Harvest Catering

We used Harvest Catering to cater a small in-​home celebration with 10 people. We had appetizers and a sit-​down dinner. The food and service were fantastic! Donald was great to work with ahead of time and on the day of our celebration. He and his server were very attentive and allowed us to enjoy our guests without worrying about any of the food or serving. Donald was also able to have appetizers ready when guests showed up earlier than expected. The kitchen was also left spotless when they were finished. I would definitely recommend them and would use them again.

We hired Harvest Catering for our wedding, and we could NOT have found anyone better! Don worked with us to put together a vegetarian and gluten-​free menu — and EVERYONE was raving about the food! He also worked with us to keep our costs to a minimum.
I was extremely nervous about this reception, only to have my planner and the reception venue’s event manager congratulate me on throwing a «high-​end» wedding. THANK YOU DON!!!

Excellent, excellent, excellent!!! The food was amazing. The service was excellent. Donald and his crew did a fantastic job at my wedding! I honestly couldn’t have asked for more. 100% satisfied!!! So many guests commented on how wonderful all of the food tasted. We chose buffet style and the food choices Harvest Catering has is wonderful. We were able to pick out exactly what we wanted. Everything was cooked perfectly, tasted amazing, and looked spectacular on the plate! Donald goes above and beyond to make sure that everything is how you want it. I had a vision and he made it come to life! Thank you a million times!!!

It has taken me almost 3 years to write this review — that’s how long it took me to get over Harvest Catering messing up my wedding reception. OK, I’m not really over it.
I’ll start with the good:
— I liked the menu options, the prices were reasonable and Donald was very professional and responsive. He had great ideas and seemed really excited about doing a cocktail-​party style reception as opposed to a formal dinner.
— I also really enjoyed the tasting that Donald set up for my husband and I. Everything was delicious, but it’s a lot easier to prepare food for 2 than for 100.
— Most of the food that was served was delicious — with the exception of the overcooked beef (not all of it was overcooked, but some was) and the sliced turkey breast. The turkey was a last minute add-​on and we never tried it in advance. If we had, we would not have ordered it.
Now, for the bad (I got a head start above):
— Donald didn’t show up and never told us that he would be sending someone else from his staff in his place. I understand that he had a bigger wedding that day so he opted to go there. But NOTHING that we discussed with Donald during our several meetings was passed on to the new woman. As a result, she made so many incorrect assumptions.
— Though we arranged for our cupcake vendor to set up the cupcakes, she would not let him. She didn’t want anyone to eat them prior to the cake cutting ceremony. However, we were not having a cake cutting ceremony! Thus, the cupcake tree with fresh flowers on it sat empty until I begged her to please fill it.
— We ordered champagne to be served at the bar. However, she decided not to let the bar serve it because she wanted to save it for the champagne toast. However, we weren’t having a champagne toast! They forgot to even order champagne glasses so on my wedding day I had to drink my champagne out of a wine glass (booo).
— We opted for «heavy hors d oeuvres» instead of a full meal and were assured by Donald there would be plenty of food. Turns out, the majority of our guests left hungry because they couldn’t find most of the food since the staff spread it out it in different rooms, though we wanted it all to be presented together. The staff also stopped serving the passed hors d oeuvres within an hour of guest arrival though they were supposed to continue all night (until they ran out or no one seemed interested any longer). Guests left hungry while the caterer sent us home with an exorbitant amount of leftover food they never served — something is wrong with that picture.
— The goal was to have all the food out at the same time: appetizers, standing plates: passed dishes, desserts. People could eat what they wanted, when they wanted. There was supposed to be an endless supply of food with no designated «meal time». However, the caterer served in «courses» and took things away shortly after putting them out, making it look like we were serving small chintzy «courses» instead of the promise of «tons of food all night». Our food options looked cheap and embarrassing. We didn’t opt out of the sit down meal to save $, we did it to have more of a party vibe than a dinner vibe. We spent as much as we would have for a sit down dinner — though it didn’t look it.
— The staff knew they had to be ready for guest arrival by 5pm — but they weren’t. They were outside preparing food in plain sight of everyone. One of my wedding guests is still convinced I had a «bbq wedding» because the staff set up a grill right out front. This was not the vibe we were going for. We wanted the food prep to be «behind the scenes».
— Since the staff wasn’t ready for the guests upon arrival, the drink line was incredibly long as everyone arrived at the same time. I would have liked to see the caterers at least pass trays of wine & champagne to alleviate the line since we ordered plenty. I even asked Donald if we should have 2 bars but he assured us that for 100 guests, 1 bar was enough.
— Since the bar line was so long at first, the only people who managed to get any of the passed hors do oeuvres were people in line at the bar. The people sitting inside the main room never even had a shot because the staff barely entered that room.
— Once the woman in charge realized how royally she screwed up our plans she must have called Donald because he showed up late in the evening, to attempt to apologize. We just got married and we’re throwing a party for 100 of our nearest & dearest and you want to talk about what happened now? Now is not the time!
I debated contacting Donald to complain when we returned from our honeymoon but I didn’t really want it to put me in a foul mood. Despite the lack of food, our guests had a blast and danced the night away at our wedding. Plus, I married the love of my life and all was right with the world. Why bother rehashing things? Why not just wait close to 3 years and tell everyone how you really feel, via Unilocal

