you need a caterer, this is the only place you need to go. We got married on a day when most of the city was being evacuated. Our original reception venue was closed due to fires. Mariana (the owner) helped us change venues, get chairs, change the menu and many other things to help our wedding happen. The reception looked beautiful and we received a lot of complements on the food (it was delicious). Mariana handled all these changes with grace and poise and a positive spirit. Like I said, if you are looking for a caterer, look no further. read more

We used A La Heart Catering for our wedding on June 15 and everything was delicious. We had many compliments from our guests on the full menu. Deb was great to work with and very helpful getting everything set for our wedding. We didn't have a wedding planner and Deb made arrangements with the rental company as well as having a coordinator on site for the day of the wedding. When we got to the wedding venue, everything was set up perfectly. Her team was fantastic and took care of all our needs. I would highly recommend A La Heart to anyone holding an event, having a wedding or throwing a party. Deb and her team were fantastic! read more

A la Heart catered my wedding last weekend and the food was a big hit. We chose Deb because of her down to earth attitude - she really listened and understood what we wanted and was eager to work within our budget which was great. We had our heart set on fish tacos and Deb crafted a delicious Mexican family-style meal with a taco bar and plenty of veggie options for my vegetarian family. The day of staff led by Mariana were a pleasure to work with and totally professional and dinner service was seamless. Overall a great job done by all! read more

Amazing company! Very organized and clear communication. We had two weeks to plan and Ala Heart was great. They offered suggestions that made things run more smoothly. Everyone absolutely loved the food. The chef is wonderful and the service staff 5 star excellent. They go over and beyond what is expected. We hired them for a memorial service for a family member, and they were perfect. We are so pleased. read more

I was so pleased that we hired A La Heart to cater a dinner party for about 20 at my home. They arrived promptly, did a wonderfully inviting setup, and were ready when our guests arrived. The appetizers were so delicious and dinner of steak and poached salmon was top of the line. I can't say enough about how good the food was and how professional the staff were. When it was over, clean up was swift and total. My house and kitchen looked like nothing had taken place and the leftovers were boxed for us to enjoy the next day. They even took the garbage with them. From now on, they are the only catering company I will ever use. read more

A La Heart catered our wedding in the spring of 2011 and they were wonderful! Our guests raved about the food, the servers were awesome and super on point, and they worked with us on all our requests (like specialty cocktails with fresh herbs and fruit). Deb is a total pro and had us completely at ease from the moment we met her. And their prices are super reasonable for the quality of the food. Would wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone looking for a wedding caterer! read more

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We were refereed to A la Heart by a neighbor and we contacted Deb. The process was reactively easy, her menu was extensive, the hard part was trying to make a selections. Once the selections were made we got her quote which was reasonable so we went forward. We had a few hiccups with Deb getting back to us but her office staff kept us informed and eventually we were set. A week before the wedding at our house Deb's lead, Sara came out to the house to check out the kitchen, the area where the event was to talk place. Sara made suggestions which were helpful and advised us to order more items from the rental company. The day of the event they were there on time, proceeded to set up the tables, take over my kitchen and starting cooking. I was a frantic trying to finish up various items. They were calm, kept me informed and kept things under control. Come time for the wedding ceremony We were busy but Sara and her crew were in control. Once the Ceremony finished they served appetizers, and wine and we mingled with our guest, Sara kept me informed and I realized they were in control and I was able to relax and enjoy my wedding. Dinner was served, and was delicious as well the service was impeccable. They cleaned up and got ready to serve the cake, coffee set up proceeded and they proceeded to clean up. All in all it was a stress free event which left me to enjoy my wedding and guest. Thank you Deb and Sara and all your staff for your part in our wedding. read more

We absolutely loved working with A La Heart for our wedding! Mariana and Cinnamon were extremely helpful and responsive as we had numerous questions for them throughout the entire planning process. They were flexible enough to ensure that we were able to get exactly what we wanted our wedding meal and went above and beyond to attend the walk through, coordinate our rentals and ensure every detail was perfect. Highly recommend! read more

A La Heart Catering - Couples Cocktail (Old Fashioned & Spicy Paloma) - Caterers Near Me - Forestville, California

