Gourmet in a Pinch - Western Maine's Full Service Catering Solution with Party Rentals

Gourmet in a Pinch was a fantastic choice and I will use them again. They were professional, flexible, listened, the event flowed smoothly and timely. Their service was outstanding and the best part was the FOOD! All of it was delicious! Would highly recommend. It will simplify your big day and you will be thrilled with the results. We had a beef station, lobster salad, fajitas, salmon, appetizers and desserts. The beef was better than any fine restaurant I\'ve been too. Lobster Salad was outrageously delicious. They ought to enter a contest.

Go try their food! It was just as good in the Bethel store as it was on site at our wedding. They have so many different dishes to choose from and they are all delicious. Paul and Chef Charisa were great! They are willing to make changes to ensure you get what you want. The Gourmet in a Pinch wait staff was excellent. They are all very friendly and made sure our wedding guests were very well taken care of. From planning, set-up, and service Gourmet in a Pinch made sure our wedding and reception was perfect. They took care of everything from appetizers to a plated dinner for our 140 guests. We couldn't have been more impressed.

The Gourmet in a Pinch team catered my daughter’s outdoor wedding at a beautiful old farm in Maine. The food was delicious, the service superb, and Paul’s and Chef Charisa’s help and guidance were wonderful. Several other caterers were daunted by the lack of a kitchen and other facilities, but Paul was enthusiastic from the start! We provided a 20x20 tent, water and electricity, and they did the rest! GIP brought tables, chairs, linens, plates, glassware, silverware, food, beer, wine and more. The hors d’oeuvres were hot, the dinners perfect, and all was beautifully and cheerfully served. MANY guests commented on the excellent food and service. We are grateful to Paul, Chef Charisa and the entire team for a really lovely event.

My husband and I decided to have Gourmet in a Pinch cater our wedding in Maine after reading their reviews and testimonials. We live in New York, and unfortunately, were not even able to taste their food before our wedding day. Luckily, they were amazing! Paul was very helpful when planning the menu and the timing of the evening, and implemented all of the changes we wanted and kept the meal moving. The staff was friendly and efficient. They also supplied all of the tables, chairs, dishes, and glassware for us. Paul even came a day early with them so that we could use them for the rehearsal dinner. The food was delicious...the gazpacho was perfect for the hot summer evening, and the mussels, clams, and lobster were cooked perfectly. All of our guests commented on how good the food was. I would recommend Gourmet in a Pinch to anyone having an event in Maine. Our friend has a place there, and we will definitely be using them again!

Friends of mine recently held their wedding at my family's home. They hired Gourmet in a Pinch to cater a lobster cookout for the reception. There are a lot of things to worry about in preparation for and during the event, but the catering was not one of them. Paul, from Gourmet in a Pinch, took the time to scout out the location, bring his equipment the evening before and make sure he was prepared to serve hors d'oeuvres, soup, steamer/mussels and lobster as the reception evolved. Even though my family's home is just a private residence and not set up for an event of this kind, Paul and his staff made it seem like it was designed for the occasion and they kept the catering in sync without a wedding coordinator. The bottom line is that the food was great and the hard work put in all those from Gourmet in a Pinch was a big part of the success. Thanks.

Paul, Chef Charissa, and the whole Gourmet in a Pinch team did just an outstanding job for our recent wedding in Newry! From early in the process we were impressed with their organizational and planning skills, and they put our minds at ease that everything would run smoothly. And did it ever! Luckily the weather cooperated but even if it hadn't, our minds were at ease knowing a backup plan had been thought through down to every last detail. All of our guests were very impressed with the quality and quantity of food, as well as with the tables, chairs, glassware and table settings we rented from them. In addition, we really appreciated their professionalism, and little touches - like all the wait staff addressing us by name and staying focused on our guests' enjoyment. Well done and we would definitely recommend work with Paul and Chef Charissa for any event! BTW...be sure to try the cheese puffs and the cake balls - one month later our guests are still raving about them!

Gourmet in a Pinch catered my wedding reception during Memorial Day 2012. They are an extremely professional catering group with food to die for. Setting up everything with them was extremely easy and the day before our event they came to our house to ensure everything was correct. Our group had a clam bake for around 35 people. This included clam chowder, lobster, short ribs, steamers, mussels, and vegtables. All of my guests continually told me how delicious the food was and how nice Gourmet in a Pinch was to them. I am in sales in New York City and deal with catering groups often and I can honestly say that Gourmet in a Pinch is one of the best catering companies I have ever delt with. I highly recommend them to anyone looking for great food, excellent service, and professionalism.

Gourmet in a Pinch was phenomenal. They took care of everything that I didn't want to worry about, from rentals to signs for the shuttle service we ran to the venue. They were responsive throughout the planning phase and professional and caring during the rehearsal and reception. The servers made sure to find my husband and I several times throughout the night to make sure we were taken care of. Our cake was better than we could have ever imagined and there was very little stress associated with the wedding at all, they helped to make it the perfect day!

