Top of the line service and commitment to excellence. Nick hosted numerous events large and small at my place. Each one was exceptional.

I hired him for some events. He would love to change ingredients last minute. Last time he was at my place he forgot a whole canapés order and I had to run to the store for him. I do not recommend him unless you are doing cheap catering.unorganized timing and mediocre food. And he says he has a staff and showed up with people he met for the first time to work the event the same day. He thinks he is all that but he isn't. read more

We hired Chef Nicholas Catering for our intimate wedding dinner at a private 80person winery in Sonoma. We are foodies, and wanted something special for our wedding day. Something non-traditional, with a modern twist and amazing taste. Nick went above and beyond with a family style meal, per our request. We highly recommend Chef Nicholas for any special occasion. Nick is engaging, approachable, inviting and will definitely make you feel like you are a part of the process in making the food which is grown on his own farm Nick completely exceeded our expectations every step of the way. Choosing him for our wedding was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding. Selection Process: The first sign, was that there was no BS, no pretentiousness, just humble, listened and actually showed interest in getting to know who we were, where we were from, our backgrounds..etc. Nick invited us to his home for an intimate tasting. We were wined and dined over a fresh made dinner, and goat cheese he made from the herd he has on his farm. He personally spent the summer fishing in Alaska to find fish for our wedding, and hand-crafted all of the cheeses we had waiting for our guests. Chef Nick is the definition of Farm To Table! The whole tasting experience was amazing, and most importantly, the quality of food he created for the two of us, was matched at the wedding for 80ppl! The Wedding: The day-of was a bit hectic since we were doing everything ourselves, but once Chef Nicholas and his crew showed up, they completely handled everything related to the set up, food, and break down with grace and professionalism. The crew were beyond courteous--everybody was pleasant to interact with, and our guests greatly appreciated the service. We were also so happy that we went with family style since everybody was seated at long tables and got to eat without having to wait around in a line. It was so much nicer than buffet style and so much easier than a plated meal. Family style just creates a warm, homey dining environment. Chef Nicholas also went above and beyond and created a unique late night menu for us, all of this done on an active winery that did not have a working kitchen. He handled renting all the equipment he needed and executed flawlessly. Our wedding food was absolutely perfect, and Chef Nicholas Catering was the best staff we could have ever hoped for. We give 5 stars and beyond, we are serious Chef Nick fans! read more

My 70th birthday gift was Chef Nicholas cooking a 4 course meal for me and 6 other people in my home. I NEVER would have thought of that but I'm sure glad my daughter did! From the moment he arrived he was friendly, personable, professional and just plain nice. EVERYTHING he served was delicious. We all were saying that we're getting full, but we all ate each course that he served! Each course he served was better than the one before. He served, cleared the table in between courses and even loaded the dishwasher. I would HIGHLY recommend him! read more

Can you say GOURMET? Chef Nicolas catered my husbands 50th birthday party at Ceago Winery in Clear Lake,CA and did a FANTASTIC job! He worked with me long distance on the menu and kept the price range just where it needed to stay. Very upfront, professional, but with kind touch... His menu is one of the finest I have ever seen and like a previous reviewer, many of our friends and family are FOODIES, so I wanted the best in chefs ! We had an assorted of wine & appetizers before hand. Chef's non alcoholic drinks were superb too. Our buffet dinner was a Spanish theme of Paella with tons of mussels, clams, fish, and shrimp. We also had his ham, chicken, and stuff bell peppers for those who don't care for shellfish and these dishes were just as delicious as the paella. The evening was topped off with chocolate mousse which was just to die for! It's the best my husband and I have ever had... and we've sampled many over the years! His wait staff was very professional and right there to wait upon you. The evening was just awesome and many thanks to Chef and his staff for the great job they did!!! read more

Great quality food and good service. Nick usually caters for events a Ceago winery and received excellent reviews so I decided to use him for my wedding up in Mendocino county. He also lives in a yurt on his goat farm which I thought was awesome! Appetizers: * Hominy cakes! We tried these at the Ukiah Wedding Fair and absolutely loved them. * The "fig" with blue cheese turned out to be strawberries. Major bummer! It would have been nice to get a heads up before the day of the wedding! * The cheese spread with breads was a hit! Plated Dinner: His plated dinners were very good and received lots of praises from our guests. We choose sockeye salmon, NY strip and tofu porcini for the veggie heads Cake: YUM! My husband wanted strawberries and cream and I wanted chocolate. We got both and both were amazing! Working with Nick... Nick is very responsive to questions and will email you back right away (unless he's at the Bohemian Grove). For details however you need to be a bit proactive yourself and reach out to him. My only other complaint is that in terms of cost he is not very transparent. He ended up charging 600 more than the original quote and finally when I asked him for the breakdown he said he overcharged me about 300 or so. A little bit of fuzzy math. You will need to ask him for the breakdown. That's all. The service was also very good. Nick is kind of a quiet guy and I can never tell if he's happy or not but he's definitely professional and I enjoyed working with him. He's very accommodating to your requests and I do recommend him! read more

If I could give 100 stars I would. Chef Nick was AMAZING from start to finish! I wish I could hire him to be my personal chef. We hired him to cook a surprise meal for my mother's 70th. He was personable, friendly and you could tell he took pride in all that he made. Each bite was more delicious than the one before. All food was beautifully displayed and he took his time to describe in detail what we were eating. He even cleaned everything up which was a huge bonus! read more

