First and foremost: Brooke and Heybeck's are absolutely fantastic. We used them to cater our rehearsal dinner (bridal party & family; approx. 30 people) and a larger, post-dinner Welcome Reception (approx. 50-75 people) at Barrington's White House and they absolutely nailed it. Brooke is the most flexible vendor I've ever worked with. She made so many cost-saving adjustments for us AND was able to handle the uniqueness of having a smaller sit-down dinner followed by a larger cheese/dessert-only reception without batting an eye. For anyone considering an event at Barrington's White House, I would HIGHLY recommend Heybeck's as they have done many events there and know exactly what to do for any kind of event.

Heybeck's food was magnificent, and a huge appreciation goes to Brooke. She was so helpful because I've never planned a formal event like our daughter's wedding reception. She was conscientious about keeping well within the budget and offered many alternative food choices to maintain that amount. The food was DELICIOUS and all the guest raved about the combinations of flavors in every dish. Brooke has worked at Barrington's White House many times so she knew exactly what type of linens and decor would complement the room. It was superb! Brooke is friendly, professional, offered so many suggestions and I trusted her completely to help me.
Our guests were pleased with interactions with the wait staff as well. They were fun, professional, kind, and interacted perfectly without being obvious. Food delivery was smooth, timely, served hot with magnificent presentation. We had a limited budget but received service fit for someone with unlimited resources. Thank you Brooke. Your wonderful food and presentations made us all feel like royalty.

I HIGHLY recommend Brooke Buccola and Heybeck's Catering to anyone throwing a party. I hired her to provide a pig roast, one of their standard packages. It is a standard menu, but she eagerly worked with me to adapt the menu items to the fall harvest season, which was important to me.

I asked her whether she ever worked with local farmers to supply the produce; she hadn't done it before, but she remembered a customer of hers at the meat market who would bring her boxes of produce to sell; she would give him a few steaks for it. She asked him whether he could handle a wedding this size, and he was honored and delighted to be asked. It was early enough in the year (June, for an October wedding) that he even asked us what we wanted him to plant!

I really applauded her initiative and flexibility in this area. Having local, season food is very important to me, and she made that happen beyond my greatest expectations. The pig, too, was raised in Peoria, without hormones or antibiotics.

The food was simply prepared, which made for a lower cost than some of the fancy organic caterers. And it was absolutely delicious. People are still raving about it, many saying it was the best wedding food they ever had.

Below is the thank-you letter I wrote to Brooke:


Brooke,
I must thank you again for serving us a wedding meal beyond my greatest expectations. I cannot tell you how many people have said to me that this was the best food they have ever had at a wedding (one person even said it was one of the best meals she had had, period). They loved the freshness and the variety, the wonderful flavors. They loved that it was a buffet and they could choose exactly what they wanted and how much. They raved about the decorations. My friend Julia, a conservation biologist and environmental ethics teacher, told me that I won the prize for local food!

Please convey our thanks to Scott and tell him what a smash hit his produce was.

Tom and I loved every bite, and we were able to bring some leftovers up to Wisconsin with us for our little honeymoon.

In addition, I have to tell you how much I appreciated your competence, professionalism, and enthusiasm for your work. From our very first conversation you gave me confidence that you knew what you were doing and that you really cared about food and throwing a great party. I can't tell you how much it means to me that you were so game about working with Scott. Eating local and sustainably grown food is a deeply-held value of ours and it was a great gift to be able to share this with our guests.

During the nervous final days, I really appreciated and relied upon your excellent judgment. Your suggestions about appetizers were very helpful and your list of things that my mother and I should be sure to take care of were invaluable. You thought of everything. Your estimates of the labor costs were right on target, which is impressive. And your ability to roll with the punches regarding kitchens, etc., was very reassuring. And finally, I can't tell you what a pleasure it was to walk in after the mass and have everything look so beautiful and be lined up perfectly! I did not worry about a thing. Your staff was excellent and everything seemed to work seamlessly.

Please feel free to use me as a reference or to print any of what I've written here as a testimonial. I will enthusiastically recommend your company to anyone. And if we should ever need anything else catered, you'll certainly be the first one I call.

It was a great pleasure working with you. Please thank your wonderful staff for me.