Potliquor

I recently helped a close friend plan her wedding up near Mendocino. When we set out to find a caterer for the wedding we never thought we’d find a team who would be so amazing (and fun) to work with and also just absolutely nail the food. Potliquor’s owners (and chefs) Laura and Jennifer and their team are amazing.
They were incredibly flexible as we worked through menu options and how to keep costs under control leading up to the wedding. The tastings were an experience in their own — great food in their beautiful kitchen. They were responsive to requests for allergy alterations (not kidding, we asked them to accommodate: dairy free, gluten free, almond free, mustard free, celery free, and vegetarian options)
The wedding was in a remote location with pretty minimal facilities. Laura and Jennifer rolled with the situation incredibly well, making due with a single sink, a grill and a gas stove. Their team literally did all of the prep work in a barn. And they did it all with smiles and excitement.
One of our guests used to cook at Chez Panisse and she wrote an email after the wedding saying the food was «exceptional». And a number of guests commented that it was the best food they’ve ever had at a wedding. We agree wholeheartedly. The food was delicious and also beautifully presented.
We could not have imaged a more perfect team to work with. Many thanks to Potliquor and staff for making dinner a highlight of the event!

Jennifer and Laura’s catering company called Potliquor just catered my wedding up in the redwood forest for a whole weekend!
I feel like the luckiest of brides to have found them!!! They are the best! Not only did they make the most delicious and healthy dishes for every single meal we had, but they were also kind, gracious, professional, and helpful. Her servers were even the nicest people. I can’t even express my appreciation enough! I am a super picky person and all of my friends and family are major organic foodies and everyone is still raving about how amazing our food was and how awesome and sweet our caterers were!
They are the best!

We hired Jennifer and Laura for a four day corporate retreat for almost 20 people and were completely blown away by their delicious food, presentation, quality of ingredients, and thoughtful touches. Beyond the food, Laura and Jennifer were such a pleasure to work with. They worked with our budget to come up with beautiful menus and even made special concessions for some dietary restrictions. More than anything, they were great people to hang out with and made the four days very special.

This is a little late in coming, but clearly Potliquor made in impression and I want to support them. We contacted Jennifer because of good reviews on Unilocal with her former venture, and asked about food for a low-​budget event we were having. Jennifer came up with an incredible menu within our budget, and agreed to our picking up the food and returning her containers after the event. The food was beautiful, fresh, and delicious, fed exactly the number of people we were expecting, and got rave reviews from nearly everyone at the party. Jennifer (and Laura) were sweet, patient, and accommodating throughout. I would absolutely choose them again.

I found out about Jennifer because her name was mentioned on a wedding blog covering a wedding up in Mendocino at the same venue where I was going to be married. I sought her out and we set up an in-​person meeting at a wine bar. The conversation went well and my fiancé and I were very interested in her ideas; the food all sounded fantastic and I liked the emphasis on fresh, organic ingredients.
During this time, we all ordered glasses of wine and shared a cheese plate. We were wrapping up when Jennifer stood and sort of abruptly said goodbye and left. We only realized a few minutes later when the bill came that she had left us to pay the tab! I couldn’t believe how awkward it was that she would expect us to pay for her ($ 14?) glass of wine and food that she shared with us during a business meeting. We got a thank you from her for the wine and cheese the next day via email, but we are still not sure why she thought we were intending to host her. All in all, an awkward social interaction.
The estimate for our wedding came back a couple days later at about double our budget, so we declined for that reason. I’m sure her food would have been beautiful based on her descriptions and the photos we saw, so I’m sure she would be a great choice if you’ve got the cash to spend!

I hired Jennifer to cater a baby shower that I threw for a friend and the food was absolutely amazing! She put together a really nice spread of crudite, stuffed eggs, chicken salad, mac n cheese, faro salad, shrub sodas and sugar cookies for 30 people. Everything was delicious and I received several compliments from our guests.
Jennifer was outstanding in terms of service as well. She was very responsive to my calls /​emails and arrived on time to our event. She brought really nice serving platters and bowls, so everything looked great. I would definitely hire her again. Highly recommend.

There aren’t enough words to explain how amazing Jennifer is. On our first call instead of asking the basic catering questions that everyone else asked (do you want meat, do you want spicy, etc), she asked us a few words that described our wedding. It was such an awesome way to go into it and she plans each menu for the couple/​event based on who they are and what the event was about. We said comfortable, earthy/​natural, and exciting as we’re from the east coast and many family members were out here for the first time. We only had 70 people at the Stable Café so wanted it to be a really intimate meal. She set up a family style meal that was the BEST food on earth. Seriously just incredible. We did lamb meatballs and scallop with smashed pea on a potato crisp (I know, but DELICIOUS), she made crudite in mason jars and tea sandwiches for our bus trip around the city, and then dinner was beyond 10 stars. Everyone at the wedding came up to us and told us it was not only the best wedding food they’d ever had, but also one of the best meals they’d ever had!
Organic/​local was important to us and all of the meat and veggies were perfectly selected from great farms near by that she’d worked with in the past. The menu evolved based on what was in season (which I loved) and the highlight of the meal was a bread salad (which I originally was skeptical of because of the name, but is now my favorite meal). Slices of sourdough toasted and oiled mixed in with roasted chicken, artichokes, mushrooms, I could go on forever. She also cooked all of the veggies and chicken in a wood stove that they had at the restaurant– HOW COOL is that! The bavette steak was also out of this world. Honestly, amazing food, amazing person, amazing service, could not have asked for anything better. Jennifer thank you SO very much for making this the best (and most delicious) day of our lives :)

