Design Cuisine

We connected with Design Cuisine almost 1 month before our wedding due to last minute COVID changes causing us to change venues. It was a very pleasant transition! The team was responsive, flexible, accommodating, professional. The night of the event they gave amazing service and the food was excellent! I was worried about "off site kitchen" leading to food being less than hot, however this was not the case. Everything was perfect!

Design Cuisine is the exclusive caterer to our venue, Woodlawn. Usually this is sort of terrifying because you feel “stuck” with a caterer you didn’t choose. If Woodlawn’s gorgeous venue didn’t sell you yet, LET DESIGN CUISINE DO IT WITH EASE. They are true professionals and their service is some of the BEST I’ve ever seen. We worked with Claire, who was helpful, understanding, and extremely responsive – even on the morning of my wedding. The Design Cuisine showroom in Shirlington is massive – so many choices for every type of wedding/style you can imagine. Claire helped us narrow down the look we were going for and helped us create a vision for our entire reception. The tasting had our jaws dropped the entire time. They had our exact linens, chairs, silverware etc. so you could get a good idea of how the reception would feel. For our tasting, they had cooked our ENTIRE wedding menu and even had folks dressed in tuxes serving us in the tasting room. Fast-forward to the day of, I couldn’t stop eating. Usually you find brides don’t have time or their nerves were too high. Nuh-uh – not with Design Cuisine’s food. Everything from the pear salad to the short rib was flawless and tasted exactly like it had (if not better!) than our tasting. We still have guests (over a month later) raving about our food.

Amazing food and drinks, but definite room for improvement The food was absolutely fabulous. Many guests remarked that it was the best food they have ever had at a wedding--particularly the appetizers. There was, however, room for improvement. Little things that we were really excited about fell by the wayside. For example, we spent a long time naming our signature drinks, and then the signage put out on our wedding day ended up being the caterer's generic drink titles, like "Flower Power." The main thing that bothered me was I never felt like I was a priority. Design Cuisine took over as the exclusive caterer for our venue midway through our wedding planning process, and I can imagine it must have been overwhelming and stressful for them to inherit so many weddings at once. That said, I often felt like I had to send multiple emails and be persistent with phone calls, as well as repeat my preferences and decisions multiple times, as if they had just gotten lost along the way. The thing that frustrated me most was that our original caterer had told us they could arrange for a secondary tent to be installed on the lawn for the ceremony in the event of rain (and, in fact, it did rain on our wedding day). I asked Design Cuisine for a quote for this tent as soon as we found out, in February, they were our new caterers. After asking over and over again, I only got a quote one week before our June wedding, and the price was really high. By that point it was too late to shop around for tent vendors on our own. That was super disappointing. Overall, the food and drink were outstanding, but it was upsetting to feel like we were just another customer on a long list. No one from Design Cuisine even contacted us after our wedding to ask how everything went or to congratulate us.

Annie & Paige did a fabulous job in helping us plan a wonderful wedding reception at Woodlawn. They stepped in after our previous caterer dropped out 3.5 months before our wedding and I'm so thankful they worked with us every step of the way to execute a fantastic event. Annie & Paige were great in helping us plan out every detail of cocktail hour, dinner, desserts, and the bar and I'm so thankful for how accommodating and patient they were with us as we dealt with our last-minute catering switch. They also helped us with our linen selection through their sister company DC Rentals. The timing, presentation, and service during cocktail hour and the reception was excellent. Most of all, the food was DELICIOUS and our guests raved about everything. They even made sure to send some of the hors d'oeuvres and champagne to our bridal suite so we wouldn't miss out on anything! I would definitely recommend working with Design if it fits your budget - the quality and creativity when it comes to their food and presentation is truly unrivaled.

Claire was amazing!!!! Three months before our wedding our caterers could no longer do our wedding and Design Cuisine stepped in and was phenomenal. Every detail was taken care of and the food was great! Our guest are still talking about it!

Augie and Katie were communicative, flexible, and gave great input on both food and aesthetics. Multiple guests told us it was the best wedding food they've ever had.

My husband and I are both chefs, so the food at our recent wedding was THE most important thing to us in planning our big day - Design Cuisine hit it out of the park, and if we had to do it over again, we would choose them every time! We started the catering experience by actually sending the Chef a specific menu we had created for our reception - from the tasting to the actual wedding dinner, their kitchen team delivered on every dish exactly as we had envisioned, and our wedding guests are still raving about the food! Kristy and Kevin were absolutely amazing to work with every step of the way - from helping select our place settings and linens, to designing the floor plan and other details and decor, they were creative, fun, and so accommodating - nothing about the planning process was ever stressful. The team of staff on site during our wedding was also fantastic - we really appreciated the hospitality felt by our friends, family, and even the other vendors, which can only come from experienced, trained and professional servers and bartenders. We cannot thank Design Cuisine enough for helping make our special day everything we could have hoped for and would highly recommend them to any future couple looking for the ultimate catering experience!

