Contemporary Catering

This review has been a long time coming. For nearly six months my wife and I traded emails with Nathaniel, organized a gazillion tastings, and shook up the menu more often than we can remember. See, my wife is Vietnamese, and I am Peruvian. We wanted a menu that reflected both our cultures, and our passion for great food & presentation. Nathaniel and his team stepped up and accomplished what no one else in LA could on our wedding day. What started as a challenge to any caterer willing to accept it, our wedding menu became an exercise in patience and experimentation. From the Tiradito & Pork Bao appetizers, to the Molecular Gastronomy Amuse Bouche, to the Pisco Sours, the Bun Tit Nun and the Lomo Saltado -- Nate, we can't thank you enough, from the bottom of our PeruViamese hearts, for the immeasurable effort and attention you gave us. My wife and I produce events for a living and were humbled by the dedication and service Contemporary Catering offered us from the beginning. It's truly rare in this industry or any other. We hope to one day work with you again; maybe at one of our corporate events, and again - THANK YOU for making our dream date come true!

- Michael &...

Words cannot express how happy I am that we hired Contemporary Catering for our wedding. From beginning to end Nathaniel and Jenny were extremely helpful, professional and responsive. I got the sense that they really cared about our wedding and truly went the extra mile for us – more like 1,000 miles! Jenny met us at the venue on multiple occasions and helped me with so many aspects of our wedding beyond the food, from the rentals, to the timeline, to helping me find pashminas to buy days before the wedding. Jenny and Nathaniel were both present at our wedding and made sure everything ran smoothly. Nathaniel even fixed a strand of lights that went out during our reception. They were both extremely attentive to our needs and made sure we ate and that all of the guests were enjoying the food. The food was just as delicious at our tasting as it was at the wedding. So many of our guests raved about the food and appetizers and loved it because it wasn’t standard “wedding food”. Our wedding truly would have not been the same without the help of Contemporary Catering and, of course, their wonderful food. I would highly recommend them to anyone planning a wedding or special event. I want to have another party just so I can hire them again!

It's going to be hard for me to convey in a simple review just how much Contemporary Catering did for our wedding. Nathaniel and Jenny were so invested in our event and we enjoyed every minute we spent with them. Getting married at the Exposition Park Rose Garden & Natural History Museum in downtown LA meant an extraordinary amount of moving parts were involved, and they pulled off a wedding that surpassed our wildest dreams.
Our parents were very hesitant about our venue, and Nathaniel was able to ease all of their apprehensions, whether it was building a kitchen outside the venue, adding lighting, reviewing contracts, and more. Nathaniel met with my family, with my husband and me, and with me one-on-one a number of times, and these status updates always made me feel completely confident and less stressed about all the details that go into a wedding. We were constantly in communication the week before the wedding, and he couldn't be more supportive and attentive.
On the day of the wedding, Nathaniel was so attentive to my needs, and even handled my "eyelash emergency" with great professionalism. Our customized menu was so unique and delicious--our guests are still talking about the chilled cantaloupe soup, the duet of proteins, and the abundance of appetizers.
Contemporary Catering not only gets the job done, they surpass your expectations in every way, and fill your guests up with great, creative dishes.
Thank you Nace, Jenny, and the rest of the Contemporary Catering team!!!

The entire staff at Contemporary Catering was unbelievably professional, responsive, and helpful in planning and executing the perfect event. They worked with us in delivering a top-quality & creatively customized menu to our 230+ guests, and for a phenomenal price. I would recommend them to anyone looking to hire true professionals who are passionate about the business they are in for whatever your event type or size. Thank you Contemporary Catering!

The caterer, Contemporary Catering, for my daughter’s May 29th wedding was booked well in advance. I spoke directly with Nathaniel for the quote and had the pleasure of working with him though the process. Before I rate the food, I will begin with the preparations.

He recommended a rental company but I chose to go with a different vendor, Imperial Rentals. Adrineh from Imperial was very nice and provided some beautiful pictures and ideas. Imperial promised to have the tent fully finished and up on Thursday and all the rentals delivered and set up by Friday to make sure everything was perfect. Since we had so many elements to set up, this Thursday Tent/ Friday rentals delivery appealed to me. Against Nathaniel’s recommendations I trusted her.

