The Good Fork

This company was horrible. My wedding was May ‘15 and even though it was 2 years ago, I still remember the awful experience with The Good Fork and Chef Mary. I started looking for a caterer almost 2 years before my wedding, and I thought I had struck gold when I found The Good Fork. The menu that was put together was exactly what I was looking for, and was a reasonable price. Things started to get strange when it came to scheduling a tasting. I couldn't arrange a tasting until I had agreed to use The Good Fork and put down a 50% deposit. I asked how was I to decide if I liked their food if I couldn't try it until I committed to a contract. We were able to compromise where I would pay for a tasting that would go towards my deposit should I elect to go with them. I should have reconsidered when no contract or paperwork was mentioned, but I was planning everything on my own, and this was one of my first vendors I had any experience with. Several months before the wedding, I got an email from The Good Fork, which alluded they had never received my deposit. Concerning since I had given them a check for a very large sum of money many months prior and they had nothing on file. When I responded and told them I had for a fact paid, I was asked to provide proof of my check for payment. After a trip to my bank, and providing proof to them, they replied "Oh yes, we found that you in fact paid." WHAT?!? You can't keep track that I paid you thousands of dollars and made me prove I had in fact paid you?! After that debacle, when asked for the remaining balance before the wedding, I pulled together my own contract from emails we had exchanged. When I asked Chef Mary to meet me to exchange the final deposit amount instead of mailing and to sign my contract, I was told by Chef Mary that this was extremely unusual, and no one had ever asked this of her. On the day of my wedding, I was worried that The Good Fork would even show up. They showed up, but there were no shortage of problems. The plates that I had paid extra for (wooden, recycled plates), were warped and didn’t even lay flat on the table. I had paid for hor d'oeuvres, which didn’t even have any plates for guests to serve themselves. When asked, the servers that were provided by Chef Mary, rudely told guests to put the cheese, toppings, and honey on napkins. Later I was approached by Chef Mary during the reception, and when asked about how I liked everything, when I said it was fine (trying not to make a scene) she pushed and asked for what was not satisfactory. I told her I was a bit disappointed by the plates that were warped, I was told by Chef Mary that some variation happens, and while I would be compensated for the issue (which I wasn't) she had to make sure I was aware that a certain gentleman (my grandfather), had “assaulted” her by putting his hands on her shoulders, and that I should be happy she didn’t report him to the police officer on premise. If it was that much of an issue, why did she feel the need to tell me (instead of the many other people present), or only bring it up when I brought up issues in services after being pressed? The food provide by Chef Mary was exactly what was promised, and was very good. But the lack of communication, issues with payment, and the unprofessional manner that she exhibited made the whole experience very bitter. I had an amazing wedding day filled with many wonderful memories, but it is extremely disappointing that this was part of that day.

This will be a long review, but I urge you to read it through completely if you are considering hiring the Good Fork, or if you already have a contract with them. I decided to hire The Good Fork because I was looking for something "different" for my wedding day. We wanted farm- to -table style with really simple but delicious food. When we first began researching, The Good Fork had good reviews, reasonable cost, and seemed to offer just that, so we signed a contract. Our wedding was 150 people. Once our contract was signed, things started to fall apart. Communication was very difficult. Emails would be responded to VERY slowly and often did not address half the questions we asked. Sometimes the Chef would respond, sometimes her business partner, and the two never seemed to communicate with eachother. When it came time for our tasting, it was canceled the day before- meaning our families, who were traveling from out of town, could no longer attend. Our "contract" was copy and pasted in emails with no consistency- when we reviewed the contract to make our final payment, half of the items were missing and had to be re-discussed. Communication got so bad that I started to doubt the Good Fork's ability to pull my wedding off. I even had a "back up plan" in case they didn't even show up! Now to get to the actual wedding day:Bar Service: Glasses brought in from rental company never used, plastic cups used instead with some guests telling me they couldn't get a drink because there were no glasses. I went to order a glass of champagne and I was told they were out, meanwhile, we found an entire case un-opened the next day. Is there anything worse than a bride not getting 1 glass of champagne at her own wedding? Contract stated red and white wine were to be passed out as guests arrived. This never happened, which resulted in 2 extra cases of unopened wine.Food: Contract stated a "family style" meal. Food was brought out inconsistently and very spaced apart- 30 minutes between potatoes and meat. Salad was bare lettuce, not "spring greens with leaks, feta and thyme vinaigrette" as stated in contract. For desserts, caterer was supposed to supply "chocolate cake with espresso whipped cream and lemon cookies" Neither of these were provided. Instead, we got frozen cheesecake. Overall Service: Dessert plates were put on the dinner tables and then bused before dessert- my guests ate cake off of napkins. Outside dessert that was brought in to supplement was never served. Staff set out dessert and left, even though contract included busing all tables after the meal. My venue staff had to stay late to clean up their mess, and I had to compensate them for it. The result of all of this was a bride crying on her wedding night. When all the issues were brought up, we were offered a very small refund, the amount did not even account for all the money we lost in alcohol, rentals, and desserts not being served. Chef Mary knows how to cook well, but The Good Fork could not execute a wedding. I really regret hiring the Good Fork and wish I had shopped around more before signing the contract.

I would give less than one star if i could. Her lack of catering and cooking skills ruined an otherwise beautiful wedding. We paid the caterer in full prior to the wedding. Big mistake on our part. She did not fulfill her contractual agreements and did not make restitution. Salad was served with only lettuce, no dressing, none of the contracted additions to the lettuce. Potatoes served cold at the same time as the salad? Not enough chicken to feed our table of 8. Then no potatoes. 1/2 of the 155 guests did not receive the couscous. The caterer forgot to serve the steaks and when I inquired 3 raw steaks were brought out to our table at the same time dessert was served. Caterer failed to use the rented glasses, plates and also failed to return the used rental equipment to the correct place. Caterer failed to return many of my telephone calls. I gave her an opportunity to preserve an otherwise good reputation but this caterer chose to ignore me. this was the most unprofessional caterer. HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER THIS COMPANY.

When it comes to food, Chef Mary knows her stuff. I was looking for something different for my wedding and I found it. The ingredients were fresh, the plates were creative and I appreciated the passion she has for her work and growing business. The planning and communication process leading up to my wedding is where I struggled the most. The emails were slow, really slow and when I would get responses, only half of my requests would be addressed or they would be done so incorrectly. In one e-mail a catering manager would respond and in another, Chef would respond and it seemed as though they were not communicating with each other in the process. It made planning VERY stressful. Case in point, my tasting, that was confirmed, that my fiance and I drove 3 hours to have with our families, was missed because they 'wrote down the wrong day.' They did address and remedy the situation in a professional manner but it did make my question the organization of the business and my decision to use them for my big day. On the day of the wedding, the food was delicious and our guests enjoyed but I don't think I would work with them again based on my personal experience.