Our wedding planner pitched Design Cuisine as one of the top 3 caterers in the DMV area. She could not have been more correct. We worked with Annie Fish, who ensured that we had a fall-themed menu that we and our guests loved. The food was delicious, from hors d'oeuvres to the first course to the main course to dessert. The specialty cocktails they dreamed up for my husband and I were also amazing. Finally, the service was impeccable. Design Cuisine also has lots of linens, chargers, plates, flatware, glassware, and chairs to choose from. I highly recommend them to anyone looking for a top-notch caterer for your wedding. Trust me: your guests will thank you later.

We chose Design Cuisine based on the sophistication and variety of food relative to price and I think their prices are reasonable for what you get. They have a wide range of interesting cuisine. They were easy to work with, flexible and their staff provided top notch professional and responsive service at the wedding. Many guests commented on how good the food was. Very pleased and highly recommended.

Erica and the entire team at Design Cuisine were incredible. We were planning our wedding in DC from LA, and they were so easy to work with over the phone and via email. The tasting was beautiful, the food was incredible, and when one of our other vendors showed up late on our wedding day, Erica drew out dinner and dessert so none of our guests were the wiser. She even assisted the set-up of the late vendor to make sure things went faster. Water and wine glasses were always refilled, the food was delicious and came out quickly, and the servers started with us (the bride and groom) on passed appetizers to make sure we got something to eat. If I ever do a similar event in the area, I wouldn't hesitate to book them again!

Design Cuisine is amazing! They catered my spring wedding, and I could not have been happier. Design Cuisine not only met, but exceeded, our expectations, so much so that even my new (food critic) mother-in-law was pleased! The catering team was helpful during every step of the planning process, from menu selection, to table decorations, to service requests…they truly helped to execute our vision and transform our dreams into reality. And our wedding cake? People are still talking about it! It not only looked beautiful, but it tasted delicious. Great food, exceptional service, and a pleasure to work with. Thank you, Design Cuisine, for making our wedding day truly special and memorable!

Nothing but excellent things to say about Design Cuisine. Kent and his team (including Cindy and Jose) were absolutely phenomenal. Having experienced their food and service before, there was no doubt that I would be using Design Cuisine for my wedding and they certainly did not disappoint. Our guests were raving not only about how delicious the food was, but complimented the presentation as well! The Design Cuisine staff were also wonderful day of as they catered to myself and my now husband - ensuring we never had an empty drink in our hand and had all the apps we wanted. I really can't compliment Design Cuisine enough - highly, highly recommend.

Design Cuisine was incredible. From the food to service it was above and beyond what we expected. Our family and friends all commented on how amazing all the food was that it was some of the best food they've had. The staff was very professional and absolutely set the bar of service. They were a pleasure to work with and we highly recommend them! Dede our point person was also above and beyond and extremely professional! She was a joy to work with and made our day extra special.

The contact person I was working with moved away in February and introduced me on the day of venue walk-through to a new contact person who promised to be at the wedding and execute the plan. She never showed up nor communicated on the day of wedding. The staff didn't know where to place chairs for the ceremony nor the reception. There were not enough chairs nor table setting at some tables despite of providing charts and a drawing to them. The clear instruction on main course choices was not relayed to the staff who seemed at a loss. My goal was to choose a caterer so that I could be stress-free and enjoy the event as a mother of the bride. Their standard was much lower than what I expected. I would say this caterer is irresponsible and is not worth what you pay.

Our Design Cuisine contact and team were consummate professionals. We hosted the wedding at home and they took care of every single detail. The whole event went off without a hitch, and our guests loved the food and the decor.

People RAVED about the food at our wedding. We wanted slightly upscale picnic/BBQ food at our wedding since we were having Blue Crabs from another vendor as well. Every dish was incredible, after the tasting they made the changes we suggested perfectly, and they even made my pie recipe for the pie buffet (we didn't do cake). We even had a waiter dedicated to the two of us. Definitely purchase your own alcohol. It will save you a lot of money.

