I'm not even sure where to begin when it comes to giving credit to the incredible team at Culinary Excellence. My husband and I are endlessly grateful to Samantha (our main coordinator), Jessica (coordinator and office manager), Chris (owner and extraordinary chef), and their whole team for executing the most magical, seamless, and unforgettable wedding day we could have ever imagined. Culinary Excellence is so much more than a catering company -- they are a full-service dream team. From planning to execution, every detail was handled with care, creativity, and professionalism. I never once felt the stress of juggling multiple vendors, because this team truly does it all. Florals? Samantha not only understood my vision of a wildflower theme -- she invited me to join her at the flower market early in the morning and then personally designed and arranged every floral element herself, all while flawlessly managing day-of coordination. Her dedication, artistry, and calm presence exceeded anything I could have hoped for. Food? Absolutely amazing. Multiple guests told us it was the best food they've ever had at a wedding. As a Filipino couple, having Lechon (whole roasted pig) was especially important to us -- and not only did they source it along with the traditional sauces, but it was hands-down the best lechon we've ever had. Chris himself was carving and serving it for our guests, which made it even more special. Decor & Setup? Impeccable. They handled all the activities for cocktail hour, ensured a seamless setup, and brought my reception table vision to life down to the smallest detail. This team is truly one of a kind -- it felt less like working with a company and more like being supported by family. Any event we have in the future, there's no question -- we will wholeheartedly choose Culinary Excellence again. They made our wedding day not just beautiful, but unforgettable. read more

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Culinary Excellence really lives up to their name with providing excellent food and services. We got buffet style catering for our wedding, and eventually got their day-of coordination services. We are happy that they offered these additional services on top of the food catering. All the food was extremely delicious - every guest had a different favorite whenever we asked them. We had more than enough food for all of our guests, even when some guests went back for a third serving! They were able to accommodate all our guest's dietary restrictions (ie. allergies, gluten-free, vegetarian). The entire staff was attentive, friendly, and professional - even a month after the wedding, our family members still raved about their top-notch service and care. We worked with Sierra, Samantha, and Jessica, and what a joy it was to work with them. They were very responsive to all our emails and were open to all our calls leading up to the wedding. We also appreciated all their help with guiding us throughout the wedding catering process. Some examples include them helping us with our drinks menu, preparing us for our meeting with the venue, and coordinating the wedding rehearsal. We could not ask for a better group of people to work with! read more

We decided to go with Culinary Excellence for our wedding at the Brazilian room and it was the right choice. Samantha helped us budget and plan the wedding and her and the staff executed the event flawlessly. From set up to the amazing food and breaking down the event. The staff was so kind and made sure my wedding was the best day of my life. I would highly recommend them! They are professional and executed the best wedding! read more

Culinary Excellence Catering - Caterers Near Me - Oakland, California

I cannot say enough amazing things about this company. Samantha was the lead for my wedding and she did such an incredible job there are no words to describe! She attended to every detail and went above and beyond what we asked and what I expected. She is experienced, passionate, and very professional. They bring a wonderful crew to staff their event, they were prompt, everything was set up and taken down on time, everything I requested was there and more. The owner of the business is the kindest man and very much cares about quality. He is such an accomplished and incredible man but all the while very humble and approachable so kind to talk to. He was nice enough to take the time to meet with my mom and I when we came up to do a tasting. Throughout the entire process they were easy to communicate with, flexible, knowledgeable, and resourceful! They really are a One-Stop shop if you're going to have a wedding or any kind of party for that matter. You can count on them to really deliver and do it all at a very reasonable price which in the Bay Area nowadays it's hard to come by! And last but not least, the food the food the food! I had multiple guests come up to me and say it was the best wedding food they ever had and I 100% agreed! The selection they have is incredible and can be customized by culture not only that but the quality of the ingredients and the sophistication of the selection is exquisite! We had the Thai chili shrimp, spanakopita, sausage filo wrapped bites, steak with the chimichurri sauce. Those were just the appetizers alone, there was so much more for this sides and the main dish it really was decadent and really met everyone's needs. They have so many great side options that even if you don't have for example on all vegetarian wedding or all vegan wedding plenty of options for everybody to have good protein filling meals with this election they have. Wonderful job Culinary Excellence thank you so very much to Samantha and her team, you will forever be in my heart read more

