Bistro Ten 18

I came across Flavor by Bistro Ten 18 listed on a catering site. I made an appointment with the owner, Craig Skiptunis and we set up a meeting. For the price we paid, not only did it include a seated dinner with pastries & sweets but it included a cocktail hour with passed hors d' oeuvres. I was blown away by the rate per guest. Our proposal listed passed lobsters, grilled jerk chicken, filet Mignon Crostini, tuna tartar, stationary buffets of cheese and breads and veggies with dips for the cocktail hour. For the seated dinner, the chef designed an entree for us called summer mixed grill entree. It included grilled shrimp on sugarcane skewers, filet mignon with mango salsa, Kohlrabi Slaw, smoked purple potato salad and grilled asparagus. The first course was the chilled tomato soup and the second course was an heirloom salad. Dessert was miniature sweets and pastries. On our tasting, I was blown away by the presentation and quality of the food. We were so stuffed; we couldn't walk out of there. I gave Craig my time line for some of the activities we planned for our wedding. He wrote some notes and gave us the quotes for rentals and recommendation for a florist since it was an outdoor wedding. I had a couple of revisions made before we could actually settle down with the rentals quote and rates of the wait staff, etc. It took awhile since we negotiate and cut back some items. In the end, it was still priced a lot more than we expected.

On the day of the wedding, I noticed the small portions of the food. Our families and guests were still hungry since only five trays of each hors d'oeuvres were passed around! Only the stationary buffets with cheese and breads and veggies got refilled. I asked one of the waitstaff to prepare a tray us due to our photo session. I was told, the trays were passed around and drinks will be waiting for us. Not only were the trays empty but we didn't get any drinks. I was mortified to find the waitstaff collecting the plates and drinks while our family and guests were eating! They were conscious at collecting the plates than they were at serving the food and drinks. The reception hour got worse. Plates were continuously collected only less than 20 minutes into our dinner. We told our server twice that we need another 15 minutes to eat since we had many activities planned for the reception. When I contact Craig to let him know about the wait staff, he acknowledged he would bring it up at their company meetings. However, we didn't get any incentives or apologies from the company. When I got the final invoice for the catering, I was astounded by the wait staff's rates. It was charging half of the reception’s rate. Apparently, they went into overtime. I thought it was a joke since their staff left before I did at the reception. They quoted more liquor than was actually opened. We had about 10 minors & children who couldn't drink; they rounded each table with 4 bottles of wine in addition to cocktails and beer which would be enough to get liquor poisoning. We were charged for extra linens since two tables fail to arrive due to a delivery problem. The rental company gave us 10% off but charged us an arm and leg for the delivery. A lot more rentals were added than necessary to our final bill. We had extra waitstaff who disappeared for most of the night rather than assisting our needs. We had extra food since a few guests could not attend. The plates were taken and discarded. Our wedding cake was discarded without informing us. After our cake cutting, our cake disappeared and we never saw it again. I didn't get to save the top layer of the cake for our anniversary! Neither the wait staff nor assistant manager bothered to let us know. Altogether, the reception came out costing more than booking a restaurant/catering hall. I felt the organization and waitstaff could have done a lot more in terms of servicing our wedding needs. The assistant manager failed to organize and direct her waitstaff as well as informing us before making the actual decisions about the cake and extra food. Overall, I was not impressed and disappointed with the delivery and performance on the actual day of the wedding.