Today I was a guest at an event in downtown Hendersonville. B&G club Youth of the Year was the…read morefocus of the gathering. The gem to be discovered was the catered food service. 5 stars does not do justice to the flavors, textures, & visual experience that was set into play by the simple but special culinary presentation. Green beans can be "nothing to write home about" but these gourmet green beans. Every item on the buffet was full of flavor and a visual delight! Amanda's Catering offered me the most flavorful culinary experience I have enjoyed in quite a while. THANK YOU.

Bride review: Amanda was incredible to work with for our wedding!! All of her food was delicious,…read morebeautiful, and relatively affordable. Working with her throughout the process was so comforting. She was quick to answer the phone and happy to help us through anything. She and her staff were so kind to us and she made sure everything went smoothly, from helping us with plates/cups to coordinating with the venue coordinator to making sure we were served first on our wedding night after all the chaos. We couldn't recommend Amanda's catering enough! Groom review: Amanda is absolutely awesome! From the very beginning she was super easy to work with; she was always available to hop on the phone and answer questions, she was not bothered by menu changes which involved redoing quotes, and her food was out of this world. Not to mention that she is incredibly kind! She made sure we ate first and that everything was going the way we needed it to. Her staff is also amazingly kind! If in doubt; go with Amanda. She really won't let you down and will actually make things easier for you! Thank you Amanda :)

​ I can't say enough to fully describe the talent Liz…read moredemonstrated when catering a birthday party I threw with 30 people in attendance this past weekend. Everything when dealing with Liz was exceptional from ordering and menu planning to the flawless delivery of some of the most amazing hors dourves I've ever tasted! The party Liz catered was a surprise party and I was pretty nervous about the entire night, so I needed a caterer that needed no hand holding and could work in the background without the need for a lot of direction - that's what you'll get with Elegantly Simple Retreats - classy, seamless delivery. My guests RAVED about the food and I'm really now looking forward to trying out her personal chef services at some point soon. This is a talented, professional, exceptional chef running an easy to deal with Asheville based catering company that I obviously HIGHLY recommend! Thanks Liz!

Our family just returned from a fabulous week in Black Mountain North Carolina enjoying a family…read morereunion with 13 of us. We were lucky enough to have 3 dinners catered in our rental house by Liz. Not only was the food was delicious, but she was adorable and lovely to work with. We were traveling with 6 kids between the ages of 3-11. Liz was so patient with them and their desire to "help" her in the kitchen. We would definitely recommend her to our friends and even use her services again for future vacations in the Asheville area!

Cielo made our rehearsal dinner everything we dreamed of. The food was delicious and the service…read moreimpeccable. Beyond that, Jordan was always happy with to answer our questions and try to accommodate all of our special requests. Highly recommend Cielo to anyone in the Asheville/NC mountain area.

Jess's incorporation of local and seasonal ingredients combined with a creative and tasty dishes…read moremakes your dining experience one to remember! If Jess is planning a pop up or collaborating with another Asheville chef, make sure you attend!

Jess' recent supper club pop-up was so unique and delicious. Thoughtful flavors with locally…read moresourced food...yum! Look forward to the next one!

One of my favorite restaurants, 67 Biltmore, is now open 9 AM to 5 PM Monday through Friday…read more They have great food, big portions, low prices and free parking (if you get one of the 8 spaces right next to the building). If not, the City Parking under the Aloft Hotel is just a few doors away, free if you are there 59 minutes or less, or $2 an hour. Not too hungry, you can buy 1/2 of most sandwiches (all come with chips and a pickle spear). They recently renovated with new flooring and paint and more. Never noisy when I am there. Seats are further apart than other downtown locations. Those of you who are here for a while might remember this as Laury's. She was very community involved and when she died way too young, her staff took over the restaurant. So a great staff and local owners. They are very well known for their catering. You can, also, run in and pick up prepared meals or sides from the glass cases in the front of the restaurant. There are 2 10 minute, curbside parking spaces right in front so you can order your food and get it to go barely stopping. Great place for men's or women's groups to meet for breakfast, lunch or an early dinner

Overall loved this place and the atmosphere. Only downside was it did take approximately 15 minutes…read morefor our sandwiches to come out, but I do believe the wait was worth the taste. The chicken salad was perfectly balanced with mayo, mustard, celery, etc. and staff were very friendly too and apologized for the wait. Would definitely try and give this spot a try if you have time.

Clarence the "Flavor Kind" is hilarious... His motto "mouth festival" is exactly what his food…read moreis... a party for your taste buds. He's pretty involved in the community which is a great extra perk! Support businesses that support our community!

