No photos yet
About this vendor
Cardinal is the culinary collaboration of chefs Grace Crossman and Laura Brahn. By day, they can be found at their cafe space, providing creative breakfast and lunch with hand made pastries and, by night, hosting pop-up dinners all over the tristate area.
Cardinal is proud to cater in every way possible: from intimate indoor dinner parties to elaborate fire-lit farm weddings. Whatever the setting, Cardinal is the commitment to and passion for craft and hard work. It’s high quality service, attention to detail, and chef-created menus that will leave your guests satiated and raving about the meal they just had.
WE TOOK ON CATERING FOR A FEW REASONS:
1. We love the opportunity to use small batch and seasonal ingredients.
2. We love the temporality and excitement of the short term. It allows us flexibility to take on different creative challenges regularly.
3. We love the change of scenery, circumstance, conditions, and criteria.
4. We love parties!
There’s no concrete menu because seasons change, you’re you, and your event is unique unto
itself.
Details
Business Attributes
- Woman-owned Business
Cuisine
- American
- Specialty
Dietary Options
- Dairy Free
- Gluten Free
- Nut Free
- Organic
- Sugar Free
- Vegan
Food & Catering
- Buffet
- Catering Clean Up
- Chef Stations
- Family Style
- Menu Tastings
- Passed Appetizers
Reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help you make those big decisions with ease.
5
out of 5.015 reviews
Review photos
Showing slide number 1 out of 3
- Top reviews
- Newest first
- Oldest first
- Highest rated
- Lowest rated
Sort by
We are so grateful we got to work with Cardinal Provisions for our wedding.
All of our guests raved about the food - on top of that, the team was a joy to work with. We had a great time tasting at the restaurant with our parents, and they accommodated all our requests, including a custom tiramisu cake for us to cut. Molly and Chef Katy were unbelievably kind and attentive during the process and on the day itself. We knew we wanted to avoid catering from a wedding-mill with "eh" food and "eh" service. What we got by working with Cardinal was personal touch, generosity, professionalism, and fantastic and delicious and creative food that our guests loved. Oh, and the aesthetic of the displays and dinnerware matched our style perfectly.
We could not have asked for a better experience - Thank you, Cardinal!
We always go to CP for brunch (GO... you will be in food heaven) so when It came time to find a totally rad and delicious vendor... we knew it had to be them. Molly & Katy were awesome the entire process. Also.... they're ridiculously friendly and funny which made things 10x better. Single handedly the best decision of our entire wedding was having them cater. The number one compliment we get post wedding was "Oh your food was amazing. I was so stuffed". Also, big round of applause for the entire team cranking it in the back!!
Ah! Why am I like this?! I got married over a YEAR ago (10/22/22) in my parents’ backyard and I’m kicking myself for not reviewing sooner! Cardinal did an incredible job catering our 90+ guest backyard wedding in Middletown, NJ. I communicated with Molly, who was very lovely and so accommodating. I also have to add really quickly that my husband and I did not start planning our wedding until like three months before it happened, so they really saved us by making themselves available on such short notice! Thank you!! So Molly asked great questions and made really helpful suggestions about setup and serving and workflow and scheduling, etc. We wanted to make our wedding more like a big fun family party than a wedding, and Cardinal really nailed it with that vibe. They packed their cute yellow truck with all their stuff and did a total kitchen takeover! The staff was SO good and SO friendly. We opted for a “Grand Pile” of cheeses, breads, dried fruits, fresh fruits, cured meats, all the best snacks really, and it was arranged like a work of art. Literally a grand pile of food. We also opted for their family-style menu, so big beautiful plates of food were scattered all over the tables so guests could help themselves to whatever they wanted to try instead of committing to one dish. They are also very generous in their portions! We has so much food left over which helped us stay nice a lazy over the next couple days of wedding recovery. The Braised Short Ribs were a big hit, and I still dream about their warm farro salad. Highly recommend renting their mismatched vintagey plates and serving dishes because they really did add the perfect amount eccentricity and color to our understated decor of white mums, votive candles, and flowers in bud vases. At the end of the night, they cleaned my parents’ kitchen and left it even cleaner than before they got there. My new sister-in-law Alyssa (who just left a review below mine of her wedding last month which was SO GOOD, go read that review too!) was the one who gave us the idea to book Cardinal, and I’m so glad we did <3 1000000% book Cardinal for your wedding or event or dinner party! And also eat at their brunch spot in Asbury Park, it’s truly the best.