We are very disappointed in our experience which was tainted by poor attitudes from our event hosts, detail oversight, and failure to communicate expectations upfront. I would not recommend Design Cuisine; especially not if you have little experience planning events. As the bride/groom, it is very difficult to spend months planning to arrive at wedding day and have to put your faith in all of your vendors to make everything happen. Design Cuisine was the only vendor that did not deliver. I caution other couples considering this caterer. Our event seemed a lower priority for them, perhaps because it was one time business transaction? The only saving grace is that the food was good. If interested, additional details: While impressed by the tasting, what initially tipped the scale in favor of Design Cuisine was flexibility. We were assured they would help us work through event details w/o each decision adding a new line item on the bill. We were informed of their ownership of DC Rental and led to believe that, as a result, costs would not be incurred for upgrading rentals - we would be able to select anything from their warehouse for use. Post contract that all turned out to be only partially true. The accommodating attitude disappeared. We learned that free upgrades only apply to china/silverware and chair rentals. Things like upgrading tables and bar furniture cost extra. As does serving coffee/tea with wedding cake at tables. Details were consistently overlooked despite efforts to keep our communications organized (at one point, it was suggested I consider a career in events): Our final decision on china/linens/chairs was not well recorded. Ultimately, selected chairs were unavailable, but comparable alternatives provided. Changes that we requested they make to our cakes after the tasting were never implemented on wedding day. It took half a dozen (maybe more) revisions of final contract before they had everything correct. On wedding day, they were not ready to greet guests at event start time with cocktails and slow to get appetizers circulated. Butter was not provided on tables to accompany bread. Dinner was prolonged when wedding cake did not get served promptly following main course. (They were waiting for us to cut the cake which was not something we ever planned to do.) They set aside the top tier cake for us to take home despite instructions to serve it. And then had trouble locating it at the end of the evening. And, our coffee/tea station (which we paid extra for) was opened w/o cups/saucers and regular coffee.... Overall, not what you expect from such a highly acclaimed caterer in the DC area. There are better options for weddings. If we were to make the decision again, I would go with Federal City.

Design Cuisine provided top notch food and beverages for our wedding on July 9th. We had a variety of tasty hors d'oeuvres and a mojito bar for the cocktail hour, followed by a tasty and unique salad, and then a delicious chicken dish. Our guests all loved the food. The service was very prompt, but not rushed, and the servers took extra good care of the bridal party. We finished the evening with late night snacks including mini burgers, quesadillas, and even homemade pop tarts. Design Cuisine is one of the more expensive caterers in the area, but the food and service are worth it!

We worked with Erica at Design and she was fabulous! We had a fabulous tasting with her, but I wasn't excited about the cake or the fish dish, so she let me come back in to retaste both! The food was fabulous on our wedding day and prefectly cooked. Erica also made my husband's day...I told her that he wanted to have late night snacks and his favorite are NYC dirty water dogs. She said "We can do that!" She went a step further and had a hot dog cart with the fixings, french fries and pretzels and had one of the waiters dress up as a vendor!!! Erica was also very easy to work with and flexible...I would recommend her and Design Cuisine anytime!

We went to two other caterers before landing on Design, which was recommended by our wedding consultant, and we absolutely loved them. Our wedding menu was not 'traditional' per say, and design cuisine catered to our needs with delicious, well-presented, and exotic cuisine. We had a 'buffet' of sorts, where we had three different themed stations or styles of food from around the globe that people could go to throughout the reception. Throughout the 3 themes, we ended up with a mix of Asian, Indian, Italian, Mediterranean, and Latin food. They were able to offer us such great variety and authentic flavors, and presented them all beautifully. I also loved how design had their own stock of dinnerware and silverware, so we were able to avoid plastic (I have an absolute allergy to plastic but wasn't able to afford anything else with some of the other caterers) for a very reasonable price. Lastly, design accepts your recipes, which is so great! We had pies instead of a cake, because I come from a family of pie lovers (there is always a pie on the counter at my parent's house), and they took our family recipes and replicated them for our wedding day. In terms of other foods, the chefs are also super receptive to suggestions and changes- for example at the tasting, I liked a certain marinated beef, but I didn't like the sauce they served it with, but I liked another satay sauce, so they paired those two. All in all, a wonderful experience to work with them- not cheap- but really worth it if you are particular about food and/or are a big food person, which we both are! A++

Design Cuisine catered two big events for our wedding and the food was amazing at each! The bar-tenders had a heavy pour, which was appreciated by our guests. The staff were friendly and always around. The seated dinner was handled with care and in a clock-work manner - yet never rushed. My husband and I had a personal waiter helping us all night, which was wonderful. Our one complaint was that the waiters did not ask guests during dinner whether they wanted red or white wine and instead poured everyone both...including teetolers and pregnant ladies. This also wasted a lot of wine needlessly. Everything otherwise seemed to go off wonderfully. Design Cuisine is expensive, but the food and service were fantastic.