Thomas John Events

A cautionary tale:
My fiancée and I were very excited when we met with Thomas John this past June for a tasting. He seemed professional, experienced, and the food was delicious. We booked him for our wedding on the spot and informed other caterers whom we met with that we had decided to go with a different vendor. He instructed us that we would be back in touch around December or January to touch bases about an on-​site meeting at our venue and to go over linens and decorations.
I emailed this January to retouch bases with his team and had difficulty reaching anyone. Finally after multiple emails and voicemails, we received an email stating that our date had been given away to another party. Supposedly we needed to leave a deposit and they had never received it. I had asked about a deposit at the time of our tasting and was told that it was not necessary until later in the process. I assumed that this would be requested at our next meeting in January. Before giving away our date to another party, TJ never once emailed or called either my fiancée or myself to discuss this deposit. We learned 5 months before our wedding that we no longer had a caterer due to this «unfortunate miscommunication.»
Thomas John has not even bothered to call me personally to apologize.
Moral of the story: if you choose to work with this vendor, make sure to get your contract in writing. Or better yet, invest your money in a business with some integrity.

Had their food in a company event and it was delicious :)

Wow! We cannot say enough wonderful things about Thomas John Events! Tom and his team are easy to work with; they really were the foundation of our magical wedding! Tom’s team had impeccable service, they were warm and gave us a lot of confidence when I got anxious about any aspect of our project. Coupled with the top-​notch service was the incredible food. Our guests were treated to a fantastic event!

Overall TJE did a really good job leading up to the wedding. I appreciated all of their advice and expertise during the design appointment. Their recommended vendors were also a good call and very reliable. I like that they use sustainable green practices and have a small carbon footprint. The communication was good and the catering tasting event was fabulous.
The actual day of the wedding, I have to be honest, it was a little stressful dealing with TJE and I felt let down. During the cocktail hour, I saw a male server giving away food to tourists. These people were in jeans. They met the server as he was coming from the courtyard door heading toward the blue garden and ate off his platter. He did not try to stop them; he just stood there. I had to tell server «please don’t give my food away to strangers» but he ignored me and kept walking. A little white later, I saw these same people casually walking closer to the cocktails area to get more food. I’d also like to mention that I was present at the latter half of the cocktail hour, and absolutely no food was being served. I am not sure if all of the food had been served right when the cocktail hour started (I was away doing photos), but I’m guessing that’s what happened.
One other mishap was that our cake knife was missing. We were in the middle of dancing when the DJ announced it was cake cutting time. We were ready to cut our cake, but there was no knife there. We had a very awkward wait while in the guests spotlight. It was around 5 minutes of standing awkwardly until we received a knife. I do understand that it’s a big event, and their servers were handling quite a bit. so this little mishap is not that big a deal.
But here is my main complaint. Our initial catering tasting food was amazing, incredible, delicious, and presented gorgeously. But the actual wedding food turned out mediocre. I am not sure what happened. The food was unseasoned and bland. It barely looked like the same food we had tried at the tasting. I asked the other people who had attended the catering tasting, and they also remarked it just wasn’t the same; the quality was night and day. I see from Unilocal reviews that TJE was handling another wedding that weekend and I have to wonder if the cooks were rushed.
I did receive lots of comments on how perfect everything looked. Their staff set up my boxes of décor perfectly according to location. Not to mention, they helped me bring down my decorations as they were breaking down the event. Their prices were reasonable, and the terms easy to understand. My only wish is that the buffet food would’ve been better. It makes me sad because I truly had high hopes.
I did share all of this feedback with them a couple of weeks ago, and did not receive a response… Overall, I still like them and would give them another chance and see if they nail the next event.

Thomas John Events was our caterer for our wedding at Nestldown 10.11.2015 and from the start to finish it was a great experience overall. Thomas was very open to creative ideas we had for our menu as well as changes that we had throughout the process. During our discussions and countless email Thomas never said no to our requests but would voice concerns or provide advice based on his expertise and experiences at Nestldown.
— For food, it was simply amazing. For appetizers we had a general idea of what we wanted to do and it was off of their normal menu and Thomas was onboard and loved the idea. For entrees we decided to go with Short Rib, Steak, Sea Bass, and Risotto and our guests couldn’t have been happier
— The price itself was very affordable and reasonable for what we got and Thomas made sure that the rest of our vendors were well fed so that they would be eating the same thing our guests did.
— The linens and presentation were elegant and the staff was friendly the day of the wedding. We ended up shipping items (Mason Jars, Mini Beer Bugs) to use during the wedding and they had no problems cleaning and transporting them all to the site.
— Finally, and most importantly in my opinion what impressed me the most was that Thomas was at the wedding the day off doing grunt work and helping prepare just as we discussed during the consultation. Thomas was of the few vendors where the person who was at the consultation was there the day of to make sure there was nothing lost in translation.
Thank you again Thomas for making our wedding day special. I would highly recommend TJE as well as use their services again for a future catering event.

