After I proposed to my wife, and we secured the Golden Gate Club for our wedding venue, they had…read moregiven my wife a list of caterers to review. She had contacted several of them on a Saturday, and two replied within hours. Barbara Federoff of Food Glorious Food was one of them, and my wife scheduled the appointment to meet in Novato.
Her quote was a little more expensive than the other immediate responder, and I was whining all the way as we drove to Novato that this better be good because the traffic across the bridge is a parking lot at best, and I have better ways to spend my evenings then tasting food. But, I tried to be a sport because it's her day, and we made it there about a half hour early because the carpool lane was open.
Barbara greeted us warmly, even though we were early, and gave us a glass of wine while she and her staff prepared the appetizers. After a few minutes, she rolled out the crab cakes while she talked about her business.
Great, I thought, crab cakes. My experience with them is usually dismal because they are little more than a lot of deep fried bread and spices. I took a taste anyways, and after the flavors of crab followed by the right spicing flooded my mouth, I began to reconsider all of my bitchin'...it was clear this lady knew how to cook.
Then after a tasty pasta dish, she served us tenderloin with pancetta that simply melted in our mouths, and at that point I had decided in my head who our caterer was. After the meat course we talked business; she assured us that she attends the event, orders the tables and glassware, and that it would be adequately staffed. I drove home with a full belly, telling my wife that it was Barbara's job to lose.
All I can say is that wedding planning was a snap after we contacted her. She referred us to a 'young baker with enthusiasm' (read that as eager to price competitively) that made a marvelous cake, her contact at Beverages and More had our open bar stocked perfectly at a price that put hotel prices to shame, and all of the table services and servers were covered in her quote. In short (I know, too late), she was always responsive and professional, and her help took out all of the guesswork for food and drink. Truth be told, when you add it all up, I'm pretty sure we saved money because of her recommendations.
Crunch time, wedding day. I arrived at the venue for pictures and she already had the troops slinging those god-sent crabcakes and the tables were set up. I showed her how we wanted our table decorations and seating, left the example, and headed out for the wedding. After the ceremony was finished, all was in order as we (she) planned. The room looked wonderful, and the table seating was perfect. The food came out promptly and the service and cleanup was professional.
Since the wedding, we received excellent reviews about the food and drinks, and my wife still keeps raving about how much Food Glorious Food helped us plan our special day.