The first hint that I should have trusted Nathaniel instead, was the visit to the venue. Nathaniel was there, the rental company he recommended was there, Viviana (our wonderful event coordinator) was there but Imperial did not show up.

The tasting: My husband, daughter and her fiancée were in heaven at the tasting. It was sublime.

This wedding involved 17 months of intense planning with many time consuming elements. I purchased over 50 outdoor chandeliers and over 1,000 boxes of high grade outdoor Christmas lights to illuminate the dance floor and the tent. I sewed custom table linens that were three layers. I had purchased over 30 pieces of Antique; settees, Wing Chairs, etc and had them all custom upholstered to match the wedding. I purchase 30 stained glass pedestal centerpiece floral containers and 60 silver iron floral containers for the side florals. I also purchased 1,000 hex and oval hex mason jars with thousands of candles. These are just a few of the many details that were dependent on the rental company keeping their word and being on time. No amount of complaining by the event coordinator or me could get them to work.

When the Nathaniel arrived on Saturday, the rental company still hadn’t even finished the tent. They had subbed it out to a vendor (Express Rental) without approval that did nothing and was seriously drinking on the job. Nothing was set up; not even the kitchen. Everything was dumped. It was a nightmare of horrific proportions. It was not his job, but he immediately took control of the situation and chewed out the rental company getting them working. It was not his job, nor his server’s job to work on set up. They literally saved the day. I seriously cried for 4 days straight after the wedding because of the rental company’s gross negligence and the thought of what would have had happened if I had not had Nathaniel. The stove didn’t even work and he got another company to immediately deliver an emergency stove. He not only knows food, he knows weddings.

On to the food:

There is only one word I can think of to describe the food and the staff. Perfect. Not a single dish wasn’t wonderful even though we started an hour late. Hors D’ourves were such a hit. The dinner was AMAZING. No matter what the guests selected, land or sea, all I heard were raves. Sometimes you taste a wonderful meal at a tasting but when it is for 175 people it is not quite the same. Not so with Contemporary.

I have to say that I meet few people in business whose integrity and quality matter more than their bottom line. We are a middle class family and he is kind of a white glove caterer but he treated us with absolute courtesy and respect. His staff was a joy. Not a single complaint about the food or the service. With a crew that size and a sit down dinner that size, and the nightmare with the rental company, I don’t know how he pulled it off.

I am sorry that I can’t adequately describe just how much he did and how truly wonderful he is. His logo is ‘Something sacred at every event’, but it’s not a logo. This is a man who genuinely believes it. We were perfect strangers but he took my event personally. I have had such a devoted and obedient daughter and so his intervention in areas that were not even his responsibility, his attention to detail, his pursuit of excellence have left me in awe.

Big or small, he knows his stuff completely. Not just food but events. I can recommend Contemporary Catering without a single reservation. I can recommend their food, staff, event knowledge and everything about them. If I had to give stars I would give him 10 diamonds.

The caterer, Contemporary Catering, for my daughter’s May 29th wedding was booked well in advance. I spoke directly with Nathaniel for the quote and had the pleasure of working with him though the process. Before I rate the food, I will begin with the preparations.

He recommended a rental company but I chose to go with a different vendor, Imperial Rentals. Adrineh from Imperial was very nice and provided some beautiful pictures and ideas. Imperial promised to have the tent fully finished and up on Thursday and all the rentals delivered and set up by Friday to make sure everything was perfect. Since we had so many elements to set up, this Thursday Tent/ Friday rentals delivery appealed to me. Against Nathaniel’s recommendations I trusted her.

The first hint that I should have trusted Nathaniel instead, was the visit to the venue. Nathaniel was there, the rental company he recommended was there, Viviana (our wonderful event coordinator) was there but Imperial did not show up.

The tasting: My husband, daughter and her fiancée were in heaven at the tasting. It was sublime.

