Real Kitchen

to us about how good each of their meals were! Nick did an amazing job creating a menu that reflected the food tastes my husband and I have, and he managed to accommodate all of our guests’ many different dietary restrictions. The staff working our wedding were extremely professional, organized, and pleasant. They were very attentive to all of our guests and ensured the food and drinks were served on time and plated to the appropriate person without having to ask each guest what they ordered. Finally, our bartenders were also amazing. They made our specialty cocktails perfectly and engaged in fun interactions with our guest. We could not recommend Real Kitchen enough for a wedding or special events catering-they do fantastic work!

l and attentive. Most importantly, their food was exceptional; fresh, flavorful, inspired, creative and delicious. We strongly endorse Real Kitchen. Bill Collins, Chicago Theater Works

dance when we needed it, but let us plan the food and service based on our preference. His serving staff was sweet and efficient. Everything turned out perfect! We were really impressed with their professionalism, the food and service.

of meeting and working with Executive Chef Nick Schmuck, we knew the execution of the menu and logistics would go off without a hitch. Nick is friendly, organized, super talented, and is an expert at implementing large scale events. He had great advice for us in the beginning of our planning process regarding our timeline for the day, and other great odds and ends. It was really helpful and appreciated! During our tasting, we were blown away by the caliber of all of the dishes! Our friends who strongly recommended working with Nick were 100% right. We loved how simple, yet flavorful and beautiful all the dishes were. The ingredients were top notch and we really liked how the majority of the dishes were vegetable-forward. Our guests very much enjoyed that too! We loved our entire menu, but if we had to pick our favorite dishes were the Mojo Roast Pork “Cuban” with Smoke Ham, Gruyere, & Cornichon (aka mini Cuban sandwich) / Prosciutto Tart with Romesco, Dates, & Almonds / Moroccan Pork with Apricot, Prunes, Couscous, & Pistachios / Green Beans with Shallot & Garlic Confit & Roasted Tomatoes, and Roasted Beets with Orange & Fennel. Our friends and family members were also blown away by our menu, and are still talking about how amazing and memorable our wedding food was! Additionally, Nick handled all rentals and hiring staff for the evening, which was a huge help! Everything he recommended was perfect and we wouldn’t have changed anything. Bottom line: please consider Real Kitchen to cater your wedding. You won't regret it, and everyone will absolutely love the food!

whole way through. Day-of, the staff was awesome and (I know a lot of people say this but I think it's true) many people went out of their way to tell us that it was the best wedding food they ever had! Highly highly reccomend!

of overpriced and unsatisfying better known options. In our initial email, I told Nick of our limited budget. About 30 minutes later Nick replied "I like a challenge, I think we could make something work for you." A few days later we sat down with Nick for a sampling, not only was it the best food we had, true to his word, Nick put together a really affordable quote and even recommended a place to get a reasonable quote on alcohol. A few weeks before our wedding, we realized we had a little extra money in the budget for appetizers. Again, Nick stepped up and offered us a reasonable package for appetizers, too. We corresponded with Nick periodically throughout the process and he couldn't have been more helpful. By the end, we were consulting him about things not even related to the food. Come the wedding day, everything was perfect. The tables were prepped and looked amazing! The food was amazing. Two weeks later, people are still calling me and raving about the food, especially the salmon appetizer, the vegetarian lasagna, cheesy polenta and the short rib. Just to put in perspective how amazing the food was, one of my guests was herself a wedding caterer. She said this was the best food she has ever had at a wedding. In addition to the food, the catering staff was also amazing. The captain in particular stood out. He came up early in the night, introduced himself, and encouraged us to have a good time as everything would be taken care of. He didn't lie. Every instinct I had to worry about something going wrong or being unattended, he was two steps ahead of me. Between the amazing food and amazing staff, Real Kitchen really came through for us.

because we knew we were in good hands with Real Kitchen. Nick was incredibly helpful right at the beginning of our wedding planning process in terms of our options for our reception dinner (buffet vs. plated dinner vs. family style) and how that would all fit into our budget. When crafting the menu, Nick took the approach of mixing in some of his “usual favorites” along with some unique options taken from our suggestions (infusing some Korean elements thoughtfully as roughly half our guests were Korean). The results were amazing! All of our guests raved about the meal, saying it was the best wedding food they’ve ever had! We did family style which worked out incredibly well as people could pick and choose what they wanted to have. Nick’s staff for the wedding day were on point and incredibly professional. The waiters check in with us many times throughout the night to see if we needed anything. All in all we are so happy with our choice to go with Real Kitchen. If we had to do it all again (and thank goodness we don’t) we would choose Real Kitchen again in a heartbeat!

d them what our typical favorites are, and they created a delicious menu. Our guests were getting seconds and we didn't have to worry about a single thing throughout the night. We highly recommend them for any event or a stop in for lunch/dinner!!

h us on budgeting. He had great referrals that we used without even looking up other vendors because we just trusted him. On the big day the staff was perfect. They kept the buffet stocked, tables clean, and I even saw them bringing water to the guests (it was a cocktail reception so this was above what we expected from the staff) Our experience with Real Kitchen was perfect and we recommend them for your upcoming wedding.

we started the wedding planning process because we used to live near their store front and grab take out, so it seemed fitting to use a place we'd loved for a long time, but I could never have imagined how great of a choice that would be! Nick worked with us personally on the menu - each and every dish was perfect and so well crafted. Our guests won't stop talking about the delicious food at our wedding and my husband's dad has officially become a cauliflower fan post-wedding as a result of one of the sides we chose. So happy that Real Kitchen has a store front so that we can stop in and relive our fabulous wedding with some take out -- highly highly recommended!!!

nerated for us during our initial tasting. I knew I liked him when I asked what the tasting fee would be and he responded with, Nothing- you're about to get robbed left and right, just by getting married, and I won't make it worse! Real Kitchen was our first tasting, and we had tastings with several other caterers, but we kept thinking about the great food and variety in Nick's menu, and had to go with them. For our tasting we had a sampling of the menu, made a couple of small adjustments, and then trusted that everything we didn't taste would be delicious (we were correct)! Nick was always available via email or phone to discuss our plans and ensure that we felt comfortable with everything happening. He was really conscious of our budget and worked with us to provide cost-saving ideas, where it wouldn't negatively impact his services, and his pricing was super reasonable overall. His original quote was within a few hundred dollars of the final amount- it was awesome not to have a huge jump in cost once we finalized our numbers and contract! For the event, the staff was amazing!! We loved them all- super attentive to my husband and I especially, and my mom's only complaint was that they were TOO attentive with clearing of the glasses, as she kept losing her water glass! The bartenders made drink suggestions and kept everyone filled in a super timely manner. The servers did a great job of navigating the crowds and getting the food out and the food was served as it was ready (instead of a one-time put the buffet items out), which worked great. Everything was fresh and if you wanted something that was out, you just made another visit once your plate was empty and the next round would be ready. My only regret is that I didn't get to eat more, but that's how weddings go! Everything I did have was delicious and Nick and his staff really made the evening wonderful. Our guests have all been talking about how delicious everything was- we wouldn't have changed a thing, and we can't recommend Real Kitchen highly enough!!

ing and then sent us a message "Not Interested," like I was selling magazines at his doorstep. If you want to be treated poorly and spoken down to then Nick is your guy.

oughout the entire process but made sure that every detail was taken care of. I was so pleased with the food and the overall experience with Real Kitchen. He worked with our very tight budget and dealt with the many questions that I had throughout the process. When the food came out, people were in awe! We still hear that this was the best wedding food they have ever eaten! We highly recommend Nick and Real Kitchen catering for your event.