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Imagine your dream wedding and then imagine it even better and that is what the Culinary Excellence team brought to life for our wedding. They brought our wedding vision to life in a way that we did not even know was possible and I cannot thank them enough for making the most special day of our lives so unforgettable. I want to give a HUUUUUUGE shoutout to Samantha. She was the most amazing person to work with, she answered all of our questions (and we had many!!) throughout the whole process and made everything truly so seamless for us. She was extremely detail-oriented and always made us feel like all of the little details we were wanting were captured in the most beautiful way. The other team members we worked with were Sierra and Jodie and they were so incredible as well. Truly the entire team brings your entire vision to life. We worked with Culinary Excellence in a very large capacity for our wedding (catering, decor, florals, coordination) and I HIGHLY recommend working with them in this way if you want your day to go just as you envision it. I cannot say enough how perfect and seamless they made our day. The food was absolutely incredible as well and everyone was RAVING about the appetizers, dinner, and desserts. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to the Culinary Excellence team for making all of our wedding dreams come true. Your team is incredible and I could cry thinking about how perfect you made our day!! read more

This is one of those "I never write bad reviews" but I felt I had the need to. This is coming from a vendors perspective. I was working a wedding in conjunction with them as a vendor and every thing was great. The food was amazing, waiters were super nice. Amazing right? Well I had a question about vendor meals (bc they did not give us any when they were supposed to); and I was instructed to go to the head chef. Well as I was approaching the chef, I had asked a question to one of the waiters that was standing in line, and I heard the chef literally yell at everybody to stop talking bc it was making him lose focus. I mean he was really mean about it. Like there is absolutely no reason to yell at employees like that. I guess what they say about restaurant culture is real. I was so shocked and felt disturbed and felt so bad for the waiters bc they were putting up with him. So I am giving this place 3 stars for the amazing food and service but two less bc I felt the chef treated their employees horribly. It was to the point where the servers were scared to ask any kind of question. If you are a higher up position, please don't be mean to your employees, it's never okay to talk down to them. read more

I had to unfortunately plan a funereal, and needed a caterer within one week. I was recommended Culinary Excellence. And am SO happy I did. Even under intense deadlines, they went above and beyond to make it a wonderful and meaningful event. For a three hour event, we ended up doing 5 passed apps (2 hot, 3 cold). And also three stationary items, coffee/tea station and bartending service. We had a total of 80 people attending. Culinary Excellence handled organizing logistics with the event space, complete set up and tear down. It felt amazing to have such seasoned caterers take care of everything for us. Culinary Excellence was incredibly professional, prompt ... and delicious!! read more

Finally, after 3.5 long years... Where do we begin? We met the extraordinary team of Jessica and Chris at an open house in the Brazilian Room back in 2019 for an April 2020 wedding. And then the pandemic hit. Little did we know we'd wait THREE and a half long years to finally have the event, and it was so perfect, I don't think we could have done it without them. I especially developed a close relationship with Jess as she is my sister witch (we are both Potterheads) and I am convinced she has magical powers. Firstly, the food. CE was an excellent partner in making our vision come to life. Food was my number one priority, so it was key to have a vendor that excelled in this. Since we were going to have a daytime wedding, we worked together to create a great brunch menu. Chris knocked it out of the park and made this flavorful, juicy, crunchy, bone-in, non-greasy fried chicken, and delicious waffles with freshly made pumpkin butter-perfect for the fall! We also had a tater tot bar, a mimosa bar, their delicious red banana and papaya salad, and many more. The passed hors d'oeuvres were *outstanding,* too. My guests continue to rave about the food to this day. Second, the decor and coordination. Honestly, if we had the budget, I would have let Jess handle everything from wedding prep. But because we didn't, we did the day-of ala carte service where Jess would handle our day-of vendor coordination and make sure everything ran on time. I highly recommend getting CE to coordinate for you. If Jess had a magic wand, it would be a maestro's baton, because she orchestrated everything for us from the ceremony to the very end and I didn't have to worry about a thing. She is worth her weight in gold. For our prep, Jess provided me with honest feedback on the best ways to do things on a budget, answered all of my questions, and made a comfortable space in which I could provide feedback, too. In the end, everything was set up so beautifully and exceeded my expectations. Despite my one priority being food, the setup and decorations were simply stunning, especially considering our budget. Thirdly, I have to sing (more) praises about Jess. Her years of experience shone and it was fantastic seeing her in her element the day of the wedding. But more than that, she's become my friend. Not only did she earn our trust during the process, but she went above and beyond in working with us to achieve a perfect day for our family and friends. CE will now be my local go-to for any catering needs or milestone celebrations. Should you (be fortunate enough to) work with them, my advice is to make sure to give them honest feedback as early as possible, ask for *their* feedback and approach it like a collaborative partnership, ask as many questions as you need to, and trust the process. They know what they're doing. read more