This wedding involved 17 months of intense planning with many time consuming elements. I purchased over 50 outdoor chandeliers and over 1,000 boxes of high grade outdoor Christmas lights to illuminate the dance floor and the tent. I sewed custom table linens that were three layers. I had purchased over 30 pieces of Antique; settees, Wing Chairs, etc and had them all custom upholstered to match the wedding. I purchase 30 stained glass pedestal centerpiece floral containers and 60 silver iron floral containers for the side florals. I also purchased 1,000 hex and oval hex mason jars with thousands of candles. These are just a few of the many details that were dependent on the rental company keeping their word and being on time. No amount of complaining by the event coordinator or me could get them to work.

When the Nathaniel arrived on Saturday, the rental company still hadn’t even finished the tent. They had subbed it out to a vendor (Express Rental) without approval that did nothing and was seriously drinking on the job. Nothing was set up; not even the kitchen. Everything was dumped. It was a nightmare of horrific proportions. It was not his job, but he immediately took control of the situation and chewed out the rental company getting them working. It was not his job, nor his server’s job to work on set up. They literally saved the day. I seriously cried for 4 days straight after the wedding because of the rental company’s gross negligence and the thought of what would have had happened if I had not had Nathaniel. The stove didn’t even work and he got another company to immediately deliver an emergency stove. He not only knows food, he knows weddings.

On to the food:

There is only one word I can think of to describe the food and the staff. Perfect. Not a single dish wasn’t wonderful even though we started an hour late. Hors D’ourves were such a hit. The dinner was AMAZING. No matter what the guests selected, land or sea, all I heard were raves. Sometimes you taste a wonderful meal at a tasting but when it is for 175 people it is not quite the same. Not so with Contemporary.

I have to say that I meet few people in business whose integrity and quality matter more than their bottom line. We are a middle class family and he is kind of a white glove caterer but he treated us with absolute courtesy and respect. His staff was a joy. Not a single complaint about the food or the service. With a crew that size and a sit down dinner that size, and the nightmare with the rental company, I don’t know how he pulled it off.

I am sorry that I can’t adequately describe just how much he did and how truly wonderful he is. His logo is ‘Something sacred at every event’, but it’s not a logo. This is a man who genuinely believes it. We were perfect strangers but he took my event personally. I have had such a devoted and obedient daughter and so his intervention in areas that were not even his responsibility, his attention to detail, his pursuit of excellence have left me in awe.

Big or small, he knows his stuff completely. Not just food but events. I can recommend Contemporary Catering without a single reservation. I can recommend their food, staff, event knowledge and everything about them. If I had to give stars I would give him 10 diamonds.

The caterer, Contemporary Catering, for my daughter’s May 29th wedding was booked well in advance. I spoke directly with Nathaniel for the quote and had the pleasure of working with him though the process. Before I rate the food, I will begin with the preparations.

He recommended a rental company but I chose to go with a different vendor, Imperial Rentals. Adrineh from Imperial was very nice and provided some beautiful pictures and ideas. Imperial promised to have the tent fully finished and up on Thursday and all the rentals delivered and set up by Friday to make sure everything was perfect. Since we had so many elements to set up, this Thursday Tent/ Friday rentals delivery appealed to me. Against Nathaniel’s recommendations I trusted her.

The first hint that I should have trusted Nathaniel instead, was the visit to the venue. Nathaniel was there, the rental company he recommended was there, Viviana (our wonderful event coordinator) was there but Imperial did not show up.

The tasting: My husband, daughter and her fiancée were in heaven at the tasting. It was sublime.

This wedding involved 17 months of intense planning with many time consuming elements. I purchased over 50 outdoor chandeliers and over 1,000 boxes of high grade outdoor Christmas lights to illuminate the dance floor and the tent. I sewed custom table linens that were three layers. I had purchased over 30 pieces of Antique; settees, Wing Chairs, etc and had them all custom upholstered to match the wedding. I purchase 30 stained glass pedestal centerpiece floral containers and 60 silver iron floral containers for the side florals. I also purchased 1,000 hex and oval hex mason jars with thousands of candles. These are just a few of the many details that were dependent on the rental company keeping their word and being on time. No amount of complaining by the event coordinator or me could get them to work.

