Coastal Critters Clambakes & Grilling

assistant and I cooked for your wedding. But to give proper credit where credit is due, it was my "assistant" who was responsible for those delicious flavors and delicate textures, not me. You see, that person is not just my assistant, she's my chef. Although your mom was very pleasant and obviously cared a great deal about her role in helping to make your event as wonderful as possible, she was not simply "asking a question", she was continually micro-managing many aspects of our catering duties for a considerable time. Things like supervising me as I unpacked the van, setting up our equipment, etc, etc... I am sorry if my chef finally lost patience and asked to be left alone to do her work. What's that saying about too many cooks? Colleen, they are both adult women in the same age group that had a private conversation. I don't understand why you felt the need to create gossip here in your review. This is not the place for that. You'll be happy to know, however, that they did make up before the day was over while helping each other pack up the leftovers for your late-night snacks. Also fyi: the scallops were not "sitting in the hot sun", they had just been unpacked from an ice chest and were coming to room temperature for a few minutes before placing them on the grill. Scallops are a delicate meat and that is what's required for them to cook "just right". Chefs can be touchy at times and I'm sorry if mine was not as careful with her words as she was with cooking your food. I do hope your mom will take things with a grain of salt under the circumstances. Thank you again for your endorsement. We do strive to serve a quality product at a fair price. We're glad you liked it. James

there was anything at all that you thought we didn't do soon enough that caused you even the least bit of concern at your wedding reception. It should be noted, however, that you had "bride & groom" signs which directed my entire staff to the ceremony site instead of the reception site, which is no where near there. That wasted considerable time for every single staff member, myself included. Also: assigning your own last-minute chores to my staff took time away from their normal duties. I see no legitimate reason to complain about meal-service timing when you were the ones taking up our usual prep time. We cooked your meal fresh, from scratch, right there in the parking lot outside of the dining room. We set up a make-shift kitchen using only portable grills, burners, etc. Precision timing is not always an exact science under those circumstances, especially for larger groups like yours. I'm sorry if dinner was a little behind schedule. At least your meal was served as fresh as fresh can be and your guests got to enjoy each other's company for another 30 minutes or so during cocktail time. I'm sorry too that those last few tables had to wait longer for their main dish, but we certainly did NOT "run out of food". Although it was not quite ready yet when it was their turn at the buffet, we most certainly did prepared more chicken and steak for them. I made sure to personally speak with each and every one of those guests to inform them of the temporary delay. I offered them some appetizer clams and a green salad to enjoy in the meantime. In the end, they preferred to compliment me on the flavors of the food rather than complain about the short delay. I'd like to thank them for their cordial understanding. Dianna, I think some of the hoopla began when an excitable member of the family misunderstood what was going on and started a panic scenario of sorts among the key family members. That same person, however, later thanked me at the end of the night for ultimately coming through for everyone. It's possible that you and a few others never got the whole behind-the-scenes story. I'm sorry for any confusion that may have caused. I hope this information at least eases your mind a bit and gives you a better understanding of the actual events of the evening. All in all, I sincerely hope your wedding is all you had hoped for and that you are enjoying life as newlyweds. If anyone out there has any concerns regarding this review or my response, please feel free to contact me directly. Thank you. James

very nice of the groom's parents to plan and host this island reception for you two. I'm sure his parents will miss his pleasant disposition once the two of you move out of their house now that you're married. It was also very nice of the groom's dad to offer my two 50-yr old staff members a couple of beers along with the rest of his guests. I'm sorry if you weren't aware of that or didn't approve. It's clear that you are also unaware of all the side work the server performed throughout the evening, which included tending to the buffet, helping the family pack up leftovers, and many other things. There were certain island logistics that did take longer for my crew to navigate through than anyone anticipated.(If you hired a boat for us, it needed to be there for us when we arrived, not the other way around - so why was there no boat?) The staff experienced a few other set-backs along the way and dinner was served later than planned. I'm sorry if anyone grew impatient. I do hope you and your guests were still able to enjoy this ideal Maine wedding.. on an Island off the coast of Bar Harbor on a picture perfect afternoon, with a light breeze in the air, sunny but not too hot and of course, the ocean and Acadia Park mountain range as a backdrop. Best of luck to you both in your new lives together. If anyone out there has any concerns about this review or my response, please contact me directly. Thank you. James

wever, it should be noted that it was your own family who rented the kitchen space specifically to save money on catering services by preparing their own appetizers and desserts for your event. It was certainly not our responsibility to go behind them and clean up their mess under these circumstances. Sorry, but you can't have it both ways. We are self sufficient and did not need any kitchen facilities at all.

way at this weeks duties.With that in mind, I have to tell you that your response has elevated my energy level and brought a big smile to my "time-to-do-chores-again" face. You made my day!Thank you so much for your kind words. I'll pass your comments along to my family and co-workers and hope they don't ask for too big of a raise. :) Best to you and yours.James