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The popular Utah born catering company Culinary Concepts Catering is owned & operated by John & Sara Simpson. CCC's Executive Chef & Ice Sculptor John, studied Culinary Arts at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco & apprenticed under Specialty Chefs & Ice Sculptors in the San Francisco Bay area for 11 years. After moving to Utah, John became a Professor at Utah State University instructing in the Culinary Arts Department for 9 years. During that time he opened ‘The Blue Sage’ restaurant which he transformed into a catering company years later to accommodate his desires to serve a broader clientele base. John has been awarded “Utah’s Best Chef” twice, “Cache Valley Chef of the Year” three times & been featured in numerous articles & television segments throughout his years in the industry. John’s background in Culinary Arts coupled with Sara's expertise in customer relations & event planning brings a wide variety of talent to Culinary Concept’s kitchen allowing his company to accommodate anything from Ice Sculptures to Wedding Receptions, Reunions to Corporate Events. Come experience our ‘Culinary Creation’ at Culinary Concepts Catering!

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Reviews of Culinary Concepts Catering

M
Maxine Sent on 08/07/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Highly Recommend

The food served at a wedding dinner can make or break the party! CC definitely delivered in every detail! Professional service all along the way, delicious food the guests all enjoyed and brought the whole party together. I would recommend them to every wedding or occasion you ever host!
M
Megan Sent on 08/18/2008
5 out of 5 rating
Culinary Concepts was fantastic. I wouldn book them again in a heartbeat! Michelle was so easy to plan with. Our server at the wedding was fantastic! The ice sculptures were gorgeous. They even put together a couple of boxes with goodies from our reception we wouldn't have gotten to taste if they hadn't sent the boxes with us. THEY WERE FANTASTIC!!!!!
W
Alison Sent on 08/06/2008
5 out of 5 rating
Amazing!!!! My family has a LOT of special food requests when it comes to food. Lactose, gluten free, seedless etc. you name it, we have it in my family and these guys are the only ones who could cater to all of those needs. The food was fantastic. Served nice and hot and with lots of flavor. The desserts were to die for! Michelle was awesome and very professional. Everything that was asked was taken care of with the best of service. Highly recommended!!!!
K
Kristin Sent on 11/15/2016
4.9 out of 5 rating
John was absolutely incredible to work with. He came highly recommended from our venue, and was very accommodating when it came to scheduling a tasting at his office in Smithfield (we had a very limited window due to ours being a destination wedding). When our planner, my then-fiance, and I arrived, John had set a great table with a sampling of hors d'oeuvres that we'd requested. As we sat down, it was amusing and cute to see that he was actually nervous; he later explained that he didn't often do tastings anymore as most of his business was word of mouth. During the tasting, we tried three different dishes, all of which were equally impressive. Two were items we requested; the third was something John "whipped up" as a demonstration. At the end of the tasting, we were very impressed and requested a menu and quote based on our selections.

The menu/quote was received within two weeks, which I consider reasonable. Part of the wedding package that Culinary Concepts offers is an ice sculpture as John's gift to the bride & groom. It's not clearly stated that there is a maximum value to this sculpture ($95), or what exactly that value can get. This negotiation process is where I have to drop a half star for responsiveness, as there were times where we could go weeks without an email. We had 5.5 months from tasting to wedding, so it wasn't a huge concern, but it is worth noting.

On our wedding day, John and his crew were amazing. They arrived at least 3 hours prior to the beginning of the cocktail hour/reception, and quickly went about setting up. For our party of approximately 90, I noted 5 servers, a bartender, and John himself. Service during dinner was extremely attentive and quick. Cake service was perfect, with just enough to go around.

Overall, John and his crew were amazing and given the opportunity I would use him again and recommend him without hesitation.
J
Jessica Sent on 05/22/2009
4.7 out of 5 rating
I loved working with Culinary Concepts. They have great food and its not that expensive. Michelle is wonderful at designing the event and John makes wonderful food suggestions. I will definitely use them again.
J
Jessica Sent on 12/30/2012
4.5 out of 5 rating
I love Culinary Concepts food! Their display always looks beautiful too!
Ashley
Ashley Sent on 09/18/2019
4.4 out of 5 rating

Jamie is great!

We have met with Jamie at Culinary Concepts and have hired them for our wedding this coming December. They are so great to work with and do their best to make your day exactly what you want and are so accommodating!
U
User1527029 Sent on 02/04/2014
They do not answer their phone. You can leave message after message and they do not return your call. I finally was able to talk with Sara after trying for several weeks. We discussed them providing 3 separate dinners. One would be in Feb. so we could try some of their menu items. The other two were going to be the wedding luncheon and our wedding dinner (100+ guests). Sara stated that she would email me a price list and menu. After an entire month passed, no information was sent to me. During the same time, my wedding planner had also contacted them. She too was brushed off. I talked to John and cancelled all three dinners due to lack of dependability. Shortly after my cancelation, Sara called me back and wanted to send the information to me. I told I did not want their serve. She became rude and hostile and repeatedly told me that I was an angry and hatred person.
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