When the Nathaniel arrived on Saturday, the rental company still hadn’t even finished the tent. They had subbed it out to a vendor (Express Rental) without approval that did nothing and was seriously drinking on the job. Nothing was set up; not even the kitchen. Everything was dumped. It was a nightmare of horrific proportions. It was not his job, but he immediately took control of the situation and chewed out the rental company getting them working. It was not his job, nor his server’s job to work on set up. They literally saved the day. I seriously cried for 4 days straight after the wedding because of the rental company’s gross negligence and the thought of what would have had happened if I had not had Nathaniel. The stove didn’t even work and he got another company to immediately deliver an emergency stove. He not only knows food, he knows weddings.

On to the food:

There is only one word I can think of to describe the food and the staff. Perfect. Not a single dish wasn’t wonderful even though we started an hour late. Hors D’ourves were such a hit. The dinner was AMAZING. No matter what the guests selected, land or sea, all I heard were raves. Sometimes you taste a wonderful meal at a tasting but when it is for 175 people it is not quite the same. Not so with Contemporary.

I have to say that I meet few people in business whose integrity and quality matter more than their bottom line. We are a middle class family and he is kind of a white glove caterer but he treated us with absolute courtesy and respect. His staff was a joy. Not a single complaint about the food or the service. With a crew that size and a sit down dinner that size, and the nightmare with the rental company, I don’t know how he pulled it off.

I am sorry that I can’t adequately describe just how much he did and how truly wonderful he is. His logo is ‘Something sacred at every event’, but it’s not a logo. This is a man who genuinely believes it. We were perfect strangers but he took my event personally. I have had such a devoted and obedient daughter and so his intervention in areas that were not even his responsibility, his attention to detail, his pursuit of excellence have left me in awe.

Big or small, he knows his stuff completely. Not just food but events. I can recommend Contemporary Catering without a single reservation. I can recommend their food, staff, event knowledge and everything about them. If I had to give stars I would give him 10 diamonds.

Can you say grilled cheese station? How about fried mac and cheese? Yep, we had a buffet style wedding and this was on the menu! Nathaniel and the gang at Contemporary were a pleasure to deal with and come up with the most creative and wonderful menus. Did I mention it was good? No, ok - it was GREAT! Best food ever!

Nathaniel and Contemporary Catering are wonderful! They were very flexible, and worked within our budget to create an absolutely delicious appetizer/cocktail party menu. When our cake vendor fell through, they made our own dairy-free chocolate cake recipe, which saved us a ton of money and was (in my opinion) far better than any dairy-free cake from a bakery. Also, being familiar with other vendors in the area, they recommended a local rental company and took care of quotes/interfacing with them. All in all, a great experience! Thank you so much. : )

This was one of the best choices I made for my wedding! I found out after I booked that they are full service and can also do your flowers and other things as well, so keep that in mind as you book. They offered an online menu, but they were up for customizing everything at a really reasonable price. They helped map out our location for tables and also set all the things up we had delivered after our ceremony was over. The staff was really awesome and the food was unbelievable. Everything looked really beautifully presented and everything tasted wonderful. They did really cool mini Dodger dogs as appetizers and we also had a cheeseburger and fries buffet. I really cannot put into words how great this company was and how highly I'd recommend them. They had pretty good communication before, after and during our wedding. We ordered dip-n-dots and the staff was so professional, nobody ate any even though we really didn't want all those to go to waste! :)

We got married at the groom's home and they did a great job of cleaning up. Hardly any mess for us to clean up. They were also really accommodating and worked well with the other services at our wedding. IE, they served our Sprinkles cupcakes, they set-up the flowers, etc.

Nathaniel was amazing from our very first meeting : ) We were having a hard time finding a caterer who would just provide the sides and appetizers for our wedding since we had already booked the IN-N-OUT truck for the main course... but Nathaniel was all about it! They were able to blend perfectly with the fun feel we were going for!
Salads, ahi tuna tar tar, French fry bar, grilled veggies, everything was perfect! As well as the presentation : ) , i am a firm believer in presentation and Nathaniel was completely Martha Stewart-esque with me about that! Needless to say our food stations were beautifully displayed! Nathaniel also handled our rentals through PICO RENTALS for us, which was a huge help! Me and the hubs are hoping to have a party for the when the hubs turns 30 : ) and you bet we will have CONTEMPORARY CATERING CATER!
They truly customized the menu to us, which NO OTHER CATERER WOULD DO!
And did i mention they were soooooo reasonable!!! : )
You def. would be disappointed with Contemporary!