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We cannot say enough good things about A La Heart Catering! The amazing team- chief of ops, chef, servers, event leader and bartenders- helped make our wedding so amazing!! I could say a lot about the food itself - it was incredible. We got (and keep getting) compliments from guests about how delicious and beautiful the food was. We wanted food that was fun and reflective of our personalities and didn't cost a fortune. We went with a fajita dinner (steak, chicken AND tofu) with award-winning corn bead, simple salad and a ton of different sides (rice, beans, salsas galore). Our appetizers were an absolute hit - pork sliders, grilled cheese & tomato soup shooters, charcuterie displays, etc. It was a great balance of kid/pub food and wine country beauty. To top it all off, we had fondue with donuts, fruit and more! I'm not kidding when I say that everything that was prepared for us during our tasting (and of course the actual wedding day) was delicious. We had a really tough time choosing since A La Heart offers so many wonderful options! There were a lot of options when selecting a wedding catering company. We were blown away by Mariana's responsiveness, helpfulness and positive attitude. A La Heart is so professional and eager to please in the best ways. I loved how supportive Mariana was of our vision and she's so willing to make things work within budget. I had been so disappointed in our search for fun food that was affordable and bountiful until I found Mariana and her team! A La Heart does so much more than just serve food- they basically served as wedding planner and coordinator too. Mariana helped think about so many details leading up to the big day that I wouldn't have thought of and it ensured that our day was thoughtful and perfect for our guests. Cinnamon was our Event Leader on our wedding day and made the whole flow of events absolutely seamless. We are truly going to miss working with A La Heart since it was so easy and delightful. Thank you for all that you did to make our wedding such a great and perfect event! read more

A La Heart catered our Sebastopol wedding. They were wonderful! From the first contact to the wedding day, Deb and her team were so great to work with. First, the food was delicious! They packed up a little to-go box for us (the bride and groom), and even eating it cold, standing over the mini fridge in our hotel room, it was so tasty... Our guests were equally pleased, based on the comments we heard. Perhaps more importantly, the staff were amazing! They were very friendly, and not in a wedding vendor, fake smile kind of way (sorry to generalize). They seemed like genuinely nice people. They were also very thoughtful. Deb's daughter, Mariana (sp?) brought me and my husband some of the baked brie before lunch knowing that we probably hadn't thought about eating much that day. One of our guests asked for white cake because he's allergic to chocolate, and they made sure to use clean, chocolate free utensils. In short, FANTASTIC. Yummy food, wonderful people. We highly recommend them. read more

I used A La Heart Catering for our June 23rd wedding. I had difficulty deciding on a caterer because I live here in Sonoma County which is a destination wedding spot and caterers I called often had a $5000 minimum. We wanted a 50 person wedding and while I understand those bigger catering companies could have booked a larger wedding than ours on a Saturday in June, we were unwilling to spend that kind of $. When I found A La Heart I was thrilled to find a company so eager to work with our budget. I contacted them via the form on the website with the info for our event. I called right after sending in the form in my excitement that I had found the caterer I really wanted to work with! I talked to Deb who was really laid back sounding and said she had just received my email. We talked about my wedding and I asked if it was possible to do a 50 person, family-style dinner with a budget of $3500 with her company. She didn't waiver at all and said anything was possible and said she'd worked with less. I even continued to inquire that I could do it with staff and rentals and everything with the budget and she assured me it could be done. I was in the middle of a brutal semester as a Bio major at the time so it took us a couple of months I think before we could finally meet in person. Meanwhile I sent in a $100 deposit to hold our date. When my hubby and I did our tasting with Deb we were thrilled with the food that was offered. We chose our menu that day and chatted with Deb for nearly two hours in her office. We really hit it off with her. By the end we had sorted out every rental, staff and food detail. She offered us things that we were surprised were possible. We chose tri tip and wanted her opinion on the second entree (chicken or salmon). She said we could do salmon and I double checked that it was possible to do all this with our budget of $3500. She gave us complete confidence with her answer that she could get creative and make it happen. Her confidence really worked for me especially her confidence with our venue. Our venue looked like a campground in that it is remote and has no kitchen on site. Deb said that she had worked at Griffith Woods multiple times and this was a huge factor in choosing her company. At this time she also persuaded us to rent a portable stove for the location. We left her office feeling great and she promised to email the contract that night. She did email it to us but I admit that I was hard to get ahold of at the time and was entering my finals in school. I was too busy to open the proposal but I was also very trusting of Deb; I figured she had done what we discussed for nearly two hours and in our previous communications. I was under the impression everything was in the works and still on track for our $3500 budget. With 11 days till the wedding I remembered she had said she would need payment with roughly 3 wks before the event (75%). I thought this was odd that I wasn't pursued for $ but needed to call to add some highchairs to our rentals anyways. Deb sounded surprised by my call and had said "wow, that's right. Your getting married next week!" Everything in her voice and everything that followed indicated she had forgotten about our event. She even said during the call that she would have to let me go to call the rental company really quick and get our rentals in. I tried to stay calm as she called every 30 minutes or so for the next 2 hours confirming that our rentals were reserved. I told her I had never received the initial emailed contract and asked her to send it again. She did and it appeared to total just over $3900. We went in that night to see if we could get it back under $3500 and were fortunate to catch her leaving her office. She gave us the rather condescending answer that catering was expensive and the reason it was so expensive was directly linked to our rentals. We let the $400 budget increase go. When I called the next morning to give payment it became evident that my event was actually at $5600 and that my rentals weren't even factored into the $3900 breakdown we received by email! When I called to protest she said she thought I understood the breakdown but I reminded her that she confirmed rentals were part of what made up $3900 by saying our rentals are what made us over budget when we came the night before. If we didn't want to go $400 over budget how did she think that $2000 over budget would be okay? She remarked that she was tired the night before and could not be held accountable for what she said. She thought I knew we were over budget. She also said that everyone who says they have a budget of $3500 really means $5000! We meant $3500. We ended up cutting salmon, wood chairs, and the stove to get back under budget. We had only one entree and had to make it a buffet instead of family style. With no other options a wk before I forfeited me vision of my day. Still wondering where the $ went. read more