Harvest Catering did an outstanding job on our wedding and Donald was the icing on the cake. Low-​key demeanor and outstanding taste in classic rock are just two things that I like about Donald that had nothing to do with the quality of food and service that Harvest was able to provide.
My wife and I did about three tastings and selected Harvest based on a combination of food quality, value and first-​hand meetings with Donald. In addition, he came highly recommended from the woman who manages the venue where we held our reception.
The quality of food was terrific but, in addition, small details were not overlooked. My wife asked that her and her mom’s steak be cooked well, and they were. Everything came out hot, quickly and on-​time. Wait staff was extremely nice, professional and courteous. In addition, it was apparent that they clearly like working for Donald.
We made special requests — such as a signature drink and an ice cream sundae bar that were accommodated with pizzazz. I asked Donald to get a specific topping from the Friendly Ice Cream chain, and he was all too happy to accommodate although he would have made it himself, had I asked for that.
All in all, highly recommended and a perfect part of a perfect wedding day.

Harvest Catering made my wedding perfect! Donald and his staff made the day seamless! People raved about the food for months after! Being Greek I needed to get lamb on the menu somewhere, but I know not everyone loves it as a meal so Donald suggested grilled lamb chops for an appetizer. They were out of this world!
I highly recommend them for any event!

Harvest Catering was one of about six «Preferred Caterers» listed by our wedding reception venue. We visited most of them; however, after we met Donald we began to compare each caterer to what Harvest had to offer. When working on your budget, you’ll quickly realize that your caterer gets a bulk of your $$$, it makes sense to put in the extra time to ensure you are getting what you want at a good value.
Very professional and organized= my favorite traits in a vendor. Donald has these two qualities, not to mention, being incredibly patient and a good listener. He sat us down in his office on our first visit and asked what foods we liked and gave us some menu ideas. My husband and I wanted a delicious but healthy meal– and, of course, to not break the bank on catering.
After our meeting, Donald designed a menu proposal with his pricing quote. Working with Donald was like using a well-​oiled machine. He’s been in this business for a long time and knows what he’s doing. He worked with us on our budget. We wanted a personal touch from our caterers and we feel we got this from Harvest Catering.
Right before we decided to hire him, Donald gave us a tasting– he understands the importance of trying the product before spending loads of money, although he does want to ensure you are a serious potential customer before spending his money and time creating a delicious meal for you. It was a great meal and we drank wine and talked with him at length– it was nice to also get to know a vendor, instead of working together as strangers.
About two months before the wedding Donald and our wedding coordinator at the venue, met with us to go over some details. I have to say: every time I spoke to Donald, I always feel reassured and confident that everything was going to go smoothly at our reception.
Donald also met with me on a weekend to view linen/​napkin colors at a nearby party center.
Once you walk down the aisle, believe me, you will no longer have control with what happens during the rest of your wedding day. It’s a whirlwind of everything all at once. Donald and his staff managed everything very nicely. I am very pleased with how our reception turned out and everyone seemed to enjoy the food.
Our menu:
Hors D’Oeuvres
Marinated Mussels– amazing. These were my favorite
Sweet & Sour Meatballs
Crab and Cheese toasts
Beef Teriyaki On Skewers
Spanikopita
Meal:
Mesclun Green Salad w/​raspberries, scallions, cucumbers, walnuts
with Balsamic Vinaigrette & Goat Cheese (sooo good).
One plate of Grilled Swordfish and grilled marinated chicken thighs with Long Grain and Wild rice with sauteed portobello mushrooms and sauteed vegetable medley in sun dried tomato butter.

