Chef By Request

We recently used Chef By Request for our wedding. We chose them because we had wanted to do a informal "Chicago Style" meal, be able to provide our own alcohol, and bring a home-brew that my husband brewed. They let us do all three! The food was outstanding. We received so many compliments on the beef sandwiches and polish sausages. Guests told us they were the best they'd ever tasted (and both of our families are life long residents of Chicago)! They ended up putting out our "late night snacks" (mini Chicago Style pizza's) with the main course, but they did rectify the situation by ordering Lou Malnati's later in the evening for us...so they do get bonus points for that! The staff was very nice and professional.

The only complaint I have is that it was almost impossible to get a hold of the catering planner Danielle. For two weeks, my husband and I called her every day because we had some questions on some things. The majority of the time we got a message indicating that her inbox was full. If we were able to leave a voicemail, we didn't get any response. She eventually got in touch with us and we were able to go over things. They also charged us $150 for glassware that was gone in one hour. They then ran out of plastic cups and ended up using the cups I had brought for our lemonade stand before the wedding.

All in all, they did provide a delicious, quality meal, at a relatively affordable price.

With my wedding, food was the highest priority. We're both foodies, and wanted to make sure that our guests were treated to a well cooked meal. It didn't have to be especially fancy or artistic, but it had to taste amazing and not break our budget. Enter Chef By Request.

We had two tastings with Chef Dave who is passionate and creative about food. No detail was too small, no request too picky. We appreciated knowing that the chicken was never frozen or that the bread is baked fresh daily. They even let us bring in sushi which they plated and displayed during the cocktail hour.

Danielle was excellent to work with--we had a new venue that required a catering visit, and they worked out all the details without my presence. It was a relief on my wedding day to have an experienced head server running the show. My mother-in-law does large conferences each year and has had TONS of experience with caterers, and she raved about the service.

The food at the wedding wasn't perfect as our tasting. One of the main courses we had requested a chicken with spinach, brie and red pepper and on wedding day, there was no red pepper! Also, we ran out of our vegetarian option (pasta) which was sad when the last table went up (and had vegetarians) and they didn't have any food to eat. Despite these two major flaws, the food was still very tasty.

The best part about Chef By Request was that they really tried hard to work within our budget, allowing us to buy our own beer and wine but helping us purchase the license we needed for the day and servers as well. They helped pair down the menu so we didn't compromise taste, and it was well worth the extra few dollars to go with them.

Recommended and worth the investment for us. Thanks, Chef By Request!

I got married at the Danada House in Wheaton, IL and had Chef By Request as my caterers. And let me tell you, they were AWESOME!!! Everyone there was very helpful and responsive. Danielle (who I worked with for my wedding) went above and beyond the call of duty! She even went and stopped at Panera to get everyone bagels the morning of the wedding. The food was delicious, best food I've ever had at a wedding, I had many compliments from guests on how great the food was. Highly recommended!

Our wedding reception was June 12, 2010. We chose Chef By Request after meeting with Danielle, the Chef's coordinator. We explained our expectations and budget, which she assured us they could accomodate. We felt confident in our decision to use Chef by Request as our caterer, but they far exceeded our high standards in every way!

Danielle helped us with table and linen rental from another company, since we chose not hire a wedding coordinator and did all the planning ourselves. A delicious menu was planned that met our budget. It was beautifully presented, tasted amazing, and was talked about among wedding guests for weeks after the wedding. During the wedding the attendents made sure the bathrooms were kept tidy, which we did not expect, they kept us up to date with when dinner was going to be served, when the bar was going to close, when they were done cleaning up, etc. But not to the extent that we were bothered by them, just informed.

We will definately do business with Chef by Request when future family weddings are planned and highly encourage anyone wanting a special dinner to utilize this service. Thanks for a special wedding reception!

Rob and Carol

Chef by Request catered our wedding this summer and it was ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS! The Chef custom wrote a menu for our tastes and our budget - I cannot say enough good things about their company. Keep up the good work Chef By Request! I will definitely refer you to my friends and family! Thanks so much for making our reception truly a night to remember!!!!

Chef By Request is absolutely amazing at making wedding cakes!!! I gave her a picture and described what I wanted and she made it exactly how I had invisioned it. I highly recommend her to everyone.

I really tried to think of something that would shave a point or two off a perfect 5.
I failed.
Everything went so well that we've used Chef By Request for a number of other functions/events. Still can't find any flaws.

The staff, the food, the attention to detail, the presentation, the flowers, the linens .... Chef David .... They did NOT fail. They surpassed every expectation.

Thanks and wishes for continued success!
Mab

YUMMY! The food was delectible!!! Everyone raved about how beautiful and wonderful it was. We can thank them enough for their wonderful service. The were professional and accomodating. The food at our wedding was fresh and colorful. I don't think anyone left hungry that's for sure!

very good.

food was absolutely amazing and price was not too much.

AMAZING!! everyone loved the meal prepared for them!!

I couldn't have asked for anything better! Chef By Request help create the perfect wedding day for us. We had our wedding at Maxim's De Paris in Chicago. It was important to us for the food to be not only delicious, but elegant and sophisticated without being too fancy. Chef By Request did not disappoint...our guests were simply amazed!

I loved working with the wedding coordinator at Chef By Request, who was so helpful and enthusiastic. She also helped with little things like hiring someone to carve an ice sculptor for the bar. I gave Chef By Request a picture of a wedding cake that I found in Martha Stewart Living and they had it made for me! They also had recommendations for photographers and bands. The guests are still raving about how delicious the food was and how unique our wedding was...thanks to Chef By Request and all the special little touches they provided. I literally didn't have to worry about anything!

Chef By Request is one of the most reputable caterers I know in the Chicagoland area. Their food is outstanding, the chef is amazing and their ability to coordinate every detail of the event is just remarkable! I highly recommend contacting them for your wedding or special event you are planning.