A Simple Elegance Catering
Portland, OR 97214-3347
Phone: (503) 230-9521
User Reviews for A Simple Elegance Catering
08/07/2008 Posted by aemarty
Simple Elegance was recommende to us by our friends for our wedding dinner and wedding party. Four days before the event, Dave tells me his son will be doing our events, and assured me he had lots of experience, my partner was skeptical but we gave hiim the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately, on our wedding day, for the dinner, I had to call Dave's son Zack several times as he was over 2 hours late getting to our house. When he arrived I found out he had forgotton the real china and silverware, and did not have enough rolls. Zack then went back to get the silverware but evidently never found them, because they never appeared at the dinner. The chicken was cold and guests had trouble cutting the chicken with a plastic fork. The next day was the party event, so course I called Zack very early in the morning to make sure he would be on time for this event. He arrived early, but did not have enough food for 165 people, there were only 125 people at our event, and the food ran out. We should have had plenty of extra food. They were very slow in refilling the platters. On the plus side, the food was good, except for the cold chicken. What bothered me most, was the lack of concern on the part of Dave's son, Zack. He didn't seem to care, that he had forgotten the china and rolls, or that he was 2 hours late. All he said was it takes 1/2 hr to setup. I understand things can be forgotten, but when that happens a company should be bending over backwards to make sure things come out correctly, and not add to the stress of the wedding day. This is called customer service. All I can say is would Dave have found this acceptable if it had been his daughter's wedding?
Pros: good food and variety
Cons: poor customer service
10/24/2007 Posted by lauricroff
A Simple Elegance catered my daughter's wedding in August 2007 and we were very happy with all aspects of the service we received from them. The wedding and reception were in a garden, quite a walk from the parking lot, and with no electricity. But Dave was very positive about creating a successful event and even visited the site beforehand with my daughter to plan his layout. Then he and his employees provided excellent service and timing--working very hard to set up a lovely buffet table and keep all the dishes and beverages replenished with no waiting by the guests. The hot food was hot and the cold items were cold. There was plenty for all including re-visits to the buffet table. The salmon was fabulous(!) as was the chicken. The green salad was great with crisp apple in it, and the cucumber salad was very tasty and refreshing. The other dishes included mashed potatoes and pastas and fruit, all of which were great. I got many, many compliments from guests on the food and service. Dave was very nice to work with and flexible in the planning and set-up stages. I was very appreciative of his reasonable prices and the fact that he did not automatically include a gratuity in the bill. He said it was up to me to tip the staff after the event to reflect my satisfaction level with the food and service. That is a rare thing these days as it can be maddening to be charged 20 percent gratuity when you are not satisfied! But I was very satisfied and highly recommend A Simple Elegance Catering.