We got married in Bodega Bay and didn't want to spend a mint on the fancy schmancy Napa/Sonoma caterers. I worked with Deb at A La Heart and was extremely impressed. From the start she was extremely friendly, helpful, funny and just plain dependable. I noticed that so many wedding vendors aren't, so I didn't want to work with anyone who wouldn't return a phone call. Her food was EXCELLENT. And reasonably priced. I can't tell you how many people at our wedding complimented us on the food. There was a BBQ at the site and her freshly grilled tri-tip with a selection of mustards won the hearts of our guests. Debbie was on site at the wedding, and helped above and beyond to make things run smoothly. Her staff were friendly and did a fantastic job. If you need a caterer in the North Bay, I'd definitely say work with A La Heart. read more

We used A La Heart Catering for our wedding last October, held in a residential backyard in Novato, Ca. We had just moved back to California from Austin, Texas this past September, so most of the planning had to be done remotely. Without a doubt, Deb and her team made the wedding the wonderful experience we hoped for. She was so easy to deal with, friendly, responsive and accommodating. Because we were remote we couldn't do a tasting, but neighbors went with my mother for one and they were blown away by how good everything was, and told us to stop our search there and then. Deb also made all the arrangements with the rental company for us which was also flawlessly executed and helped to create the experience we hoped for. On our wedding day, Deb and her team showed up when they said they would and went to work. Her team was great and made us feel relaxed and festive. The food was simply delicious, and exactly what Deb had promised, and everything just went off without a hitch. One small example of how they took care of everything is that the bartender moved all the drinks inside as things were winding down (we held the wedding and reception in a residence backyard), she set up a very nicely arranged bar for those guests who wanted to linger inside as it got cold, and that small detail, which we didn't ask for, was just great. Overall, a wonderful experience and I'm now looking for an excuse to hire Deb and her team again! Thank you, Deb! read more

Updated review! These guys catered our wedding in August and did a phenomenal job! All of the food was absolutely delicious and unique... And no hideous chafing dishes were used. read more

This may sound cliche', but 5 stars is not enough to rate the food AND the people who were in charge of it; Marianna and her crew at A La Heart catering. We just now used their services for an early August 2019 wedding at an estate in Cloverdale. I had 10 months to plan the wedding for my daughter who lives in Chicago (and was only going to be here for about 7 days prior to the wedding). I have to say that from the VERY EARLY planning stages, Marianna was there to hold my hand. I would send her overly-long (and I'm sure overly-detailed) emails about this and that..., and she would respond precisely to every single point I brought up in the email, more-so than any of our other (also wonderful) wedding "contractors". She also was completely generous with her time when it came to scheduling phone appointments with me. (I was working almost full time and so was she, so we set up the phone meetings and it worked perfectly. The food was absolutely fabulous. As a matter of fact, I'm thinking of asking Mariana if, as a surprise to my daughter, it would be possible for her to have one of the side dishes made for us at Thanksgiving time for when our daughter and her new husband are visiting. (Not sure if A La Heart does this sort of thing for just one dish, but I have been craving it since the wedding. It's a baked polenta side-dish with roasted veggies and a little feta cheese... ;-p) There were so many delicious looking offerings as the main course that we had trouble narrowing it down, but Mariana helped with that. The company offers tasting appointments for anyone who is "on the fence" about a certain dish. We have quite a few friends who are vegetarian so wanted to be sure to have something for them. A La Heart also took care of ALL the rentals, provided the bar service, and they had a lot of extras for which there was no extra fee (coffee/tea, no corkage fees, no charge for cutting cake or displaying desserts made by someone else (which we combined with A La Hearts delicious sweets. A La Heart (Mariana) was very specific with her work: she made sure that anyone with special food requests or restrictions were accommodated, and even made a "to go" plate for someone who had to leave early with no prior arrangement. I felt that overall, the catering service wears MANY a hat. They handled a lot of the rental equipment that you would not expect (large umbrellas, chair rentals, and in our case they even set up over 100 chairs for the CEREMONY which I thought was way above and beyond. (I should mention that it was up to Mariana to get all of the venue's LARGE and HEAVY farm tables moved to a completely different area, and she did not balk at this. As relieved as I am that the wedding is over, I have to say that I'm going to miss talking to the person who was over-the-top attentive and who I felt like had become my friend. I cannot recommend her highly enough.... Jennifer Hahn Mother of the Bride (and primary planner of my daughter's wedding) Novato read more