We used Thomas John Events for our wedding. We loved every single step with them, from the first meeting, through the planning process, tastings, to the actual day of the wedding where they delivered an amazing unforgettable culinary experience. Our guests still talk and keep praising the food at our wedding. TJ was super friendly, very creative, and very excited to work with us. He knows the business, he’s meticulous about all the details, and he knows how to deliver perfection. It was delightful to work with him and his team. I would highly recommend Thomas John Events for any type of event.

My wife and I used Thomas John Events for our wedding. We had an awesome experience with them, both during the planning process and the actual day of the wedding. My wife and I would both highly recommend them!
–The guests loved the food. The appetizers, salad, and entrees all impressed our guests.
–They were very open and helpful in the food selection process, even allowing us to try three types of salmon before we found one that we loved.
–We did not have a wedding coordinator and Melissa pretty much took over that responsibility. She helped coordinate with our other vendors (DJ, photo booth, venue contact) to ensure that everything went smoothly.
–The linens and overall presentation of the tables/​food was elegant and beautiful.
–Their staff on the day of the event was spot-​on and delivered the food and drinks seamlessly.
The food and planning of Thomas John Events was exceptional. More importantly, however, they truly cared about our wedding. Every time we visited, they made us feel very special and showed passion for their work and our event. I cannot imagine a better caterer. Thank you again Melissa and Thomas!

Got lunch catered from this place again, and it was even worse. One of the dishes ran out before half of the people had gotten food, and their vegetarian options were just abysmal. All that was available was ‘toasted quinoa’, which was not cooked well and didn’t have any flavor. The shaved fennel salad was… mediocre. And there was no dairy or protein available.

Our guests LOVED the food! For cocktail hour, we had a meat/​cheese/​fruit station along with passed small bites of dungeness crab with a truffle aioli, bacon-​wrapped scallops and bacon-​wrapped dates, and Korean beef on a savory pancake. For dinner, we had an amuse bouche with seared tuna, a frisee salad, and the sea bass and the filet mignon options as the entrée. We are so happy that the guests enjoyed the food just as we enjoyed it at our tasting!
We worked with Annie from TJE and she was fabulous. She answered all of our questions, and gave us all the details we wanted to know! And we had a LOT of questions (spreadsheets of rentals, coordination of rentals with other vendors, menu selections/​items for the cocktail hour, and more!) since we were not familiar with this whole wedding-​planning process at all! And as always with wedding things, budget is always in the picture and TJE worked really hard to put our budget into consideration. TJE was totally flexible in scheduling meetings and tastings and were easy to talk to and super approachable. They also provided insight in all other things wedding-​related. TJE was not just an amazing catering team but a tremendous resource about the overall wedding industry. We really enjoyed working with them in planning our big day.
On the wedding day, the whole TJE team dressed professionally in their all black attire and had great big smiles. There were no complaints by any of our guests and everything seemed flawless! We would strongly recommend them as a caterer to any special event!

Thomas John Events helped make our wedding the awesome party for our guests we wanted it to be. Our contact, Annie, did an amazing job communicating with us from the outset, and we were sold from the first course of our tasting. TJE has reasonable prices for great food, and they did a wonderful job accommodating my dietary restrictions, really going above and beyond.
They also have a lovely selection of rentals (linens, dinnerware, etc.), and we were able to pick out exactly what matched the aesthetic we were going for with our wedding.
The service on the day of was smooth and professional, and we heard many compliments from guests on the food!
A really great choice that I highly recommend.

I went with Thomas John as a recommendation through my wedding coordinator, Caitlin Arnold. We’d just done a tasting with another caterer, and I was pretty unexcited with that one, so I wasn’t expecting to be wowed, but I was very pleasantly surprised! The presentation was excellent, and the food was delicious!
For the tasting, we tried four appetizers, two salads, and four main courses, and I basically stuffed myself on all the amazing food. For our actual wedding, we went with pulled pork sliders, coconut shrimp, and artichoke bruschetta for the appetizers, and butter salmon with herb risotto and a grilled chicken with corn risotto for the main courses. My husband and I were not disappointed with how everything turned out. The food was delicious.
As for the service, it was great! The manager, Annie Ngo, was also very organized and nice. She really knows her work, and everything went off without a hitch. The food came out nice and warm, and I felt all the tables were served in a timely manner. I also really appreciated Thomas John making my husband and I a ‘treats’ bag at the end of the night (they sent us to our honeymoon suite with extra appetizers, our main courses, and two slices of our cake)! It was a really thoughtful touch.

