Culinaire International

hoose one of three caterers. We tasted with 2 of them- and absolutely loved the food at Parkhurst. Melissa was AMAZING to work with- so friendly, helpful, prompt in her responses, accommodating with requests, etc. The food that we tasted at two different tastings was amazing (I tasted once with my sister to make the decision to contract with Parkhurst and tasted the same food selections again a few months later so my fiancé and I could finalize our choices). We took the leftovers home from both tastings and the rest of my family ate every bite and thought it was just as amazing as we did. We told so many of our friends and family that the food at our wedding would be amazing. I am sad to say that it wasn't. There were many aspects of the meals served at our wedding that were different than what was initially agreed upon and contracted at the tastings. To name a few: they added a gravy to our chicken that was never there at the tastings or mentioned in the menu description, they used some sort of gravy on the beef instead of what was supposed to be a bordelaise sauce, they served dry mashed potatoes instead of the smashed red-skinned potatoes served at both of the tastings, they served what tasted like plain, steamed broccoli instead of literally the most amazing, buttery, savory, broccoli that I have ever tasted in my life at the tastings. It was disappointing, and embarrassing. We had told SO many people that the food would be amazing, and it was not. I am not saying it was terrible food. It was average food, and I don’t think anyone left our wedding saying that it was bad. But it definitely was NOT the food that was served to us at the tastings, agreed upon, and paid for. We expressed our concerns with Melissa after our wedding, and she agreed to discuss the issues with her chef and Director of Operations and then get back to us. When the Director finally got back to us, he thanked us for letting him know of their shortfalls, and said they would make changes moving forward due to our observations. Yet when I asked for an understanding as to how SO many parts of the meal could have been different on our wedding day, his response was that he was not there to see everything as he was off property for another wedding that day. I believe the Director of Operations should be aware of everything that is going on at his events, regardless if he is there or not. Someone knows what went wrong, such as the catering manager who was supposed to be there all day. I believe that it had something to do with the fact that no one was there to do any prep work the day before the wedding and that Melissa also booked an additional event the morning of our wedding, but that is only an assumption because I have not been given an explanation. Bottom line: the food that was served at our wedding was NOT representative of what was presented to us at our tastings and what we based our decision on, so beware. At the end of the day, the Director did offer us a small discount off our final contract amount, but not an amount that I think is acceptable for the number of differences that there were. I would have MUCH rather had the food I was promised on my wedding day and be able to look back on it with happy thoughts, rather than disappointing ones.

ing you on! After our wedding tasting, my husband and I kept saying that we could eat their food every day for the rest of our lives... it's that good! The cake baker is fantastic and will work with you to create your dream cake. Allison is also a dream to work with and was always available to answer my millions of questions or to handle any additional items I wanted for my wedding, the whole way up to wedding week. Also, my family could not get over how friendly and attentive the staff was during the reception. It was a great thing to hear after the wedding, and we couldn't be happier with the service we received!

ion. The cake was amazing too.

successful, however, as we got closer to the event, a few things went wrong. A few weeks before our wedding, I was notified by our coordinator that we needed to order our china and glassware. I was told by them back in January that they would take care of it, and not I only had a few weeks to do this on my own. That was not good news. Fortunately, they realized their mistake and took care of everything. Then, on the day of, when one of my vendors asked one of the servers if they could go ahead and get their plates so they could resume their work while the guests were eating, they were rudely told, "No, you get served last." I ended up having to tell them myself that the vendors needed served first, even though I had emailed them this request prior to the wedding. All in all, the food was good and most parts went smoothly, but those few hiccups so close to and during the wedding were not what I was expecting when I spend so much money.

ially wanted to spend I would do it all over again. Both the food and the service were great.

nd service was phenomenal. I was very happy with everything!

We met Allison during our tasting and she was so organized and very professional in helping us plan and make decisions for our big day! She was quick to respond to any questions we had along the way and kept us very organized on what decisions we needed to make and by when. She was so great during our reception and was very nice to everyone at our wedding as we received so many compliments on her. The tasting went great and we hard time picking what food we wanted as everything was so good! Designing the cake with the baker was awesome and she did an amazing job! It looked exactly like the picture I showed her as she delivered exactly what was expected. It was the best cake we ever had! Every single one of our guests complimented us on the food and cake. Allison truly made our experiences special from the taste testing to the amazing service from all of the wait staff and bartenders and especially the attention to detail. During our wedding, we felt as if we were the King and Queen of our day. We wanted to have the best experience for our guests as possible, and in return, Parkhurst did more than deliver. They overshot all of our expectations. We will recommend Parkhurst for every single event in the Pittsburgh area if people ask us for a great catering company. Simply the best. I am going to have a very hard time waiting a year to eat that top layer of cake! It was so delicious! Thank you so much for making our evening flawless! -Dean and Michele Julian (June 28, 2013 wedding)

wedding. The Parkhurst is their catering company that you must use and they were awesome too! The food was great and the whole experience was fun and relaxing. Melissa was our rep and she took great care of us. Highly recommended!

aking our day perfect in everyway and I would refer them to anyone. I work with them for business events as well and there is never a drop in the service level.

always easy! The menus are full of options and the team of Bill Jones and Allison Hines make the possibilities endless. We met the chef at our tasting and he was wonderful to deal with and answered all of our questions! They are honest and extremely helpful. We had a sit-down dinner for over 275 people - the custom-made stuffed chicken breast and the filet were both delicious! We reecived so many compliments on the passed h'orderves - they just seemed to keep coming! The amount of food included in the price was well worth the money, especially because the price included alcohol which can be very expensive some places. Alice made the cake exactly like the example picture I had given her for reference. It tasted as great as it looked. The time she spent working the icing into the patterns of each tier by hand was greatly appreciated. Although they were the in-house caterers for Carnegie Museums - we would still recommend them for any event - they are above and beyond the best! E

smaides could not eat garlic and they made a dish special for her w/o it.. They were on top of everything from beginning to end and im so happy I chose them.. They helped make my wedding as wonderful as it was. Thank you Parkhurst.

he food was from many guests as well. The cake was also amazing. I am not sure we can wait until our one year anniversary to eat. Luckily, one of my bridesmaids who was getting married the following month got Parkhurst to make her the same type of cake for their rehearsal dinner...that's how good it was!

t was better than I ever imagined! She rocks :)