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Samantha and her team were the most professional team I have ever worked with for catering. Samantha was also our wedding planner and florist. she was amazing in all aspects in helping make our Daughter and Son-in-laws wedding run smoothly, look aesthetically, beautiful, and the flowers were perfection. I would highly recommend Culinary Excellence for the catering and Samantha as a Wedding Planner. read more

Our 60-person wedding was catered by Culinary Excellence. My husband and I cannot express our appreciation enough. Hiring CE was one of the best decisions we made in planning the wedding. We were originally going to hold our wedding in 2020 and had hired CE in 2019 after an excellent tasting. Then we postponed twice due to COVID and finally had the wedding this past weekend. The food is hands-down some of the best I've had ANYWHERE. Without question, best food out of all weddings I've been to, including weddings at 5-star hotels. We had hand-passed appetizers for the cocktail hour and for the reception, plated meals--salad then for the main course, choice of beef filet, salmon, and veggie lasagna. All our guests seriously gushed about the food AND the beautiful presentation. For this alone, you should hire CE for your event. Jessica packed us two extra meals to enjoy the next day, which was such a sweet touch, and we had them for breakfast. If I could eat CE's food every day I would. What makes CE more special is the service and thoughtfulness. We communicated with Jessica for the past 3 years and she has been so understanding and patient through all the postponements and changes we had to make. Having the wedding hang over our head all these years is stressful, but trying to make it happen during a pandemic / new variant surge is truly the worst experience. Jessica was so accommodating, responsive, and kind, despite a million emails I sent her about every little thing. The fact that the CE staff were all masked and honored our request to self-test prior to the wedding (we provided the rapid tests) alleviated our stress about COVID greatly. It's been almost a week and luckily nobody got sick (we and all guests tested too). Plus, CE has a lot of other services and rentals: decor, florals, day-of coordination, furniture, etc. We got parasols, cocktail tables, table runners, and candles from them and thought the prices for all very affordable (our day-of coordinator agreed). In fact, the pricing for everything is really reasonable, especially considering the above-and-beyond service and food. There is absolutely, absolutely no reason to hesitate hiring CE. I cannot recommend them strongly enough. If I had to do any event in the Bay again, they'd be the first one for me to reach out to. Thank you so much, CE. You spread so much joy with your help and expertise! read more

Culinary Excellence Catering - Our wedding catering included the delicious & beautiful cake, which came with fresh flowers (the centerpiece is by Sweetness & Light)! - Caterers Near Me - Oakland, California

Culinary excellence just catered our wedding at the Brazil Room and we can't say enough good things about the company! They are on the list of preferred vendors and should be your #1 pick. They are a one stop shop and offer just about everything you could need to make your big day complete. We chose to use them for catering and day of coordination. With that said, we had SO many compliments on the hors d'oeuvres, buffet and overall look of the wedding. Sierra was our day of coordinator and she is AMAZING! She was communicative, personable, down to earth and incredible day of the wedding. I cannot recommend her enough. She made sure the ceremony and reception space looked incredible and checked-in on us all night! Our guests are still texting/ calling us to tell us how lovely they thought she was and how good the food was. Overall, we would absolutely use this wonderful company and thank you Sierra and CE team! read more

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Simply the best catering service we've encountered. Culinary Excellence stepped in a little over a week before our wedding after the original caterer fell through. To do so, Jessica customized a sit down dinner menu and arranged an entire team to work at the last moment--not to mention that she put in all of this incredible effort just a few days before having a baby. We are humbled by Jessica's willingness to do so much not only to help a couple she had never met before, but to give us a wedding dinner far beyond our expectations. Christopher kindly made final arrangements with us up to the day before the wedding, including arranging outdoor heating, last minute menu and guest count changes, and meeting with my wife in person. The food was of the caliber of a fine restaurant. My favorite appetizer was the seared ahi tuna on cucumber round with wasabi cream and pickled ginger. The servers were kind enough to bring us appetizers and drinks while we were taking wedding pictures far away from the reception, which added to the happiness apparent in our wedding photos. For dinner, we had the salmon and filet entrées. One of the favorite points of conversation among guests from around this country and a few others (including among them firefighters, teachers, doctors, lawyers and musicians) was that they had been served the best dinner they had ever experienced at a wedding. At one point, Christopher must have noticed my mother using her shawl because he appeared behind us to discretely move one of the outdoor heaters directly behind her. We will always be grateful for Christopher's attention and care. After dinner, the bartender shined. The drinks were incredible and we particularly appreciate that she made sure the head table never had an empty glass. There are so many more points of appreciation that we could share, including that the pricing was very fair and reasonable. But for now, we will say thank you. Culinary Excellence helped make our wedding the best day of our lives. read more