Chef Charisa and Paul were fantastic to work with, especially when you're planning a wedding from so very far away. Paul was very helpful from day one, recommending the All-American menu for our wedding to give our guests a true “Maine” experience. He was also good at giving me a ping if it had been awhile since we touched base. They were very professional to work with, and so very genuine in recommendations, that I really felt that they were working in my best interest, and in the end I trusted them implicitly!

As the big day grew closer, Paul's assistance was indispensable. Just weeks before, he'd noticed some holes in my planning and had a contingency plan for each. Up to the day before the wedding when my custom cake stands went missing, he offered up an alternative option free of charge.

On the actual wedding day, a storm rolled in, forcing our wedding guests back into the house for the ceremony, and there wasn't enough time to pull in all the setup for our outdoor reception. Soaked to the skin, Paul sprung into action, first bringing in all their serving setup back into the garage, then after the storm passed, pulling out the banquet tables out from under the tents so all the linens could dry in the sun during the cocktail reception.

So yes, their service was commendable, as was their dinner. The portion estimates were right on. estimated perfectly, and all our guests left the dinner tables happy. Big hits of the night-- Clam Chowder, their “light” recipe for a summer night was well seasoned and had nice, plump clams. Ribs, there were NONE leftover. Crab puff pastries, this one had a fan club parked next to the platter. Mussels were perfectly steamed, I was elated to find out there were some leftover. And the star, the Lobster-- it was perfection. They even some staff walk around and guide our whole lobster eating newbies. And after it was all said and done, they tidied up the kitchen and wrapped up our leftovers in containers I provided (Paul had given me a head's up this might happen-- what a champ!) for me and my guests to enjoy the following days of our stay at the Glen House.

I cannot recommend them highly enough!

Gourmet in a Pinch was wonderful for our pre-wedding cocktail party! Our family loved what Paul and Charisa created for us and the service during the cocktail party was outstanding. Paul was extremely helpful and did everything he could to make the experience for us easy and wonderful. I would 100% recommend Gourmet in a Pinch for any catered event.

Gourmet in a Pinch was a dream to work with, and their food was top notch! I was a very flustered bride to be, having to throw together a small destination wedding in about two months. Paul and Charisa were super responsive, helpful, and understanding in the planning stages. They were more than willing to tweak the final menu as much as I wanted. I added items, subtracted people, and all kinds of nonsense without any problems! In the end, Gourmet in a Pinch catered our rehearsal dinner, our morning of the wedding breakfast, and appetizers in the early afternoon, and dinner in the late afternoon. Breakfast was delicious, including french toast, eggs and muffins. Everyone kept warning me that, supposedly, no one eats prior to a wedding because everyone is a nervous wreck. Well, if that's true, then that only speaks further to the quality of their food, because everyone was stuffed. Appetizers were delicious and plentiful, even my picky guests were happy. The dinner was a choice between the citrus salmon, which was made without dairy due to family allergies, and the beef and bleu en croute, which was a beef tenderloin wrapped in puff pastry. Everyone, from the kids to the grandparents, raved over the food, including my mother in law, who used to do catering on the side. Not only was her food tasty, but it was presented beautifully. Charisa and Paul also helped me with wine, and would have been able to help me with a bartender, but, since I was having a small wedding, I went without, and everyone was fine serving themselves. I'd eaten so much during cocktail hour, that I could only eat half my dinner, so Charisa and her team kindly wrapped up what food we'd had leftover, marked whose dish was whose, and stuck it all in the fridge for us. If you're thinking about Gourmet in a Pinch, go for it! You won't regret it!

Paul and Charisa recently catered our entire wedding weekend. It was amazing!! Not only was the food perfect, but Paul and Charisa pretty much became our wedding planners. Every single minute of our wedding weekend was planned out to perfection thanks so Gourmet in a Pinch. The transition from rehearsal dinner to wedding reception to Sunday brunch was seamless. Our wedding guests were so impressed with the quality, presentation and amount of food! Every item was so well thought out and tailored to our wedding/personality. The entire weekend far exceeded our expectations thanks to Paul and Charisa. They were like part of the family by the end of the weekend! To say they are the hardest working people I know is an understatement. We couldn\'t be more thrilled with our wedding and we have Gourmet in a Pinch to thank!!

After many years of \"catering\" my own Fourth of July parties, a significant holiday and Bristol, RI which hosts the oldest 4th of July Parade in the country, I decided to have our event catered. We have an open house with a revolving door starting at breakfast and ending with lunch, appetizers and dessert in the late afternoon. It\'s not an easy task to keep food fresh and available at all times for 70+ people. Chef Charisa not only provided fresh and delicious food that everyone raved over, but her personal style was fun and entertaining. We recently went to Sunday River for a long ski weekend and were thrilled to feast, once again, on Chef Charisa\'s fabulous food. The Chicken Piccata and Eggplant Parmigiano were \"melt in your mouth\" delicious! My 3-year-old daughter loved the Fuzzy Chicken Fingers… and so did I! After a fun day at Sunday River, it was great to enjoy a delicious home-cooked meal away from home! Chef Charisa and her culinary delights are greatly missed in Rhode Island!\r\n