Wonderful meal prepared with amazing comedian that was natural and real. Highly recommend this…read morecompany to cater any event.

Michelle is the best!!! We thoroughly enjoyed our relationship during the planning and…read moreimplementing of our wedding initially scheduled for June and then finally happening on November 21. She was very professional, organized, and absolutely the best at minor details. During the reception there was nothing we had to think about except having a wonderful time. She took the stress and pressure of the wedding day off our hands and made it seem effortless, Michelle even went out of her way to deliver the reception items to our hotel following the ceremony, which saved us a lot of time and energy the next day. Not part of her job but just an example of how she goes out of her way to ensure customer satisfaction. Highly recommend :)

Michelle and Sarah were amazing, and I couldn't imagine trying to plan our wedding in Asheville…read morewithout their knowledge and help. They would always have recommendations and useful ideas for any question we would have. We would have been completely lost without their connections and hotel referrals. During the stressful planning phase everything worked out and we had a great wedding. Michelle's mother did an outstanding job with the flowers and I would also highly recommend her. If you're looking to have your wedding in Asheville and you need some help do yourself a favor and hire Michelle.

I hired chef Mark weeks in advance of a very special dinner party for 9, knowing that my work…read moreschedule that week would not allow me to plan, shop and cook. It was wonderful to not have to worry about the meal details leading up to our big evening, and the chosen menu was not complicated, and at the $85/pp price point, I expected something elevated, which is what I would have served for my special friends. Our chosen menu was charcuterie board, bruschetta, caesar salad, sauteed scallops with risotto and asparagus, and dark chocolate mousse for dessert. During a phone call a week in advance, I instructed Mark that my guests would be arriving at 6, with dinner served at around 7, and that I wanted the dinners plated. I also requested that dessert be dark chocolate mousse, to which he responded "you got it". He said that he would arrive at 5, and depart right after dinner was served. Mark arrived promptly at 5 as we had agreed. I provided platters for the appetizers, and Mark's assistant then put out pre sliced cheese slices and deli meats, the kind you would purchase at Sam's club. Cheese slices, salami type meats and crackers. Not my idea of a charcuterie platter. His home mode bruschetta of olives and sun dried tomatoes served on crostini was delicious and a big hit. Mark asked me if dinner would be served buffet style or family style. I reminded him that I wanted the dinners plated.The caesar salad was made with bagged chopped romaine, store bought croutons and too much bottled dressing; Mark added shaved parmesan to jazz it up. After plating, the salad dishes were put on the table, off to the side. I moved them to the center of each place setting, indicating that we would have salad first, ahead of the entree. At around about 6:30PM, Mark told me that the entrees were ready. I reminded him that we would be sitting down at 7. He then asked if I wanted him to hang around until then. That would be correct. Risotto was good, the roasted asparagus was perfectly cooked, but the scallops were not at all what I had envisioned - 5 scallops, the size of nickels, some as big as quarters, were served to each guest. The mousse was good, and freshly made on site, but definitely not dark chocolate. My guests did not leave hungry, much good wine was consumed, and the conversation flowed. But it was not the elevated dining experience that I expected, and that I typically serve to my friends who themselves are stellar cooks. Reading the other glowing reviews, I wonder if Mark was having an off night, especially in view of the several miscommunications regarding serving style and timing. I nonetheless tipped generously as I appreciate the time and labor involved. I just wish it was all better.

We hired Chef Mark Dragon for a graduation dinner party of 9, 12/14/2024. We were unhappy with the…read morefood and response at addressing my concerns afterwards. I had guest complain about the sirloin steak saying it looked and tasted like cube steak. The Parmesan Crusted Chicken had no crust and did not taste good. No one ate the beef or chicken. We did select the lower per person rate of $55 per person instead of the premium $100 per person though I didn't expect to have a lower quality due to this. I thought we had clear communication fielding all my questions beforehand. I did not realize he was giving us extra accommodations as we were told afterwards with the amount of entree choices. In prior emails he stated we had 2-3 selections I went with 3 and did not count the one vegan meal. We discussed in our correspondences having a desert he mentioned he could do peach cobbler though when I sent him the final menu I left that out by mistake, my bad though I would have expected him to confirm this since we had discussed it so we were surprised that we didn't have desert. I do have to say the salad, green beans and butternut squash were very good. My guests were not happy though we made the best of the evening. I would not recommend this chef. ** Main point is everyone complained about the beef and chicken and did not eat it, we ended up throwing it out.