Had the best meal ever from them! Dandelion salad, arugula pesto orzo, a quinoa salad like no other, perfectly cooked and seasoned cauliflower, and braised short ribs with hen of the wood mushrooms. Perfection.

We used Thomas John Events for our daughters formal wedding dinner for 250 guests in the beautiful outside setting of a Los Altos Hills home. Carrie Delucchi and Thomas John were incredible to work with. All of their promises regarding excellent hot food — filet mignon, sea bass or portabella mushroom, with the ability to serve the entire room in 17 minutes so that guests could enjoy eating together were admirably met. Food was exquisitely presented. I have no idea how they could do this for 250 dinners, but I have received nothing but praise. Their crew– wait staff, bartenders all were courteous and professional. And Carrie was there immediately should anything need to be taken care of. All that, and the budget set up front was also in tact. I would recommend TJE to anyone requiring the best in presentation, cuisine and service. I will definitely use them again. Thank you TJE

Can we rate TJE with 1000 starts? They earned every single one!
We used Thomas John Events for our August 2013 wedding, and the did nothing but impress the entire time. They were extremely responsive, and our coordinator (Carrie) truly went above and beyond to make the vision for our wedding day come to life. We used TJE for our rentals, lighting, and catering, and they performed all of these functions with an A++. Our guests continue to talk about how well-​run and beautiful our wedding day was, and how AMAZING our food was. We could not have been more pleased with the level of service and professionalism we received from the entire crew at TJE.

Wow, I was beyond impressed with Thomas John Events.
TJE was one of the preferred caterers for my venue (Kohl Mansion in Burlingame.) I had asked my venue for their favorite caterers from their list, because the list had around 20 caterers on their. My venue enthusiastically recommended Thomas John as being the caterer with the best food and most satisfied customers.
Upon my inquiry, we were set up with Annie Ngo, who was our event coordinator through the entire planning process and day of. Annie is truly a gem. She’s smart, organized, and can handle anything thrown at her.
We arranged a tasting with my family on a weekday after work, and were presented with something like 10 appetizers and 4 entrees to try. We had pre-​selected these from a list of available items.
All the food at the tasting was presented in the same way it would be presented at the actual event, so we had a great idea of what our guests would see.
Nearly everything we tasted was delicious and we had no problem selecting 4 appetizers and 3 entrees for my wedding. In case you’re wondering, the appetizers were tuna tartar, gorgonzola tart, pulled pork slider, and bacon wrapped scallops. Our entrees were garlic roasted beef filet, chicken tarragon, and butternut squash ravioli.
Annie not only helped us select our food, she helped me through TONS of my planning obstacles. She advised me about how show meal selections in my invitations, the best way to do place cards, the schedule of events for the day of, arranging the bartenders to make our signature drinks, alcohol purchasing quantities, and so much more.
During my wedding, Annie was cool as can be and ultimately, helped me live out my dream wedding. There were ZERO hiccups with the event. I got rave reviews about the food from my friends and family. She checked in with me throughout the event to make sure I was eating, that everything was going smoothly, and moving the event along.
TLDR: Thomas John Events is of the highest quality and Annie is the dream event coordinator that you want to handle your event.

We used Thomas John Events for our wedding at Nestldown in Los Gatos on September 2, 2012. They were absolutely amazing! Annie Ngo was our point person at Thomas John and she was fantastic throughout the entire process.
We had considered a couple of caterers for our wedding. Thomas John came across as the most professional and they had catered a few events at my workplace, so we decided to go with them even though they were one of the more expensive vendors. They are completely worth the money! All of our guests were raving about how good the food was. They pay attention to every detail and know how to execute a fantastic event. At Nestldown, they are very familiar with the venue and work with Brooke all the time. If you are planning a wedding in the bay area, save yourself the trouble of doing research on caterers and go with Thomas John.

Thomas John Events catered our wedding at Nestldown in Los Gatos on September 22, 2012!
Starting with the pre wedding planning our search was quite difficult! We went to 3 other tasting where the food was horrible and finally found Thomas John and Vanessa. At the tasting was my parents, mother in law, husband and I. Vanessa was attentive, listened to all of our concerns and served us the most amazing food.
The planning process with Vanessa was smooth and she responded to every concern and last min change I wanted. She worked with the wedding the night before ours to save us money on rentals and made every wish I want come true.
The food and service the day of was unbelievable. The servers never let anyones glass become empty and were so smooth with everything they did. My family and friends are still talking about how amazing the food was and how they want more! If you want professional service and mouth watering food, BOOK WITH THEM!

