Harvest Real Food Catering & Events

Let me start by saying that the food is great, fresh, and was a hit at our wedding. Unfortunately this was overshadowed by a list of other factors. We got married at Handsome Hollow in Long Eddy, NY and had Harvest cater our wedding. We met with Kim and Chef Mark a year in advance, and were blown away by their tasty farm-to-table dishes. Kim was accommodating to our financial needs, and let us break up our payment plan in a way that worked for us. But once the deposit was sent and the contract signed, crickets. Kim, who per our contract was our “Catering Event Manager” who would “coordinate and manage all event rentals needed for your event through our preferred rental company"; who would “coordinate a site visit walkthrough of location”; send us a “detailed timeline of load in and load out of HRFC Staff”; never did so, or if any of this was done, but if it was, we were never made aware of it. We created our own day-of schedule alongside other vendors, coordinated our rentals for what we thought were “platters, china, flatware, glassware, stemware, linens, tables, chairs, chafers, etc.,” based on our contract, but ended up being tents, pans, baking sheets, and more. When we questioned this, we were condescended as if we were supposed to know that this would be the case. This added an addition multi-thousand-dollar bill to our catering budget that we didn't account for, and were ignorant to. We were never contacted by Harvest according to the schedule we were presented with upon contract. We scheduled nearly all phone calls ourselves, causing us to feel more like a burden than a client. Come wedding day, there weren't any menu cards, as we were told there would be at our tasting. Harvest ran out of sides, leaving some guests without any side dishes. Because we chose family style serving, sides were placed on tables, but instead of one bowl of each side per table.....Harvest decided that one bowl of each side would be enough for each group of tables, even though some had 8 people and others had 16. To explain this better, tables of 16 people were given the same amount of food given to tables of 8. When the tables of 16 ran out of sides, leaving almost 8 people without anything but fish or meat, the brother of the bride who was sitting at one of the tables, requested for more to come out for the guests who hadn't gotten sides, he was told they didn't have any sides left. They attempted to make up for this with extra entrees, but the complaint stands-- both the mother of the groom, and the mother of the bride never even got some of the sides because the one bowl of pasta they put on the table was supposed to be enough for 16 people...(not to mention we had payed extra for a 3rd side). Later, they ran out of domestic beer, which did not go unnoticed. Our wedding cake was NEVER displayed, but instead was left in the refrigerator until cake-cutting, when staff questioned if there was even a cake to be cut. The entire night the cake stand sat there without a cake on it! Kimberly, the owner was on site the entire night and not once came to say hello or check in with us. Not once. The only time she spoke to one of us was at the very end of the night when I was saying goodbye to the DJ, standing only a few feet away from her, as she was loading the car. All in all, hiring Harvest added more stress to our wedding and wedding planning process than any bride and groom should bear. We paid over $30k, and feel completely ripped off.

We got married over Labor Day weekend this year and decided to go with Harvest Catering at Elmrock Inn for our Rehearsal Dinner. We had met Kimberly and her husband earlier in the wedding process and knew that this would be the perfect location for our dinner. We had a little less than 50 people and the space fit us perfectly. There were drinks on the porch and people were free to roam the backyard and mingle before the dinner. Then there was a buffet and we all sat together inside. I loved the location as we didn't have to worry about a rain plan, but were able to use both the outdoor and the indoor space. The space was comfortable while still being intimate. We were able to pick from a few food and drink package options, while also having Kimberly open to our suggestions for menu changes here and there. The meal was delicious and the setting was perfect! I highly recommend booking with Harvest for anything from your rehearsal/event dinners to having them cater your wedding to them hosting AND catering your wedding! They can do it all and it was a pleasure to work with them.

We loved Harvest!!! Excellent food, excellent team, excellent service. We were married on December 9th, we had the first snow storm of the season that day, there was never a doubt that they couldn't make it. Kimberley and Chef Mark came with smiles and Chef Mark assured us that snow was good luck :-). They and their staff were accommodating, friendly and personable. They all had a can do attitude. and made us feel very comfortable and at ease assuring us we were in good hands, which we were. They from the start when we visited their loverly Inn in the country for a tasting, made us feel welcome and comfortable. The best compliment we can give is that a month after the wedding we are still hearing from our guests how delicious the food was and what great service they provided. We can not say enough good things about Harvest, we will definitely be visiting the Inn.

