Assaggiare Mendocino

Julia Conway of Assaggiare Mendocino catered our wedding at Point Arena Lighthouse, Pt. Arena, CA in September 2014. The menu was packed with choices and the food was delicious. Julia’s signature «edible tablescape» of cheeses and fruit was good –looking and good– tasting and the guests enjoyed this at the reception. Dinner options included chicken, salmon and beef with side dishes to satisfy our vegetarian guests.
The service staff was friendly, efficient and helpful. The bar service during the reception was appreciated by our guests and the dinner tables were beautifully set. All service at our wedding reception and dinner, held outside in a tent on the beautiful coast, was timely and cleanup was not a hassle.
We are not from CA so hiring a caterer long-​distance was a concern but Julia helped make the process more manageable with good communication and an affordable menu. Our catering experience greatly met our expectations and you can do yourself a favor by contacting Julia and considering Assiaggiare Mendicino for your catering needs.

Julia catered a late afternoon wedding for my daughter at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens; the ceremony was in the Dahlia Garden and evening reception on the Plaza and Perennial Garden.
The buffet wedding reception started with hot-​passed appetizers (tikka bites, korean beef lettuce wraps, crab cakes) and tablescape with assorted cheeses, smoked salmon and bruschetta with wine/​beer bar served on the plaza and Perennial Garden. The dinner buffet was served in a tent adjacent to the plaza; mini-​dessert bar with personal wedding cake created by Shani’s Sweet Creations and ice cream bar served in the plaza. Our intention was to have guests move between the plaza and tent for dining, introductions, cake cutting, bouquet/​garter toss, photo booth, dancing (including first dances) and exit by bride and group at the end of the event.
We received positive feedback on the food and service; the service staff were attentive, efficient and transparent throughout the event. Julia was easy to work with through the menu planning and set up at the venue and was very attentive to the presentation details.
Thanks Julia for sharing in the day and helping to create the enchanting wedding that my daughter had always dreamed of having!

I’m not sure why Julia (owner of Assaggiare Mendocino) doesn’t already have a multitude of five-​star reviews here, but I can only attribute it to the fact that people in Mendocino don’t do a lot of Unilocaling. I plan a lot of events (for work, mostly) and have worked with many, many caterers. And I’d like to tell anyone who needs to know: Assaggiare deserves five stars.
We found Assaggiare through the Elk Cove Inn & Spa, where we got married. It’s literally one of two catering companies they are willing to work with for weddings on their property. So naturally we were crossing our fingers and hoping Assaggiare was great, because our choices were obviously limited. Duh. Of course it’s great. That’s why the Inn won’t work with anyone else.
Julia met with us in advance to go over menu choices, and she had a ton of versatility in terms of theme (you want Mediterranean? Sure! Vegan? No problem! etc.) We settled on a fairly simple (but very elegant) menu of fish, chicken, risotto, and lots of veggies. She also did some really fabulous passed hors d’oeuvres (including her deservedly award-​winning crab cakes), and the most ample, gorgeous, cheese and cracker arrangement I’ve ever seen. In fact, I didn’t actually see the «edible tablescape» until the pictures showed up later: it was apparently so delicious that everything got devoured in the time it took for us to make it from the gazebo to the house– about an hour.
Service-​wise, Julia was responsive and extremely easy to work with on all details, leading up to the wedding. She made the whole process really easy, and even took a last minute schedule change completely in stride. Furthermore, her entire staff was fantastic. They showed up right on time, set things up exactly to our specifications, and provided high-​end restaurant-​quality service throughout the day and evening. They were wonderful, and our guests commented on it.
Highly recommended.