Cardinal absolutely stole the show at our 130-person wedding held at the Asbury Hotel on 10/14/23! Our guests couldn't stop gushing about the cocktail hour menu featuring everything from Philly Cheesesteaks to Lobster Rolls, Carnitas Tacos, and more. The Braised Short Ribs stole the spotlight during dinner – nearly 75% of our guests opted for it – alongside the Char-Grilled Chicken, Harissa Salmon, and Hen of the Woods Mushroom. For dessert, we had a large variety, but the Apple Crumble and my personal favorite, the Xuixos (I've still got some stashed in my freezer!), were the crowd favorites. We wrapped up the night with burgers and fries, ensuring everyone left feeling full and happy.
The praise for the food keeps pouring in, even a month later! Molly, who guided us every step of the way, was fantastic—answering all our questions, accommodating allergies and dietary needs, and tweaking the menu flawlessly. Cardinal has always been a must-visit for us in town, and having them be a part of the most amazing day of our lives was a sheer delight.
Our wedding was at Porta on 10.8.23, and we ordered our sweetheart wedding cake from Cardinal. Grace was so easy to work with. We got a framboise filling with meyer lemon cake, and it was absolutely delicious!! We couldn't be happier with how it turned out!
We had our wedding ceremony and sit down dinner for 130 at The Asbury Hotel in July 2023 and everything Cardinal did was perfection! The planning process (even from out of town) was fun and seamless--Molly and Katy are fun and so easy to work with. And the end result was an absolute stunner---the food was all insanely delicious and beautiful--every single bite-- and the presentation was charming and bohemian like we wanted. They easily accommodated allergies, added some requested seasonal touches, and the wait staff was all professional and fun. And OMG the desserts on our dessert table--no words! Every single guest remarked on how beautiful and amazing everything was--hiring Cardinal is an easy decision!
We had our wedding on 4/1/23 at The Asbury Hotel, and Cardinal absolutely knocked it out of the park. Our guests raved about everything, from the spectacular food, to the unique presentation (the darling vintage plates were a hit), to the charming staff. Molly and Katie with Cardinal treated us like family from start to finish.
For the menu, we went with: The cocktail hour (the mezze pile, and passed fried chicken sliders and potato croquettes) and the buffet dinner (harissa marinated salmon steak and cornmeal crusted cauliflower steaks as the mains, and mac and cheese, crispy baby potatoes, and local green salad as the sides). During the reception, Katie dropped off personal servings of everything in cute dishes to the sweetheart table, to ensure that my husband and I took time to not only eat, but enjoy, our dinner.
The team was very accommodating of our cookie table, which is traditional to the Pittsburgh-Youngstown area where a lot of my family comes from. They beautifully set up all the cookies that our friends and family brought. We also added a coffee / tea and passed dessert (xuixos and choco tacos) service, which our guests loved. We ended up adding a small framboise cake anyway because our friend made us custom cake toppers, and it was incredibly delicious. They also worked with our venue and day-of coordinator to add some of our flowers to the cake, which was such a nice touch.
The price point per person for all that is provided and the standard of service is incredibly reasonable, considering the astronomical cost of weddings. Don't hesitate to book with Cardinal!
We got married 10/29/2022 at the Art Factory in Paterson, NJ and used Cardinal Provisions & Catering. We had the most amazing and unforgettable night of our lives and owe a huge part of that to Katy and Cardinal team. Cocktail hour was a huge hit, everyone could not stop raving about the lobster rolls! Then onto dinner, everyone says they don't get a chance to eat at their wedding, but not us. Katy made sure we sat down and enjoyed our first meal as husband and wife and let me tell you it was delicious. The cake was spectacular and the chipwiches were a crowd pleaser. I saw so many people on the dance floor eating ice cream sandwiches and giving me a thumbs up! Now onto the really incredible part. We didn't have a wedding planner or day of coordinator and we were running a little behind on starting the ceremony. Not a problem, without skipping a beat Katy came up to us and worked out a new timeline that still ensured we got a full hour of cocktail hour and everything went smoothly. There aren't enough words to express my gratitude for the Cardinal team. They were wonderful and our day was perfect.
We worked with Grace on our wedding cake and desserts and OMG they were amazing! Our chocolate tahini cake was both beautiful and delicious. During the cake cutting we actually had seconds because it was so good (who says no one eats the cake at a wedding?). We also had the home made choco tacos and vegan chocolate chip cookies and they were so delicious! The choco tacos were definitely a hit! We also worked with them on a platter for brunch the next day and their pastries were to die for! Grace was so kind and easy to work with throughout the process and we can’t thank the Cardinal team enough!
We recently got married in April 2022 at The Asbury and Cardinal Provisions was our caterer! We were specifically looking for something other than "typical wedding food" and they definitely delivered! The grazing pile and passed hors d'oeuvres were so delicious that people were chasing down the servers for more! Dinner was also great and we loved the vintage china they use. Katy was great working out our menu to be exactly what we envisioned and worked really well with people who had food allergies and dietary restrictions.