Harvest real food catering is a headache not worth curing. Initially at the tasting, we were promised gluten-free and dairy free-options. It feels as though anything we possibly wanted could be accommodated by this seemingly stellar duo, Kim and Mark. After securing the wedding date, we heard nothing. Nothing until our deposit was due. After the date had come and gone, I received calls and emails, asking where the deposit was. Although I had already sent in the check for the deposit, it seemed Amy or Kim had no idea that the check had already been cashed. I should have cut my losses there and gone with a different company, as this was only a sign of things to come. I had also received calls to choose the linens, chairs etc. Instead of taking me to a warehouse or having an in person meeting so I could choose, I had to make these decisions over the phone. I know it is usually customary to do this in person, and for the amount of money we were paying, it should have been. I ended up guessing what I wanted (napkins? I don't know, navy? maybe round tables that seat 8?) This was another instance that I felt they were disorganized and possibly not worth dealing with. There were further miscommunications and problems that seem almost petty to get into, but I know that my wedding day and the days leading up to it should have been hassle- free and they were not. Funnily enough, immediately after writing a poor review on wedding wire, my review was disputed by Harvest, I wonder if that's why they have five stars? Overall, the food the day of was enjoyed by guests, but if I could go back and change my wedding day, the ONE thing I would make different would be my choice of caterer.

Harvest Real Food catering did our rehearsal dinner. The food was amazing!!!!! They did everything for us we didn't have to lift a finger. It was nice to have the rehearsal dinner in the comfort of my moms house and be able to enjoy the evening and the food was wonderful. I would definitely use them again.

We ordered and designed our own menu off the DIY catering menu. They delivered the food hot and placed in the chafing dishes. We had guests serve themselves buffet style. Everything was delicious and flavorful.

We rented a private home in the Hudson Valley for our small, cocktail-style wedding of 40 guests. We had a short engagement and planned our wedding in less than two months. We met with Kimberly and decided to use this company and are so glad we did!The staff was extremely professional and helpful. The food was delicious!! It was difficult to decide a menu from such an incredible list to choose from. We decided on 8 passed hors d'oeuvres, a slider station and a mac n cheese station. We ended the evening with a make your own sundae bar. The presentation of the food was outstanding and our guests were impressed. We also added a bartender to our package, and we provided the alcohol. He was awesome and made great drinks all evening! They also helped coordinate rentals of tables, chairs and plating. Although our wedding was planned last minute, Kim and Amy truly took the time out to ensure everything was in place. The owners of the home were impressed with the professionalism, service and how the kitchen was left spotless at the end of the night. We would definitely recommend them to anyone!

Originally my fiance and I chose to have a local New Paltz restaurant cater our wedding, but after several less than stellar communications with the owner, we started looking for another caterer and Harvest Real Food was one of our choices. They were more expensive than everyone else we spoke to, but they had the most inventive menu and so we chose them, determined to serve a very specific flavor of food for our event. Our tasting that followed a few months later was incredible - some of the best food we'd ever enjoyed - and we really had a great time hanging out with Chef Mark in between our courses. When we left the tasting, we were super excited to have unique, truly delicious food for our wedding - something that you do not often experience at weddings. Our experience during the event was overall positive. We were happy with certain aspects and disappointed in others. The best attributes included the flavor of the food, which was excellent, the variety of sauces and relishes, and the friendliness of the staff. The pulled chicken, salmon, and shrimp were all delicious, and a couple guests remarked that they really enjoyed the corn on the cob. The cucumber and mango relishes, as well as the blueberry tea, were also hits. Our complaints were mostly tied to the temperature of the food. Typical of most brides and grooms, we ate last, so the temp. might not be accurately gauged, however we were disappointed that our food was barely warm. The soft corn tortillas tasted as though they had not been heated at all, and were so cold they fell apart while trying to eat them. The grilled veggies were okay, but the least tasty thing served. Also, we were asked to provide a full propane tank for grilling the meats and veggies (which I had hoped would all be grilled fresh on site - perhaps they were - I was so busy being a bride that I wasn't able to observe!), but they barely used a quarter of a tank. I mention this only because it's unclear to me just how much cooking they did onsite as opposed to reheating. Overall, we were mostly pleased, but given the high cost of catering (the most expensive aspect of our entire event) we had hoped the dinner would be as delicious as our tasting, which set our expectations very high. I will say that Elmrock Inn, the property that houses Harvest Real Food, is stunning and had we discovered them during our venue search, we would have considered them. I suspect that meals served there - for hosted weddings or rehearsal dinners - are excellent and avoid some of our complaints that are part of pre-cooking and reheating required for catered events.