After I read so many great things about Jennifer on Unilocal,I was really looking forward to hire her to cater my wedding. I had one meeting with her where we talked about just about everything and she seemed very thoughtful and responsible. I left the meeting feeling pretty good, and she told me that she would be sending a menu over within a week. Well, that was over a month ago and I have not heard one word from her, no phone call, no email-​nothing. I still can’t believe she never contacted me, how unprofessional! I understand if she changes her mind about the job, but I expect that she would communicate these things to her clients; especially brides who we all know can go a little crazy with all the planning details. Honesty, I am still a little shocked because she has recieved some really kind words from other clients.

Jennifer catered our wedding at Stern Grove in San Francisco. Her food and her staff were exquisite. Planning our wedding menu with her was absolute fun. She is warm, gracious, and passionate about her role as caterer.
We knew she would be just right for our wedding after our first meeting with her. She was excited by our ideas for a Greek menu and listened attentively to our ideas regarding the feel we wanted to create throughout the event. After our second meeting for tasting, we were hooked. The plates she prepared had us feeling completely at ease about placing the catering for our special day into her hands.
It’s been several weeks since our wedding, and everyone we run into raves about the food, Jennifer and her staff! I highly recommend jenniferlunch for any event.

I cannot imagine finding a better caterer. Jennifer is an extremely talented chef who is masterful at putting together a menu and executing a flawless dinner service — even with challenging resources (cooking outside without a kitchen).
One of the most daunting tasks in planning our wedding was selecting a caterer. We were intent on finding someone who could not only work within our budget, but someone who could help us create an intimate and thoughtful atmosphere. We were surprised by how many places offered very out of date entrée suggestions or astronomical estimates. Jennifer can work with restrictive diets, budgets and/​or venues with ease and grace.
Most importantly the food was outstanding. Almost every guest commented for weeks following that it was by far the best food they’ve ever had at a wedding. The presentation was beautiful and current, the service was truly flawless and again, the food was absolutely perfect.

Hands down the most accesible and delicious food I have ever had at a wedding! Simple, fresh, gorgeous, and just perfect for a more intimate event with friends and family. The first caterer I’ve ever wanted to recommend to everyone I know! :-)

I was able to experience Jennifer Lunch catering at a company party and the food and service was just AMAZING. Being in the hospitality business, I run into caterers EVERY WEEK, and Jennifer Lunch’s business card is the only one I keep in my wallet!
I am currently planning my Cocktail Reception Wedding, and unfortunately I couldn’t snag her fast enough because she is booked! BUT, regardless, she has given me impeccable advice and I can’t thank her enough.

Jennifer recently catered our wedding in Menodicino, CA. I will just say right off the bat — the food was amazing. I can’t count how many of our 75 guests have called to say something along the lines of «that was the best food I have ever had at a wedding.» Jennifer is an outstanding cook and creator of deliciousness. That she orchestrated this fabulous meal 150 miles away from SF — in a fairly small kitchen, with a terrific staff who all made the trip from the city for the wedding — is just a testament to her talent and flexibility.
But, I really don’t want to talk about her food in this review. Let’s just leave it at: the food was incredible.
What I really want to tell you is about who Jennifer is (and, by extension, who her staff and partners are). Jennifer is the embodiment of community, goodness, love and grace — literally — she is the human expression of those qualities walking the earth. And, she has the capacity to focus those qualities into every corner of her business. The people she hires, the food she creates, the presentation of her dishes, the pace of her service. All of it is imbued with her kindness and grace.
By choosing her to provide our wedding meal, not only did we get to experience terrific food, but she and her staff added a layer of connection and community to our wedding that was priceless. They interacted with our guests and became a part of the event itself — which is precisely what we wanted to create with every element of our wedding.
I am forever indebted to Jennifer for the delightful and beautiful service she provided us on the best day of our lives.

Jennifer is amazing. She catered our (130-​ish person) wedding at Ambiance Antiques this year, and knocked it completely out of the park. Like other Unilocalers, I got a Unilocal account to write this review, because she’s that good.
Let’s start with food. Jennifer spent a few hours with us when we first met, getting to know who we were and what kind of stuff we like to eat. We’re super-​into travel and love comfort food of any kind, so she put together a menu that reflected that really well. And… the details, man, the details. Delicious rice noodles with scallions? Awesome. But she put them in little cardboard containers, like Chinese take-​out. Transcendent. Little glass jars of crusty mac n’ cheese. Hand pies with bacon *and* pork chops inside. Her food is delicious, playful, and fit in perfectly with what we were doing.
And…we were a little odd. No sit-​down dinner, at a funky venue (Ambiance Antiques), with some odd dietary restrictions for a few people. She handle them all perfectly, figuring out the best ways to pass all the food around, and putting together special plates for those who needed them.
For our dessert, she built us a donut tower. A TOWER OF DONUTS. It was beyond epic.
On top of that, the staff she brought along were efficient, professional, and super-​friendly (having people smiling on your wedding day is a huge plus). The bar folks were great. We got raves from our friends about every aspect of it.
My socks don’t knock off that easily, but they were really hard to find after our wedding. She deserves all of these accolades, and more.