Thomas John Events made our wedding at Nestldown in Los Gatos an event to remember!
Hats off to Carrie D. of Thomas John Events for being the most amazing, professional, and passionate event coordinator. Right from the start, she worked tirelessly to execute and help us create the most memorable wedding menu ever. Our friends and family are still talking about how spectacular the food and service was at the wedding. Carrie was fantastic at returning phone calls and emails and was on top of every single detail and deadline.
The tasting that Carrie set up with us was phenomenal! We highly recommend the braised duck fig polenta rounds, lamb pinwheels in puff pastry, seared ahi tartar on endive leaves and truffle butter poached crab legs for appetizers. She listened closely to what we liked and executed it flawlessly. She came up with a ceviche station for our wedding after we shared with her our love for peruvian food. She also created a wonderful BBQ and chicken and waffles station for our dinner hour along with delicious vegetarian sides. Everything we desired, Carrie made sure we got!
Carrie’s impeccable taste on linen and china was a great attribute that helped us create gorgeous buffet/​serving, reception and dessert stations. Every table was set up to showcase our décor and floral design.
What really set Carrie and Thomas John Events apart from other caterers is their passion for weddings and their experience with so many venues in the bay area. Carrie understood the best layout for every aspect of our wedding at Nestldown because she has worked many events at this venue. We really appreciate her expertise especially on our special day because she was was so calm and accommodating and extremely kind and friendly to our family members and especially to us. We got the red carpet treatment on our wedding, every time we turned around, there was Carrie with a glass of champagne, a tray of appetizers, a hot plate of delicious food and a lovely plate of desserts for us. She truly understood that on the most chaotic day of our lives, she made sure we enjoyed the all the delectable food.
If you are on the search for a knock-​your-​socks-​off wedding caterer, go with Thomas John Events. The food, beverage, desserts, rentals, and service are SUPERB, all of your guests will be talking about your wedding for years to come!

We used Thomas John Events for our March 2011 wedding and they were fantastic! All of the food was AMAZING. We had numerous guests say that it was the best food they had ever had at a wedding.
We did the initial tasting at my parents house and the food was good, but we had a few suggestions (e.g. the beef needs a little more sauce, the samosas need to be a bit more spicy, etc). They not only took these suggestions openly but they actually followed through on them! Chef Derek gets 5 stars just for that :-)
We ended up going with…
Appetizers: Mini Sour Dough Grilled Cheese and Tarragon Tomato Bisque, Mini Spicy Tri Tip Sandwiches, Indian Potato Samosas, Trout Cake
The trout cakes and tomato soup are TO.DIE.FOR.
First course: Butter lettuce salad with brie, candied pecans, and pears. (though this was a toss up with the beet and blood orange salad)
Second courses: Cabernet Sauvignon Braised Beef (generous portions!), Mesquite Smoked Salmon, Jumbo Stuffed Mushrooms)
Not only was the food good, but the service was great as well. They provide the whole kit and caboodle and were totally confident they had it under control. They took a blackberry pineapple mojito recipe we wanted for our signature cocktail and they transformed it into the MOST delicious drink!

We hired Thomas John Events for our wedding and couldn’t be happier. Our wedding was a small event, 35 people at my mothers home in Belmont. Initially I thought we should do it ourselves but my wife and mother thought we needed a caterer. They were right.
We offered Hors d’oeurves rather than a sit down dinner. I must say that they were the best Hors d’oeurves I have ever eaten. Their chef is as good as it gets. My favorites are the Mini Beef Wellingtons and the Tomato Caprese.
I want to give special props to Mattie. We hired a caterer and got a wedding coordinator! She was great! She took care of everything.
When you first look at the cost it seems expensive, that is until you see all that they do and realize that it is downright cheap. They start with a tasting in your home. The tasting turned out to be a gourmet dinner for myself, my mother and my bride with enough leftovers for another full meal and then some. Mattie toured the venue and made plans and offered many great suggestions. The next step is a visit to their showroom to pick out glassware, silverware, table cloths, etc. Finally the actual event.
We had planned to have an outdoor wedding but with a late October date we also had an indoor plan just in case. On the wedding day Mattie showed up with a crew and a giant van. They set everything up quickly and beautifully. As the guests arrived Mattie made sure everything was taken care of. As the ceremony time approached it started raining. Mattie looked at me and I just had to say let’s go to Plan B. She took off and her crew went to work, in minutes the outdoor tables were move indoors and the living room furniture was moved aside for a standing indoor ceremony (Mattie’s idea). Everything went so quickly and smoothly that I don’t think anyone notice it happen.
At the end of the day everything was cleaned up and moved out so well that you couldn’t tell that a big party had just happened in the house.
We had many comments on how good the food was. I give Thomas John Events my highest recommendation.