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We found them at a Wedding Fair put on by the East Bay Park District. Their boneless short ribs became the bar that other caters there had to exceed -- none did. It ended up costing more for that entree choice, but it was worth it. They later had their own Wedding Fair at their office where we got to sample many of their other food offerings which was nice and many were quite tasty. We ended up contracting them to cater our wedding. They handled the food, linens, plates, glasses, flatware, table centerpieces, ceremony arch, flowers, pretty much everything except liquor that we purchased ourselves at BevMo and dropped off at their office the week prior to our wedding. Being pretty much a one-stop-shop helped greatly with wedding planning that we did ourselves. The day of the wedding, they set everything up nicely, received our cake via courier from an outside bakery, and everything went off smoothly. Working with Sierra was great as she was responsive and accomodating. Hopefully, I'll never have a need to get married again, but I'd use them again if I did. read more

If I could give CE 100 stars I would!!! Culinary Excellence not only catered my wedding, they took care of all of the florals (center pieces, arch, bouquets and boutonnières), baked our delicious wedding cake, provided linens and silverware and literally SO MUCH more. They go beyond just catering. They do it ALL! My husband and I hired Culinary Excellence for our wedding back in 2019. Our wedding was scheduled for November of 2020 but obviously had to be pushed back because of COVID. We finally got to celebrate our love just a few weeks ago and my goodness was it perfect! Our wedding guests would not stop raving about how beautiful everything turned out that day and they would not shut up about the delicious food! I have to give Jess a HUGE shoutout because our special day would not have been possible without her. She took such great care of us in the two years leading up to the wedding and helped make sure everything was going according to plan the day of the wedding. Yes, they offer day of coordination services as well! I'm telling you they do it all! One thing I'll never forget is how supportive Jess was the day before the wedding. It was a rough day for me and she was just the sweetest. She hugged me and gave me reassurance that the big day would pan out perfectly, and it did! Jess, if you're reading this, Jason and I love you so much! #forevergrateful read more

Culinary Excellence Catering - Beautiful wedding arch with REAL flowers. - Caterers Near Me - Oakland, California

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Culinary Excellence catered and serviced our wedding in June. Amazing. They were on a list of preferred vendors, and they were the first, and only, vendor we met with and had an über-delicious sampling. We made our minds up on the spot. Sierra was our project manager and she's amazing. Unflusterable and understanding. Our needs were basic, but specific. She nailed all of it- including checking in on me during cocktails and hors d'oeuvre before ceremony to make sure I was eating! When we walked in The Brazilian Room before anyone arrived, it was wonderously beautifully set up and arranged. All of our guests, family, friends , loved ones marvelled at the entire wedding. Oh? And price? Extra-reasonabLe including all the extra service and attention. I'll definitely use Culinary Excellence again- for any event! Thank you Sierra! read more

Excellent response to my inquiry on party planning , answered all questions and very nice correspondence.

Jessica and Samantha worked to create the perfect menu for my mother's funeral reception. They were able to accommodate dietary issues to ensure all attendees would have something to satisfy their palate. I highly recommend them. read more

From start to finish, Culinary Excellence was incredible. Samantha was our point of contact for catering and coordination services (including venue management) for our late 2022 wedding at The Brazilian Room. She is a super-friendly professional who handled everything superbly. Communication was always easy, and the quality of service excellent. Samantha always put our desires and concern first and foremost. When our requested day-of schedule proved challenging, Samantha made it work, since she knew it was important to us. Multiple guests raved to us how great the food was--one middle-aged guest said it was the best wedding food they'd ever had! The vegan selections were excellent, especially the gnocchi. And you couldn't tell that the cake was vegan (which is high praise in my mind)! The price was competitive, and better than many other vendors. Overall, Culinary Excellence did a fantastic job, and the convenience of a coordinator + caterer wrapped into one is hard to beat. read more