The cake was also so beautiful and delicious. We opted to also get the choco tacos which were a HUGE hit!
We would highly recommend Cardinal and will be dining with them at their restaurant location in the future!
I booked Cardinal for my wedding, which was canceled due to COVID-19, and I cannot overstate just how professional and compassionate the team at Cardinal was throughout the process of canceling and eventually re-envisioning my socially distant micro-wedding. I had sent my deposit to Cardinal for my 150-person wedding at a big reception hall on March 6. A week later, the world shut down, and it became very clear that the wedding I planned would not be happening. When I needed to cancel, Laura at Cardinal emailed me a photo of my deposit check ripped up, so that I had the peace of mind that they would not be cashing it (even though, according to the contract, they 100% could have). I cannot tell you what a relief it was to receive that picture, and I will be forever grateful for Cardinal for that. When my now husband and I found a way to shift our plans amidst the pandemic, we went back to Cardinal in the hopes that they could accommodate our smaller ceremony -- and they did, once again, going above and beyond what any vendor would do. We worked together on a custom menu that matched our coastal theme and specific tastes. They dropped off 3-course lunches for our guests at our public marina venue, accommodating every special request and dietary restriction we had. They labeled each individual bag with names so our guests could easily grab and go (something very important to us, as we were conscious of not having guests have to touch each other's food or get too close!). Our guests could not stop raving about the food--which included mouthwatering specialty sandwiches, shrimp cocktail, caprese salad, mouse cups, and their world-famous xuixos. Our intimate park wedding was instantly elevated, and it's thanks to Cardinal that my "small" wedding felt like (and was!) the real deal. It wasn't the wedding I envisioned, but it many, many ways it was better and Cardinal was a huge part of that. Outside of the catering experience, my husband and I have picked up lunch from them during the week and it's also very much worth noting that all of my interactions with their staff have been lovely. They have a wonderful and safe curbside pickup, and we've been given extra pastries and xuixos at the end of the work day. Everyone has a smile on, which seems like an extra feat these days, but they don't make you feel that way. Thank you Laura, Grace and the entire Cardinal team. We're supporting you and rooting for you--we cannot wait to dine-in with you in a post-pandemic world!
After doing tastings as several traditional caterers and being very disappointed I frantically reached out to Cardinal and it was the best choice I made in all of my planning. As someone who loves real food, I emailed them saying I wanted a borderline healthy meal for my wedding that was seasonally focused and with local ingredients. They delivered 10 fold. The food at my wedding was the best food I have every had at a wedding and many of my guests have said the same thing. Katy was so great to work with and open to suggestions so that our menu was totally customized to our tastes. I highly recommend them.
I cannot emphasize enough how lucky and happy we were to have Cardinal as our caterers! We had hired different caterers who, a month before our wedding, started insisting that our contract had these strange stipulations that just plainly did not exist. We were left debating if we should continue using a horrible business who tries to take advantage of their customers or take our chances and hire a new caterer. Our wedding planner recommended Cardinal, and we are very, VERY happy that they were available! They created a menu based off our food preferences and did everything with less than one month before our wedding. Besides Laura and Grace being so sweet, supportive, and fast-acting (and perhaps most importantly), their food was DELICIOUS. All of our guests told us how much they liked our food, and almost everyone had a different favorite dish, which really speaks to how delicious Cardinal's food is overall! My personal favorite was the buffalo cauliflower bites. My husband and I didn't even get a chance to taste our salad because our guests DEVOURED it. Cardinal made Brussel sprout lovers out of lifelong haters! Our guests have been very excited to find out that Cardinal has a brick and mortar restaurant so they can eat the food again! We could not recommend Cardinal more!
The VERY BEST! Our guests are still talking about how the food at our wedding was the best they've ever had! They also made a delicious, gorgeous cake that people couldn't get over. Another major plus is that Cardinal rents out everything from beautifully rustic handmade farm tables to vintage plates and crystalware. Because of them we were able to achieve an aesthetic that added to the magic of the night. They are extremely professional, creative, kind & easy to work with (and they have the best team) - you really couldn't ask for more! We can't recommend them enough! Do yourself a favor and hire Cardinal- it will seriously be the best decision you made!
Cardinal was hands down one of the best parts of our wedding day. We used them for our caterer, cake and vintage rentals. Our guests raved that it was the best food they have ever had at a wedding. Laura and Gracie crush it in the kitchen. They have a wide variety of seasonal foods to choose from. We loved everything about Cardinal and cannot say enough great things!!
Contact
513 Bangs Ave, Asbury Park, NJ | The Jersey Shore, Rural NJ, Jersey City NYC & more!
Cardinal Provisions & Catering
Cardinal Provisions & Catering's photos