Oh man. What can I say about Jim and his staff and family that hasn't already been said? Toast Catering is the absolute best. They're professional, reliable, and everyone we met was so hardworking and nice. And just as importantly, the food was delicious.
I think I'm going to go with an unwieldy bullet list to try and synthesize my thoughts about the best day of our lives, which happened September 20, 2014 at Nestldown in Los Gatos:
- The service from the moment you first email them to the final good-bye is absolutely fantastic. I really can't stress how important this is. I wish I could remember the name of the guy who was managing everything day of, but he was wonderful, and totally discreet in asking me about very difficult decisions that I needed to make, like did I want cake now or later, or did I want a glass of wine (yessss, please).
- If you get married at Nestldown, know that Toast Catering will go above and beyond what they are truly scoped to do in order to get everything set up and taken down. Nestldown is a great venue and they were also wonderful to work with, but I think they have been particularly selective about their vendor partners, and work with those who will go above and beyond to help extend their reach and resources as a company.
- I mentioned I liked the salad dressing at the wedding, and they literally gave me the whole bucket of leftovers and filled tupperware (they recommend you bring it) with delicious food, which I sadly and promptly left out of the tiny mini-fridge. So sad. But the gesture was really wonderful.
- The food was SO good. We got so many compliments from our wedding guests, and five months later, they're still talking about how delicious the food was.
- The food, specifically: we skipped the appetizers and basically did a Cowgirl Creamery Cheese buffet with fruit and charcuterie, because we are obsessed with cheese and cheese is the best. Huuuuge it. Their appetizers are fine, but where they really shine are with the entrees. We had the prime rib and the salmon with beurre blanc, which was just so good, and the plated spinach salad is just killer. "I can't believe this is a wedding salad," exclaimed one of my guests at one point. Oh, and tortellini pasta salad with green beans. Simple food, executed well - no fussy foams or plated service, we just did a buffet and it was great. We definitely both got to eat and can vouch for it all.
- The initial tasting: Jim is such a friendly and fun guy, and the tasting is what sold us. We went to his tasting room in Pacifica, which is this magical space where an obscene amount of food appears. He cooks on the satellite equipment that they'll be using at the wedding, which is great because there's really no bait and switch. If anything, some things were even better at the wedding (maybe it's because it was our wedding day, so everything tasted better?). In any case, we had the space to ourselves and it was something we still talk about to this day. We had a few other tastings with other caterers, but none were as special.
- Yes, they're affordable.
- Jim's been doing this for over 30 years and it shows.
- Ashley at Toast is just great. She's Jim's daughter and helped my maid-of-honor and I through so many decisions, including the equipment rentals.
- There was only one snafu, which was with the rentals: we got the wrong flatware (we were supposed to get wooden vintage-y ones) and instead we got these modern silver dappled forks and knives and spoons that didn't really go with the plates, but I don't think anyone but me really cared or noticed.
- Oh! And we did the s'mores bar at Nestldown, which was super fun. I decided to supply most of the chocolates and graham crackers since I work for an organic consumer packaged goods company and am particular about that kind of stuff, but the set-up was awesome and the kids had so much fun with it.
In any case, can 100% recommend them and they completely deserve all the five star reviews. read more