Jennifer catered light hors d’oeuvres for my small wedding ceremony at Sutro Heights Park. She handled everything like a pro from our first phone call to throughout our big day. Throughout the whole process she was very quick to offer suggestions on the menu, budgeting, and other accoutrements needed for the serving at an outdoor venue. She graciously accommodated my last minute addition to the menu and offered a mouth-​watering array of small bites that my guests raved about. I was too busy to have more than one of her creations but I could not have asked for anything more than my guests being happy and impressed about the food.
Even my bro-​in-​law who is in the wedding industry was impressed.
Pro-​service. Wonderful in-​season, organic, well presented food.
Highly recommended!

I’ve never hired Jenniferlunch to cater a party, but I’ve had the pleasure of eating her snacks and meals at quite a few parties and weddings in the last few years. Delicious!
It is absolutely delightful to go to a wedding where you not only get to see friends on the happiest day of their life, but also get to enjoy a perfectly cooked wonderful meal.

Jennifer catered my wedding, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more! Her food is phenomenal, and her calm demeanor and friendly personality really helped me step back and enjoy being a non-​chaotic bride! Jennifer worked with our budget and our wish to host a filling vegetarian meal. After discussion and a delicious tasting, we settled on tomato panzanella, a bean and mushroom medley, fall salad, and ricotta tart. Jennifer also coordinated the rentals, the bar, and the day-​of set-​up, and her entire staff were personable and couldn’t have been nicer.
We had 110 people (give or take a few) on the big day, and we served everything family-​style, which allowed our guests to really chat and unwind – no buffet tables here! Afterward, everyone raved about how this was the best wedding food ever. If you’re looking for a caterer fit for foodies, Jennifer is your gal.

There an old adage: teach a man to cook fish and he’ll eat for a day, but teach a man how to think like a chef, learning what to taste for and how and when to add flavor, he’ll eat forever. OK, maybe that’s not the official proverb, but it definitely describes Jennifer Lynch’s excellent «tastings» class. Rather than telling us what should go with what, she set a foundation for tasting and us discover what works on an individual level. In the end, rather than making a prescribed dish, we broke out into teams and made our own from scratch, putting what we had learned to real use. The class was a lot of fun, with equal amounts of laughs, «wows», and «yums» throughout the afternoon.
I highly recommend this class for newbies and experienced chefs alike.

We were one of those people with a huge wedding, outdoors, hours away from the city and an hour away from most civilization. We had 150 people there.
The food was perfect. every bite of it. She took input from us about our favorite foods and made the MOST AMAZING appetizers out of them. VERY creative, too, as opposed to your usual wedding fare. We demanded all organic — no problem.
The dinner itself — also perfect. Again creative, and eveyone raved about it, from far away relatives with simple tastes to macrobiotic organic SF foodies. This was like a coup. A wedding revolution, to please everyone, all the time. There was BBQ and a weird country kitchen, both handled with aplomb.
Her serving crew are people I’d have as guests at the wedding, they were so friendly and so fun.

You want a huge campout wedding in the middle of nowhere with meat cooked over a giant fire pit? Jen will do that for you.
You want a full dinner for 150 people on a working pier (think: merchant marine ships docked outside) with no kitchen and limited running water? Jen will do that too.
How about a Thanksgiving dinner in middle of Death Valley, miles from anything civilized? Jen’s on that.
You want to wow your East Coast relatives with California style and the freshest, most delicious ingredients? Maybe you also want someone who respects both your budget and whatever crazy dreams you might have had for that special event? A calm, collected crew of people who keep a sense of humor during chaos while making excellent cocktails?
Jen will also cater business lunches, do launch parties, and all that other normal stuff. But I don’t know who else we would have gone to for our magic wedding on the pier. Jen just catered our wedding and did all that — besides pleasing even the people who thought they’d starve during a vegetarian meal.
The menu
Passed appetizers
shots of chiogga borscht with crme fraiche and herbs
eggplant salad on brown bread with paprika
grilled sharp cheddar with apple chutney on walnut levain
stuffed eggs with summer herbs
Family-​style dinner
grilled vegetables with salsa verde (eggplant, summer squash, sweet potatoes, fennel, asparagus)
baby greens, plums, pistachios and saba vinaigrette
panzanella: heirloom tomato and bread salad with basil, torpedo onions and red wine vinaigrette
sheep’s milk ricotta tart with pine nuts and figs
potato salad with mustard and caramelized onions
fresh fruit (served with dessert made by my aunt)