My wedding reception was on Oct 2021. I had wedding planner service and catering service. First talk about the catering service, my guests were complaining the food was cold, although I paid $100 at the venue for the kitchen and paid Culinary Excellence Catering (CEC) $550 to rent their Ovens. My family and guests also complaint about CEC staffs were very stingy with the food. They gave very thin slices of prime ribs (not one portion), and they told my guests that they are out of lamb lollipops. I asked my friend to help me get one plate to see how the guests get served, and the portion definitely not the same as the time I did food tasting. Although I paid for 91 guests, and I had only 78 guests showed up that day, my guests complained the staffs said they ran out of food. Attach is the invoice. I emailed Jessica before the reception to tell the staff to not restrict on the amount of food my guests want because I paid 12 meal courses and have less guests. My sister went to the kitchen and saw they had so much food left. I asked Jessica after reception, and she told me the guests should have asked her in the kitchen. Maybe because the food was served cold, so it was not as good as the time I did food tasting. I don't suggest to order Peking duck with CEC, the bun was really dry and not fluffy. Base on the feedback I got from friends and my dad who is vegetarian monk, he said the vegetarian meal was ok not that good. Second, it's about the wedding planner service, Jessica was my wedding planner. We were so lack of communication. She was on maternity leave, so I couldn't get to talk to her much, which I understand. However, on the week of my wedding reception and the day of my wedding reception, I tried to contacted her, but no one response. I done all of the planning myself, and I only need Jessica to help me during the reception, but when I need her the most at the reception, I couldn't find her. I didn't feel like I got enough care/ service for the price I paid $950. I don't suggest doing wedding planner with CEC; that's base on my opinion and experience. Base on this experience, I would not want to work with Culinary Excellence in the future. read more

Culinary Excellence Catering - Caterers Near Me - Oakland, California

Amazing catering company, Jessica was awesome. We had Culinary Excellence cater our wedding reception and it went off without a hitch. They were extremely helpful and set up everything perfectly, it was an outside event and they brought everything we needed, even the heaters for the tables. Jessica was extremely hands on and responsive and made it very easy and for my husband and I to enjoy the event. She had everything planned and you can tell they were very experienced in running events. We had about 60 people but I am sure they would have been able to handle 600 just as well. Every single person there commented at how delicious the food was. They hit the main course and appetizers out of park 12/10 recommend. Bonus points for them getting a wine stain out of my dress as well read more

We chose Culinary Excellence to cater and coordinate our wedding in September. We worked mainly with Samantha and we were so so happy with our decision. Even though we had to plan our wedding out of state, Samantha made the entire process so easy. After our first inquiry, Samantha was so helpful with providing us tons of examples, information, that we knew exactly what menus and services they could provide with the catering. She also did a zoom consultation to go over everything since we were out of the area. It also made things much simpler for us given that they provide coordination services as well! Instead of trying to coordinate with multiple vendors ourselves, we had Culinary Excellence provide our florals, rentals, lawn games, catering, etc. Samantha was also our day of coordinator and helped with rehearsal as well. The entire time leading up the wedding date, Samantha was very responsive to any questions that we had come up. When the wedding date finally arrived, everything provide by Culinary Excellence was perfect. In addition to the dinner service, Samantha was able to pull together exactly the vision that we had for the decor/ florals and ambiance. After the event we received compliments from our guests that the event staff were very professional and very organized; the food was excellent; and florals were beautiful. Our wedding was better than anything we could have imagined, and Culinary Excellence and Samantha were key to making that happen. We definitely recommend them for their services!!! read more

We cannot recommend Culinary Excellence for your wedding (or any event) more! I intentionally left "Catering" off that last sentence because they are so much more than just a catering company. For starters, they include linens for NO additional cost. They have anything else you could possibly need for rental at a very reasonable cost. And most importantly the food was delicious - we received many compliments from our guests. We worked with Jessica Murphy, Senior Event Coordinator - she is AMAZING! Jessica is professional, responsive, efficient and wonderful to work with. She worked with us to keep our needs within budget, made the most beautiful floral bouquets and provided day-of coordination help which kept things moving to keep within our venue timeline. I don't know how we would have gotten through the stress of a COVID wedding without her. read more

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We had our wedding at the end of October and chose Cullinay Excellent to be our wedding caterer. It was one of the best vendors that we selected for our wedding to make it wonderful. We worked with Jessica and Samantha (during Jessica's maternity leave), both very professional and responsive. We requested the Persian menu for our dinner and the food was delicious and Shirin Polo (Jewelry rice) was exceptionally unique and good. To be quite clear, we were initially skeptical about having Shirin Polo for our food made by a non-Persian chef. However, the chef and owner, Chris, impressed us with his recipes and the food served at the wedding was even more delicious. The Shirin polo was totally authentic and delicious with a beautiful topping design. The rice was cooked exactly the way we have asked Chris on the tasting day. We got many compliments from our guests too. Chris was very pleasant and made sure to take care of the food even though he broke his arm two weeks prior to the wedding. I highly recommend the CE team and will go back to them for our future events. read more

