The Culinary Concepts team exceeded our expectations. We hired them for our wedding reception (seated dinner for the main day, and a low key sandwich lunch for the next day). They were on top of things from the beginning to the end.
- The food was delicious and fresh. We were worried that the food made for 70 guests won't be as good as a couple of portions carefully prepared for the tasting, but we didn't have to worry at all! The food was amazing, and even our most picky foodie friends appreciated the taste and quality. When we met with the chef during the tasting, he made me confident that we can trust him pick the best quality vegetables and ingredients, most appropriate for the season. Hot churro station was a great and memorable surprise for our guests too.
- The presentation of food was great too, so it didn't just taste good but it looked festive and appetising as well.
- The communication was impeccable. Our main contact was Cailey and she patiently guided us through the entire process for over6 months of preparation, including numerous quotes and menu options, and countless modifications we made to the order along the way. It was a destination wedding for us, which added layers of complexity, but the team professionally helped us with everything, and was flexible enough to squeeze a tasting in a very small window of opportunity we had.
- The team is very helpful, kind, and caring overall. There are so many little details that showed their care, like keeping a separate plate with appetisers for the bride and the groom running late to the cocktail hour because of the photoshoot. The Culinary Concept team offered to help us with rentals too, but we decided to take care of it ourselves. Nevertheless, Cailey was so attentive that she checked our rentals order, to make sure we covered everything. They also helped us move chairs from the ceremony site to the dinner area, arrange the napkins/cuttlery/etc on the tables, and quickly collect the items (including decor) from the table to prepare rental equipment for pickup same night. We didn't have the day-of-the-event coordinator, but Culinary Concepts helped us stay on track with the timeline too. For the tasting, they even decorated the table according to our theme, which was a delightful surprise and demonstration of care again.

Wedding prep is really stressful, especially if you do it without a planner. But the Culinary Concepts team really went out of their way to make the preparation and the event go as smooth as possible. Big thanks to the entire team, including the coordinators and especially Cailey, captain Xavier, chef Dough and his sous chefs, bar tenders and staff (especially Victor who was so sweet that we and multiple guests remembered his name and bright smile). Thank you all so-so-so much! If my friends have a wedding in San Diego, I'll insist on hiring you for catering

We were told by a number of friends that doing tastings with candidate caterers for our wedding would be one of the most enjoyable parts of our wedding planning - and they weren’t wrong! But Culinary Concepts stood apart by a lot, and we are incredibly happy that we went with them. Katie was our point of contact and she did such an amazing job helping us understand the whole process from the tasting to glassware rentals and then the big day.

This was our most expensive option out of the set, but we truly believe it was worth every penny. Guest after guest noted to us how highly they thought of the food. And the staff was efficient, friendly, and discreet. We felt the “station” format that CC offered helped set the tone of “comfortable and relaxed” that we were looking for while keeping everything organized and on schedule.

We’re writing this review exactly one year after our wedding which, according to many of our vendors, was one of the last that they held in 2020. A big thank you to the team at Culinary Concepts for the incredible memories - we can’t recommend them highly enough.

First things first, the food at our wedding by Culinary Concepts was so amazing that we heard A LOT of compliments from our guests, saying they wouldn’t normally expect too much from wedding food, but it surprised them that everything tastes so fantastic!

Leo and I were sure that Culinary Concepts is THE ONE for our wedding when we first had a call with Katie. She asked great questions and listened to what we had envisioned. We wanted to incorporate the cuisines from places that we’ve traveled to into our catering experience. Katie and her team came up with brilliant ideas and helped us realize our vision, and they executed it perfectly.

Katie and Anita were really friendly and easy to work with. They are so organized and detail-oriented that they helped me make sure I am not missing anything for our wedding. Overall, we are extremely satisfied with the quality of service and the food they provided!

We had our wedding at the Japanese friendship garden, and we had to choose from their list of approved caterers. We were kind of worried because we only had 30 guests, and a small budget since we were paying for everything by ourselves. As the caterers from the list were being scratched off for being way over our budget, the ones that seemed manageable to us just ignored my e-mails after I told them what our limit was.
I was already feeling self-conscious from other vendors snubbing us off for other services, but thankfully, Katie and her team were amazing and patient from day one.
As if the great service wasn’t enough, the food was also delicious. The day of the tasting, we were fully convinced that they would deliver the kind of experience we were hoping for on our wedding night. When the actual evening came, they were prompt in their service, able to fully communicate with the venue and the other vendors we had employed for the night's festivities. We heard nothing but compliments from all our guests on the reception food and bar service.
Great service, great food, awesome people. Thank you for making our small wedding feel more grand and amazing.