From our first meeting with Donald, it was clear Harvest was going to be our wedding caterer. Getting married is stressful, and having Donald on-​board went a long way to keeping us sane. We had a below average budget, and he did a great job of putting a menu together that looked beautiful, tasted delicious and was within our limits. Donald has a bunch of tricks up his sleeve that made planning easy too, like event layout tools to quickly show us where we could place tables. He’s also about the nicest guy you’ll ever met!
The food was terrific, his staff friendly and professional. Top notch company. Highly recommended.

Donald and his team at Harvest Catering catered the cocktail hour and seated dinner at my wedding recently and they were fantastic! We heard from a few guests that it was the best wedding meal they’d ever had. The shrimp and swordfish skewers were my favorite and the delicious grilled entrees fit in perfectly with the coastal setting and spring feel. We enjoyed working with Donald from the start and he was always professional, organized, and easy going. I highly recommend Harvest as a wedding caterer!

We used Harvest Catering for our wedding and couldn’t have been happier. From the beginning Donald (owner) was extremely helpful in helping us plan the evening. He always returned our calls promptly and was very forgiving when, due to a miscommunication, we missed our tastings… twice.
In the place of a traditional sit down meal we had heavy hors douvres and a food station. I was concerned that I would be paying lots of money for Costco appetizers on fancy platters. But at our tasting I discovered how wrong I was. Every dish was homemade, from the tenderloin, to the crab cakes, to all of the sauces. Our guests raved about the food even days after the wedding was over.
Donald was on time with delivery and set up, his staff was very professional and well organized, and he was always present to help coordinate the events of the evening. He even sent home all the left overs with my bridesmaids. Compared to other companies we spoke with, pricing was very reasonable.
I would absolutely recommend Harvest Catering to anyone who needs food for their events!

We used Harvest as our wedding caterer because we got married at a historic estate and were very strictly limited as to what vendors we could use.
We ended up going with Harvest because they were moderately priced and the food was really really good. It’s always been my perspective that dinner is the dullest part of a wedding. So we decided to skip dinner and have a constant stream of passing hors d’oeuvres as well as standing ones (and the presentations were lovely).
We met with Donald Forester (the owner and head chef) multiple times and he was incredibly helpful in terms of helping us create a menu that was diverse, delicious, and vegetarian and vegan friendly without alienating out omnivorous friends. The food was great and fresh tasting the day of the event (and we didn’t have to serve crap like pigs in blankets or anything– no offense to those of you who like them)
Also, at the wedding itself, the even coordinator (who did a fantastic job in general, she was a lifesaver when it came to figuring out when to do the first dance or cut the cake — as our wedding was all DIY and we didn’t have a planner, or sometimes a clue) was sweet enough to leave a plate of fruits and veggies in my changing room so I had something to snack on while going through the whole «holy crap I’m getting married!» routine. Maybe some Klonopin would’ve been good since waiting to get married is surprisingly stressy, but the nice fruits, veggies, and water helped a ton, plus I wasn’t all stoned for the big event.
They also do corporate events as well as private parties. Also, they did a great job recommending a bar tender/​liquor service for the event, as again we were highly restricted on vendors due to the location of our event.