From beginning to end, Jessica was a pleasure to work with. She was on top of everything we requested and was thoroughly organized. She, Chris (the head chef), and the lovely staff helped put together the most amazing and unforgettable experience during our wedding at the Brazilian Room in Berkeley. Guests were raving so much about the food!! The avocado toast, sliders, salad, salmon, chicken, veggies, steak, donuts, and BISCUITS. Omg those biscuits were a HIT. My husband and I are still dreaming of them. They also made the most beautiful cutter cake ever. I requested a smeared/naked pumpkin spice cake that was dairy-free, it was heavenly! We can't thank them enough. Everyone said so many good things and left with full bellies. read more

Culinary Excellence Catering - Caterers Near Me - Oakland, California

I would give Jessica and her team 100 stars if I can. My journey planning my wedding with Jessica started over 1.5 years before my wedding. My original wedding venue was Preservation Park in Oakland. Culinary Excellence was a preferred vendor. I contacted 4 of the preferred vendors and Jessica was the quickest to response and more detailed oriented. I knew I can trust Jessica right from the beginning. In addition to doing a food tasting with Chris, I asked Jessica to quote me for the decorations. I think it's amazing that you can do everything with one company. I had set up two tastings, one with Culinary Excellence and the other with a Asian Fusion caterer. At the end of the tasting, we decided to pick the Asian caterer because it better fit my family wants but let me tell you that Culinary Excellence food is top notch. My husband and I still talk about the salmon from the tasting. Everything was beautifully presented and food was very very good. Even not going with the food, I asked if Jessica would be willing to still do the decorating. It was history from there. I spent over a year planning my dream wedding with Jessica. Come the week of the wedding, the weather says it would rain on our outdoor wedding. Jessica kept me calm throughout the process and supported me like a friend. 3 days before the wedding, we decided to change our wedding to Mission Paradise Banquet Hall 30 mins drive away from Preservation Park. Jessica was in vacation the day I made that decision and still made sure to call me that night to talk through the changes. With 3 days to go, she pulled her team together and put together the weddings of my dream. The guests still wonder how we pulled it out.. well I say a big part of it is Jessica and her team. There are a few things to note that made Jessica and her team stand out. My guests raved about the Culinary Excellence team during has after my wedding. 1) my family never seen table greetings so efficient before! We got through 30 tables in 30-40 mins or so 2) the timeline was spot on and perfect 3) Jessica made sure my husband and I stayed hydrated all night. Everytime I turned she had two cups of water in her hand for us to drink 4) they pulled out all my decorations in the new venue. My guests are still talking about how beautiful the wedding was! 5) set up the tea ceremony at my home the day hefor Again, if I had a choice to go back and pick another company or coordinator.. I would not. I don't think I would of received the same service if I went elsewhere. Thank you for the bottom of my heart and my family for all you and the team did! read more

Culinary Excellence Catering - Hair piece from culinary excellence - Caterers Near Me - Oakland, California

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Sierra and her team were so professional and went above and beyond at our wedding. We are so happy with what we got for our money on our wedding day. They really deliver on their promises, and are able to problem solve in the moment (we had a special type of venue that required some heavy lifting!). Plus, the food was so amazing and they offer so many choices to choose from (we did do a tasting beforehand). Sierra was so responsive to my many questions in the months leading up to our wedding, and the chefs were able to cater to our dietary needs (gluten free and dairy free options). Thank you again to the entire team for making our wedding a complete success and providing yummy food and great service! read more

Food was amazing and consistently so. This is the 2nd Board week supported by Culinary Excellence and the feedback from the Directors gets better each time. They are on site early for setup and discreet while doing so. Very accommodating and flexible with menu suggestions. No matter what is served, guaranteed to taste delicious! Please use them for your next corporate event and you will never regret the choice! (Next time will take photos to share) read more

My wedding in Oct. 2022 was catered by Culinary Excellence. They are a fabulous wedding service that can do it all. We had a beautiful buffet and lovely appetizers at happy hour with great service. The food was delicious and the people were easy to work with. I would definitely recommend them! read more

