There Will be Food!

We have a caterer! I'm sending off the deposit today so we can reserve our date! Once it all goes through I will add their link to our dream team list, but for now I'll tell you about our wonderful tasting.

We always knew that we wanted a more casual, homespun wedding and of course wanted the food to match. This particular restaurant is a favorite among friends. It's known for great steaks and a great atmosphere. I had heard that this restaurant did catering and I also knew that they had worked with our venue before. After seeing detail shots of their presentation and emailing their catering department, I knew we needn't look any further. I love that they do fabulous Santa Maria style BBQ (a favorite in my family) with a Northern California Twist. Their presenation and finishing touches really add elegance to a casual meal.Cream Cheese Torta, post devouring.

We arrived at the catering building on a very rainy Saturday. The catering manager was there to greet us and show us to our table set for two. She brought us a mini-version of their cream cheese torta appetizer. It was full of flavor with layers of pesto and sun dried tomatoes. We immediately began munching. B later told me that it wasn't his favorite, but given the fact that he ate about half of it himself, I think he liked it just fine. I, of course loved it.

Next was an apple-slaw that I had wanted to try. I had heard that it was really good but when it came out it was just your run of the mill coleslaw with granny smith apples thrown in. B and I barely touched it. I knew that we would go with a traditional house-type salad, but wanted to see what all the fuss was about. No harm done.

Our plate full of yum.

Then, we were met with two huge plates full of goodness. Tri-tip cooked to perfection, oven-roasted to-die-for chicken, gorgeous roasted veggies and the best au-gratin potatoes either of us had ever had. I think we looked at each other between every single bite with a smile. It.Was.Heaven! It couldn't have been more along the lines of what I was hoping for. I had originally thought we'd do BBQ chicken, but the catering manager convinced me into trying their oven baked chicken. I'm SO glad she did because it was awesome. It went really well with the potatoes. Neither of us could finish our entire plate. We changed the salad option, B approved of the bread selection and we were sold.

Honestly, I couldn't have felt more at home chowing town on tri-tip and chicken and we both agreed that it will fit in with our venue perfectly. The catering manager agreed and let us know that she LOVES our venue and has an event there at least once a month. Our venue coordinator had equally great things to say about this caterer, so I couldn't be more confident that all will run smoothly. By the time we made it home the catering manager had emailed me the proposal. We are renting our china and linens from them so she added it all up and I was pleasantly surprised with the total. Not amazingly cheap, but a pretty fabulous deal for the quality of the food.

Check!