Culinary Concepts was such a great company to work with! Our guests all raved about how good our food was at our cocktail hour and reception.
We had a scheduled tasting, which was a world's difference compared to other tastings we had experienced. Katie was so friendly, personable, and professional. She talked us through every aspect of our wedding as we all ate our sample courses, which were delicious. She gave great tips and suggestions for our wedding planning, which were greatly appreciated.
At the reception, we had a dual entrée plated dinner that was cooked onsite, Everything tasted so fresh and really gave the SoCal vibe we were looking for. They even accommodated for guests that had dietary allergies or restrictions.
They are such a great, professional company; thank you for helping us achieve our perfect day!

Culinary Concepts Catering is one spectacular catering company.

For one, they understand their customer. Most catering companies usually have a list of dishes they can make and you create your menu based on their selections. However, Culinary Concepts was able to create a custom menu for our wedding that felt completely ours. When we first started discussing our wedding, we gave them a simple instruction: we're looking for something modern and unique with a Southeast Asian flair. We were impressed that their first go at our menu, we asked for ZERO changes. Everything single bite we tasted from their custom menu was absolutely delicious and was well inline with our vision. We couldn't believe it. You could tell they really listened to us and understood the vision we were trying to achieve.

What was more amazing is the food tasted even better at our wedding than it did during our tasting, and our guests could not stop coming up to us and raving about it! The biggest hit of the night was their Glass Noodle Salad. It was simple and fresh but with an incredible flavor profile. It is something you never see at weddings and we were so happy that our guests loved it. On top of the incredible food, the service was just impeccable. Our guests were so impressed that they had so many staff available to keep the event running swiftly and efficiently.

Before working with Culinary Concepts, having been to several weddings in our lifetime there was not one wedding where we remembered the food. Our first thought is always overcooked chicken breast with mashed potatoes and carrots. Culinary Concepts, however, raised the bar tenfold. They showed us that wedding food doesn't need to be boring and forgettable. Instead, it can be unique, inspired, but most importantly, delicious. We cannot thank Culinary Concepts enough for delivering such high caliber food and service on the most perfect day of our lives. They come highly recommended by Brent and Keoni.

The team was amazing. They provided special meals for all my guests with dietary needs, provided exceptional service and were incredibly responsive to all my questions. Gina, Myra, & Alicia provided amazing before and day of help. I couldn't have done it without them.

Culinary Concepts did such a fantastic job catering our wedding this past June at the Scripps Seaside Forum!! Merlot was our catering specialist, and she was great to work with. She worked with us throughout the process, arranging our tasting, conducting a walk-through with our day-of coordinator, selecting and adjusting our menu, keeping on top of our table layout & seating (even up to the last minute!), and more. She was very careful in handling the dietary restrictions, and even helped us save a bit of money, when our guest count turned out lower than expected which would otherwise have increased the per-person price.

Javier was our banquet captain, and he made sure the service & food quality was top notch. He & the team served tray passed appetizers and cheese & veg displays at our cocktail hour, and served plated dinners of salad with a choice of bourbon mustard glazed tri-tip, crispy skin herb roasted chicken or stuffed bell peppers. During the ceremony, they presented a water station (very popular with the heat we had that day!) and after dinner service, they presented a coffee & tea station. We loved the food (though the versions at the tasting were a tad better) & the service, and we heard great reviews from guests for both as well! Also, my dad suffered a bit of heat-stroke towards the end of our reception, and one of the staff tended to him (along with members of my family), and regularly checked on him. (I wish we had gotten her name!) It was clear that the staff cared for our event as a whole, and not just the food, which meant a lot to us.

My husband & I being fans of food & cooking, were very careful in choosing our caterer. We found Culinary Concepts to have the most flavorful, inventive food, mostly sourced locally, with professional & personal service, for an amazing value. We wish we could have the food at our wedding again!!

From the first email exchange Merlot made me feel comfortable and made me feel like my opinions mattered. She was always a delight to work with and accommodating to my last minute changes. I have referred them to anyone looking for event catering in San Diego as their food was to die for! Our venue wouldn't allow food trucks but thank goodness because they brought the non traditional wedding food (which is what we wanted) along with the formal elegance of a wedding.
Could t have been happier with our decision!
*our guest still being up the good and we are almost 6 months post wedding ??

Outstanding tasting experience. The entire team from the moment we parked to the end of the tasting was great! They focus on every detail and really present culinary art.