They did an outstanding job for our wedding and I could not recommend them more. The food was incredible, the florals were gorgeous, everything ran sooo smoothly with the help of our coordinator, and all of the staff were so polite, friendly, and professional. I am so glad we went with Culinary Excellence, I wasn't stressed leading up to the wedding because I knew we were in good hands. Our coordinator really went above and beyond also to follow the natural dynamics of the party and make adjustments to what we had planned on the fly. They really helped to make our wedding so special, memorable, and warm. read more

Culinary Excellence (CE) was such a fantastic catering service for our recent wedding at the Brazilian Room in Tilden Park! We worked closely with Samantha Inskeep as our Day-of coordinator. To start off, the food was amazing! We did a taste test early in the planning process and we got to try all the items on our wedding menu. I was dreaming about the appetizers for months and that was one of the things I was looking forward to on our big day. All our friends and family were raving about the food, and how much they enjoyed everything. The team was so professional, they set up everything quickly and even helped my family put out some last-minute items during the set up. The wait staff and bartender were fantastic and our guests also were impressed by how attentive the staff were all night. Samantha was great, she was attentive to me and my husband all night and I felt so pampered! She made sure we had food and drinks, and she made sure our event continued to run smoothly all night. Highly recommend! read more

I was lucky enough to get connected with Culinary Excellence Catering for our Thanksgiving dinner. The experience was amazing! Jessica was super responsive when I reached out, and she assured me she could get our order completed including working around my gluten sensitivity. She customized a Thanksgiving dinner for my husband and me (including a delicious gluten-filled apple pie slice just for my hubby!) Jessica communicated clearly about when we could expect the delivery to happen so that we could plan our day around it. And best of all -- the meal was outstanding! I've never had gravy that good, and the balance of turkey and sides was just perfect. We will be back to order more soon! read more

Culinary Excellence Catering - Thanksgiving dinner from Culinary Excellence! - Caterers Near Me - Oakland, California

Jess and Culinary Excellence made our 60th birthday party so perfect. From day one, it was a blast working with Jess. She took the outline of "ideas" that I had for a San Francisco-themed party and ran with them! The neighborhood menu boards turned out even better than I thought they would, and our guests got a real kick out of them. We've received so many compliments on the food, too, in addition to the set-up. Everything was delicious, and we got a lot of comments on the tomato soup/grilled cheese appetizers - people just loved those. The doughnut wall was also a huge hit (those doughnuts were insane! Yum!) Wow! We had so much fun and didn't worry about a thing because we knew Jess was in charge. The flowers on the tables were beautiful, and the outside area was picture perfect. I loved how the tie-dye blankets looked in the baskets by the "keep warm" signs, and the Gerbera daisies in the cubby holes along the wall added just the right pop of color to go with the fuzzy pillows. In addition to everything else, we sincerely appreciated all the hard work setting up that afternoon and coordinating everything throughout the evening. They made it appear seamless. Ours was a big party with over 150 guests and Jess and CE absolutely nailed it! People are still sending their compliments. I wish we could have another party soon so we could use them again. I am happy to recommend Culinary Excellence to anyone! They are truly the best. read more

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My family and I ordered meals to be delivered to our home during the worst of Covid. They were amazing ! We also enjoyed the special Thanksgiving menu. Unique dishes that were delicious and beautiful. For my business, I had Jessica and her fabulous team prepare dinner for my staff at a office gathering. It was delivered for our outdoor setting and was perfect. The vegetarian dishes were fantastic and there was more food than we expected. Culinary Excellence can provide so much more for your event than a typical caterer. If you're looking for assistance for a work event or a wedding or personal celebrations don't hesitate to call this talented team!! read more

Jessica, Chris, it's been 3 weeks since our wedding and we're STILL hearing compliments about the food! My wife and I couldn't have been happier with our experience with Culinary Excellence. We requested a quote through Yelp and were invited for a complimentary tasting at their office. Between the food, service and the additional details CE could take care of (beautifully, might I add), choosing them was an easy decision. We were briefly considering outside companies for details like the bar, heat lamps, lighting, etc, but everything just made so much sense to do it with CE and their wonderful staff. Chris personally took care of our day of coordination and was just the best at making sure everything ran smoothly and, more importantly, that we were happy and in the moment. Through the process of picking out caterers we quickly found that you get what you pay for. With that being said our CE experience was worth every penny. We decided early that exceptional quality food and family style service were our top priorities and CE excelled at both. The lighting was a beautiful compliment to our dinner, and the staff was competent and courteous. Thanks again, Chris and Jessica, we couldn't recommend you more. read more