I found Contemporary Catering on line and met with Nathaniel about a year before my wedding. He gave us a delicious tasting of a Chinese buffet, then worked with our budget to give us the reception we wanted. They ordered all our rentals, put out decorations we gave them, and set up a beautiful buffet. We had to change our venue at the last minute due to a double-booking nightmare, and Nathaniel and Jenny pulled our new ceremony together. Jenny stayed through the entire reception, checking in with me a few times to make sure everything was fine. They always answered our questions and returned our calls, and were great about any changes we wanted to make. The best thing about them is that they listened to what we want, they reassured us when we were anxious, and they reminded us to do what would make us happy. Wonderful, professional caterers that I highly recommend.

We initially heard about them off a web search engine, and of the five caterers this search engine sent our proposal to, Contemporary Catering was the ONLY one that responded with the information we requested and listened to what we wanted. Nathaniel gave us great suggestions for staying within our budget and initially was great about contacting me when I slacked off and forgot. Eric’s food at the tasting was fantastic. They gave us referrals that raved about them. The day-of went really well. The staff was professional and courteous, the food was absolutely incredible, and everyone seemed pretty happy. They get the grade for these reasons:

1) The company exploded in popularity in the 9 months between when we booked them and our wedding. Our smallish wedding became somewhat small potatoes as time got closer. I don't really fault the company at all for that, I just got the feeling they bit off more than they could chew with the growth. We started to feel unnecessary. This is our feelings, not anything anyone there said or did, so take it with a giant grain of salt. That being said, my antique cake set that was a gift from my mother disappeared at the wedding, and I worried that maybe the caterer had assumed it was theirs and accidentally taken it with them. I don't suspect anyone stole it, but I called and asked them to check on it. I was assured they'd check the kitchens and storage and get back to me. 3 weeks later, and I still haven't gotten a return phone call. I called back, and was told they probably didn't have it, but was promised another call after they check storage. I know it's not a big deal to them, but it obviously is to me.

2) The sample menu they put together for us to estimate price was not what we wanted for the final menu. We all discussed this at the time of the deposit, and Nathaniel advised we wait to finalized the menu until about a month before the wedding so we had a better idea of tastes of our guests and actual numbers. Unfortunately for us and him, their menu changed during that time along with their prices. Any old items were given to us at the old price because we had a contract, but any new items were at the new prices (which makes sense since there WAS no old price to go by). Of course, we wanted some of the new stuff. We had to go back and forth about 8 or 9 times trying to finalize the menu. There were items I specifically asked removed or added that he would leave on or off, which was incredibly frustrating. It turns out that his reasoning was simply trying to keep our price at our estimate, but he never told me, "Hey, if you add this one that's going to drive up the price. I'm leaving that one on because it's cheap." I just wish there had been better communication there. I got frustrated when he was really trying to help, he got frustrated because I started getting bridezilla-y, and we both wasted a lot of time. My advice: Be specific and help in the communication from the beginning. Instead of just saying, "No, we really don't want that, we like this better," ASK WHY you're not getting what you asked for. Don’t worry about hurting feelings; this is business.

3) We paid for 69 people; 55 showed and we had almost no leftovers. We did heavy hors d'oeuvres only, so it's not like someone didn't get to eat anything, but I worry that maybe people didn't get enough food. Of course, no one's going to tell the bride, "hey, I'm hungry," but I hope no one was, and I'm glad we had so many no-shows. If you plan on doing heavy hors d'ouevres, get specifics on how many pieces you'll be getting. The caterer may be underestimating.

Would I use Contemporary Catering again? Absolutely. I loved them and hope to have a reason to hire them repeatedly. But I would absolutely stay on top of everything and be very specific right from the beginning. Don't be shy!

Nathaniel and team are fantastic. To be honest, I can't put to words how dedicated, fabulous and hardworking Contemporary catering is. They stand shoulders above, with honest attention to details.

I can't recommend them enough.
-DJ Crash