Chef Nick and his whole team are as good as it gets! So far he's catered two events for me, my husband's 40th birthday dinner for about 30 people at our house and my wedding for 120 people in the middle of a vineyard. (I say "so far" because I plan on using him for every event I host for the rest of my life and would keep him locked in my kitchen if I could). Both events were flawless and guests at my wedding actually asked for doggie bags. No joke. Also he uses local organic and sustainably farmed ingredients which are incredibly high in quality. The menu he designed for my wedding was absolutely breathtaking and every dish that came out was better than the last- and my venue was not the easiest place to stage a full-on banquet. I also found it especially awesome as the bride that he made sure my family and wedding party was given special little trays throughout the day as we were getting ready and he made sure I got to taste absolutely everything- which- if you've ever been married you know is almost impossible. If I could give more than five stars I would. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! read more

We held a weekend birthday party and Nick Heidemann of Chef Nicholas Catering prepared a buffet dinner and brunch. We were very pleased with his attention to detail and presentation. The appetizers were excellent and I know it took a lot of time to prepare them. The grilled dinner and side dishes were very good. He also prepared a dessert station with different desserts and my birthday cake. However, I wished he had planned more of a birthday presentation for my cake to celebrate my birthday...it didn't have any decorations on it and just a big candle from my dining room table stuck in the center!!! He charged a lot of money for the cake and it did not meet my expectations based on our conversations. I recommend you have a professional cake baker provide your special cake. The following morning he prepared a beautiful brunch spread for all of us to help us get over our hangovers from the night before. The carrot cake muffins with the icing were soooo good! Everything tasted great but the french bread for the sandwiches was very hard; I noticed people having a hard time eating it. The reason I gave Chef Nicholas Catering only a 2 stars and not higher is because the surprise we had when the bill came. All along I thought he had submitted a menu based on my budget and the cost per person he stated in his documentation; however, the cost was far higher than we agreed on and my husband was mad at me for the next 3 days! If you use Chef Nicholas Catering, make sure you clarify all costs beforehand and agree on a final price based on the menu he provides you and the head count. Also, make sure he is not charging you for more head count than you provide him. Just document everything so there are no misunderstandings and have a signed contract. Also, request that he leaves any leftovers for you. There was a lot of leftover meat and he didn't leave one piece for us after we paid for it!!! We had a great party and I do believe it was because of the bands and Chef Nicholas but the party ended on a dark note due to the unexpected catering cost. If you are able to finalize every detail up front regarding the costs, then there won't be any surprises and you will be happy with his services. Unfortunately, we won't use him in the future because of how he handled his business transactions. We have never experienced this with any other catering company. read more

Chef Nick prepared a fabulous dinner for 13 of us in Sonoma last weekend. It was delicious! He even brought us a delicious lunch last minute and personally delivered it to us at a winery. read more

If you enjoy flavorful colorful farm-to-table cuisine, look no further! I cannot say enough wonderful things about the delicious meals Chef Nicholas created. We had a weekend wedding near Clearlake and chose to work with Nick after looking at his proposed menu; everything jumped off the page and sounded delicious. We had buffet breakfasts each day, one day with traditional fare and the other with frittatas and the like. You cannot imagine how much flavor was packed into the mini frittatas. He also created amazing passed appetizers for our pre-ceremony cocktail hour, outstanding desserts for our post-dinner-sweets table and an incredible memorable flavorful reception dinner! Most important to us was to serve family-style, have it be unpretentious and tasty. Wow! Our guest still talk about how good the food was over the weekend. I feel the best way to work with Nick is to be confident that it will be beautiful and flavorful and that he knows what he is doing. I let go and trusted him blindly and wasn't disappointed one bit. read more

Chef Nicholas catered my wedding for #100 people and I could not not have asked for a better outcome. After searching high and low for even an adequate caterer in Lake County, I had very nearly given up when I found Chef Nicholas. From the menu planning, to frequent follow-up's to the day of execution, the cost and friendly, professional demeanor of Chef and his staff, it was an absolute treat and a very memorable meal. The "memorable meal" part was especially tricky because the majority of my guests were serious foodies and/or food service professionals from the Bay area. I was particularly concerned about serving chicken breast because (as a food service professional myself) I have witnessed many a train wreck with it in large doses. But Chef's chicken turned out to be expertly prepared and really delicious. Literally ALL of the guests enjoyed the food and many, many of them made special comments about one feature of the meal or another. Chef and his staff were extremely generous, pleasant and patient as the service time got pushed back further and further. It also didn't help that the temperature was over 100 degrees that day and the service conditions were brutal. When the bill came it was exactly what we had agreed to. If given the opportunity, I would hire Chef Nicholas again and again. read more

Chef Nick worked for us as a private chef in our home daily for several weeks. We were in a temporary rental home with a tiny kitchen, but he was totally unbothered by this and made intricate meals in limited space! We have five small children and he came in and did a fabulous job. In addition to working around my gluten allergy he was able to please 4 children- each of whom has a different palate! Dinner time in our house is a challenge some nights! He also cooked several formal dinner parties for us with multicourse tasting menus and our friends were blown away. His presentation, flavors and creativity rival a Michelin star restaurant! My husband and I travel a good deal and are very particular about food and Nick was stellar! Highly recommend him for catering an event or in your home for a fabulous dinner party! read more