Had our wedding reception on a cold drizzling November at temascal Beach House in Oakland. We had a last minute change in venue 2 months before our wedding date. Samantha and Culinary Excellence without a doubt exceeded everyone's expectation. They were very accommodating and flexible. They opened building, set the tables, plates linens bar, fireplace everything. Gifted us with upgraded gold chavilli chairs. They also allowed us to come in while they were setting up to put final decorations and do what we needed to do. Food was excellent. We had them add a soup dish that was not on the menu bc my mom had requested it. I did not expect much as I assumed they only did American food. Tom Yum soup blew us all away. Best of all service was great. Everyone was friendly, attentive and accommodating. I could not have asked for a better team. Thank you CE! read more

Culinary Excellence catered our wedding last week in Livermore. They were FABULOUS! They worked with us so nicely after postponing our wedding 3x (thanks to COVID). They gifted us a GORGEOUS cake and upgraded our linens for free! And they were very attentive throughout the night. We had 3 or 4 guests not show and they offered to box up the extra food for us. They did and gave it to our Day of Coordinator who we picked it up from the next day from her fridge. We were SO GLAD they did this. As many people say, you don't really get to enjoy your dinner at your own wedding because so much is going on. We had a few bites and then were whisked away for sunset photos. ALL of our guests raved about the food and we were so happy we got to actually enjoy it the day after our wedding! It was super delicious even as leftovers! read more

Culinary Excellence Catering - Caterers Near Me - Oakland, California

After a 2 year postponement, we finally had our long awaited reception. Samantha was always on top of every detail, responsive, answered my questions with patience and provided sound advice when I couldn't decide. Servers on the day of were very friendly and professional as well. All the guests raved about the food, especially the prime rib! I would highly recommend Samantha and the entire team for any type of event. read more

Culinary Excellence is a fabulous, wonderful company to work with. I am a wedding photographer and I've been lucky enough to work quite a few weddings with Culinary Excellence. Jessica and her team are incredibly professional and fabulous to work with! The food is amazing, their staff is incredibly courteous and professional and their team is a dream to work with. If you are looking for a great team who knows exactly how to make your wedding dreams come true, get in touch with Jessica! read more

Culinary Excellence can do COVID, book them and they will take care of you and your guests! I had two weeks to plan a Covid-friendly, socially-distant retirement party in the midst of wildfires, heat waves, and power outages, and I am forever grateful that I picked Culinary Excellence. My number #1 concern with planning a small party surrounding these circumstances, was whether or not this company could do Covid and let me tell you, Culinary Excellence took my concerns seriously and took extra care to work with me to keep our guests safe. Our 18-person backyard event was a huge success and culinary Excellence was a one-stop-shop that made coordinating the event a breeze. We had 93 degree weather and some surprise guests that I needed to keep a secret from the house hosts and they worked with me to keep them a secret and make changes to deal with the heat issues. We ordered appetizers, a two-item buffet, a couple kids meals, dessert and an open bar and I wouldn't change a thing. I took CE's recommendations and updated our menu to a two-item buffet Salmon and Chicken with grilled veggies instead of hot items. I also took a chance and ordered a sheet carrot cake from them as well and it was incredible. Again, they made an incredible carrot cake, which is special in itself, I had several caterers tell me they don't offer carrot cake. All the food was amazing and looked amazing. (Also if they ask you if you want the high-quality disposable plates for appetizers and dessert, do yourself a favor and trust them on it, they look great and no one will say a thing about it being disposable with COVID). To deal with the heat, we both ordered a pop-up tent and umbrellas to keep everyone stay cool. The umbrellas were great and covered a bigger area than I expected. I told them color ideas for flowers and they came back with full-on floral arrangements and they were gorgeous! We also had a handful of staff from CE working our event and everyone was kind and professional. After the event was over, I got a call from my CEO telling me that the event went perfectly and that I raised the bar. Picking the right caterer matters, so pick Culinary Excellence Catering and expect what they're known for: excellence. read more

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This review is long over due. Where do I even start? My wedding was in August of 2019. Chris and his team at culinary excellence went above and beyond anything I could have asked for. He was more then just my caterer he became almost my wedding planner. I knew I didn't have anything in to worry when it came to my reception. The table setting and decoration was everything I asked and soo beautiful. The wedding cake which I did not plan on having, and he decided to gift to us, was by far the best part of the wedding. I can't thank Chris and his team enough for making my wedding reception as magical as it was. read more

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