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Drinks
Table setting and decorations
Cake
Food quality and taste

About

On WeddingWire since 2015

Culinary Concepts is a quality wedding and event catering company based in San Diego, California. With over 30 years of experience in the industry, this passionate team is skilled in delivering delectable cuisine based on your style and vision. They aim to elevate your wedding event with their visually stunning and utterly delicious dishes to help create a celebration to remember.

Cuisine

The skilled professionals at Culinary Concepts are dedicated to creating artfully-crafted and ethically-sourced cuisine to suit your style and budget. They pride themselves on offering a vast array of international cuisines such as Indian, Italian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Spanish, Thai, and many more. These culinary specialists will work with you to create your dream menu that is sure to impress your guests. Executive Chef Donald Coffman is passionate about creating stunning cuisine using local, sustainable, and responsible methods. Your menu and service can be designed to suit your specifications and can be tailored to suit a number of dietary requirements. These include:

  • Gluten-free
  • Lactose-free
  • Vegetarian
  • Vegan
  • Organic
  • No pork

Services Offered

Having served events in the California region for over 30 years, this company knows many of the surrounding venues intimately. This allows for impeccable service for your event, with a symbiotic relationship existing between your catering team and your venue proprietors. These culinary specialists have a wealth of experience in ensuring that every dining experience is flawlessly executed for maximum effect. Your chosen menu can be presented in an array of styles including plated, French service, stations, buffet, and many more. Delivery, setup, and cleanup is also included to allow you to simply enjoy your special day. A selection of event items are also provided for your convenience. These include:

  • Linens
  • China
  • Flatware
  • Glassware
  • Barware
  • Chairs and tables

Frequently asked questions

What is the average catering price per person for plated service?

$139

What is the average catering price per person for buffet service?

$100

What is the average catering price per person for stations?

$132

Which of the following are included in the cost of your full service wedding catering?

Delivery
Set Up
Clean Up
Cake Cutting
Dessert
Cocktail Reception
Server(s)
Tastings
China
Linens
Flatware
Glassware

What event services do you provide?

Delivery
Set Up
Clean Up

What catering services do you provide?

Buffet
Cake Cutting
Cocktail Reception
Hors d'oeuvres
Plated
Server(s)
Stations
Tastings

What types of cuisine do you cater?

African
American
Asian
Caribbean
French
German
Indian
Italian
Latin American
Local
Mediterranean
Mexican
Middle Eastern
Southern
Spanish

What dietary needs can you accommodate?

Gluten Free
Lactose Free
Organic
Vegan
Vegetarian

What bar services do you provide?

Bartender(s)

Which of the following items can you provide?

Chairs
Tables

Which of the following items can you provide?

Barware
China
Chocolate Fountain
Flatware
Glassware
Linens
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4.7 out of 5 rating
30 Reviews
  • Quality of service
    4.8 out of 5 rating
  • Average response time
    4.7 out of 5 rating
  • Professionalism
    4.8 out of 5 rating
  • Value
    4.6 out of 5 rating
  • Flexibility
    4.8 out of 5 rating
90% Recommended by couples
A
Af Sent on 06/08/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Great quality and attention to detail

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
Risa
Risa Sent on 03/02/2021
5 out of 5 rating

Best Wedding Food Ever

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.
I
Irene Sent on 02/23/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Amazing experience

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!
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Awards

30

Professional Network & Endorsements

12 Endorsements
Events Inspired Events Inspired Wedding Planners

We LOVE Culinary Concepts! Their food is creatively delicious and Merlot is a pleasure to work with -- throughout the planning process, as well as the day of the event. They pay much attention to detail and it shows in their execution. Thank you!

Becks Entertainment and DJ Service Becks Entertainment and DJ Service Wedding DJs

Culinary Concepts is top notch catering service in San Diego. I love them!

Bliss Events Bliss Events Wedding Planners

We always enjoy working with the incredible team at Culinary Concepts! They are creative, talented, organized, fun, and professional. Everything a bride & groom could want in a caterer! I also appreciate their fresh approach to menus and cuisine. I recommend them often to my clients!

Map

Culinary Concepts frequently asked questions

At Culinary Concepts, the cost of the full wedding catering service includes:
  • Delivery
  • Set Up
  • Clean Up
  • Cake Cutting
  • Dessert
  • Cocktail Reception
  • Server(s)
  • Tastings
  • China
  • Linens
  • Flatware
  • Glassware
Culinary Concepts offers the following event services for weddings:
  • Delivery
  • Set Up
  • Clean Up
Culinary Concepts offers the following catering services for weddings:
  • Buffet
  • Cake Cutting
  • Cocktail Reception
  • Hors d'oeuvres
  • Plated
  • Server(s)
  • Stations
  • Tastings
At Culinary Concepts, you can find the following types of cuisine:
  • African
  • American
  • Asian
  • Caribbean
  • French
  • German
  • Indian
  • Italian
  • Latin American
  • Local
  • Mediterranean
  • Mexican
  • Middle Eastern
  • Southern
  • Spanish
At Culinary Concepts, the following dietary needs can be accomodated:
  • Gluten Free
  • Lactose Free
  • Organic
  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
Culinary Concepts provides the following bar and beverage services for wedding events:
  • Bartender(s)
To cater to all tastes, Culinary Concepts offers the following food and beverage items:
  • Barware
  • China
  • Chocolate Fountain
  • Flatware
  • Glassware
  • Linens
Culinary Concepts is recommended by 95% of couples who have used their services. Their overall rating is 4.7 out of 5 with the following breakdown: 4.8 in quality of service, 4.8 in flexibility, 4.8 in professionalism, 4.7 in average response time and 4.6 in value.

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