{Sponsor in the Spotlight} Chefs Market, a Favorite Nashville Wedding Caterer
Monday, June 27, 2011
Getting married doesn't mean just buying a gown, getting some flowers, ordering some food and saying "I do" anymore. These days, brides and grooms are becoming more and more sophisticated and want more value for their investment and it's about making their wedding their own signature event from decor to food. When it comes to selecting caterers, it always helps to look at the big picture - how do they present their food? What kind of food do they serve? Is it delicious? All these go together and it's no wonder lots of wedding planners and brides have looked to the expertise of Chef's Market to handle their wedding day.
Meet Chef's Market, A Multi-faceted Caterer
Image by Alex Bee Photography
Name: Chef’s Market Café & Take Away
Main Contact: Tamie Torres
Phone Number: (615) 851-2443
Email Address: [email protected]
Website: chefsmarket.com
Twitter: chefsmarketcafe
Facebook fan page: facebook.com/chefsmarketcafe
Blog: chefsmarket.wordpress.com
Number of Years in the Business: We’ve been in business for the past thirteen years in August, time has definitely flown by!
How did you get started in weddings? Jim Hagy, the owner of Chef’s Market has been involved in the restaurant industry his entire life, in fact he’s a third generation restaurateur, so when Chef’s Market opened in 1997, getting into catering and more specifically weddings just felt very natural for the business.
What do you like most about weddings? We truly believe that food brings people together and having the opportunity to provide that service at such significant a celebration as a wedding is very gratifying for us as a business. We also love designing and creating unique and beautiful food displays and table décor, it’s one of the things we’re known for and it’s always fun incorporating a bride’s vision into our food presentation.
What is your service philosophy? Our goal is to provide exceptional catering, design and presentation. We want every Bride and Groom that chooses our catering services to have an incredible experience from their first meeting with us at our restaurant to the end of their wedding reception. We do our best to customize our menus to fit our clients’ tastes and ensure that they are thrilled with the results!
Chefs Market offers an array of favor options for your wedding from cupcake bars to custom flavored popcorn to macaroons.
Left image by Ace Photography. Right image by Enchanted Brides Magazine
What are your strengths compared to others in your category? / Why should a bride hire you? We have an amazing team of people who make our events happen and we think the fact that everyone from our Catering Director to our Prep Chef is personally invested in each event has a lot to do with our success as a catering company. Our emphasis on design and presentation really makes us stand out and our innovation and quality of food and service are only a few reasons why a bride should look into having us cater her wedding.
Image by Kristyn Hogan lifestyle photographer
What is your specialty? While we cater everything from plated meals to buffet style menus, lately many brides have been opting for heavy dinner stations. We’ve never boxed ourselves into any specific category as far as cuisine is concerned as we love to try new recipes and presentation styles, however in general we love to give ordinary food a gourmet twist, such as adding a flavorful Red Pepper Jelly to spice up ordinary Ham Biscuits.
Do you provide bar service? Although Chef’s Market does not have a liquor license, we are happy to lend our expertise in planning for bar services, including suggestions of beer and wine brands, quantity, etc. Additionally, we offer the following bar services; bar set-ups, mixers, juices, fruits, ice, bar tools, soda, bottled water and ABC Certified Bartenders.
Who are your 5 favorite Nashville wedding vendors – helpfulness, professionalism, style? This is a tough one because Nashville has such an incredible wedding industry! We really feel than any vendor who’s apart of TWESA (Tennessee Wedding Event Specialists Association) is not only going to know what they’re doing but also be professional, creative, and passionate about weddings, which are all necessary qualities for building a working relationship with each other in this industry.
Image by Kristyn Hogan lifestyle photographer
Who do you recommend when you’re not available/not a fit? There are many great caterers to choose from but we often recommend both the Clean Plate Club and A Catered Affair for any reception that we’re unable to cater ourselves.
What do you read/watch regularly to stay on top of wedding/event/food trends? Catering is a business that’s continually evolving, which is great, as it keeps us moving forward with menu and design ideas. We’re constantly reading restaurant and catering trade publications as well as local and national blogs in order to stay ahead of the game. We also make sure to attend at least one catering conference per year.
Let’s discuss current catering trends
Are there currently any popular menu items or dining styles that you’ve seen or even would like to see? What’s most popular right now is for Brides and Grooms to choose foods they love, which really means that anything goes when it comes to catering. It’s nice to see that couples are not afraid to express themselves through their food choices. Instead of having the same menu at every wedding, we are seeing a wide variety of different items!
Image by Ace Photography
What is your favorite dish to serve at a wedding/event? For a recent wedding of ours, the Bride and Groom asked for personalized sushi rolls, which was a lot of fun for us to put together! Our favorite dishes are always the ones where we get to truly ‘cater’ the food to the couple getting married.
What food trend do you dislike? While mashed potato and macaroni bars are always going to taste great and be popular for weddings, we have done so many that it’s not as fun for us as other menu items.
Past trends - Which trend are you glad to see make its exit? Hmm, we’d have say satellite cakes from the 80’s…it happened once, we hope it never happens again!
What are your favorite websites for inspiration and to stay on top of food/catering trends? We love reading both local and national food blogs, there’s just so much diversity out there and it’s great to see what others are writing about. Some of our go-to blogs are, Love & Olive Oil, Lannae’s Food & Travel, Confections of a Foodie Bride, and The South in My Mouth.
Favorite TV show and why? Top Chef is great not only because it’s interesting to see what industry’s up and coming chefs create, but the time crunch is often reminiscent of our catering kitchen on big event days!
What is your favorite thing about catering weddings? We love meeting all of the different couples who hire us as their wedding caterer. No two weddings are alike and there’s always something new, it’s hard to get bored in this profession!
Image by Divine Images Photography
What is the biggest misconception about your industry? People often assume that the quality of catered food is not very good, when in fact; it all depends on who you choose to do the catering. The old “rubber chicken” analogy is thrown around a lot, but in fact catering food can be great! A good caterer knows what foods will and will not work, given the venue restrictions, time lines, etc, and they will guide you in choosing a menu that will be great for your event. Maybe you have dreamed of sweet potato fries for your day, but your venue doesn’t allow cooking on site. An experienced caterer will have the courage to tell you that your sweet potato fries may fall flat….(literally!)...but they will also be able to suggest good alternatives. Every catering company needs to have a fantastic Culinary and Sales team that understands the intricacies of logistics and planning in order to be successful, and we feel really lucky to have both of those at Chef’s Market!
Image by Joe Hendricks Photography
If you're still seeking out a good caterer for your wedding, rehearsal dinner or event, be sure to check out Chef's Market and when you call them, be sure to let them know that you heard about them on Ashley's Bride Guide.
All images by Chefs Market unless otherwise stated.
About the Author:
Tabitha
Blogging is something I’ve enjoyed doing for years. My interests lie mostly in lifestyle related topics like fashion, style, design, food and weddings. When I heard Ashley was looking to bring on new members to the ABG team, I jumped at the opportunity - I can’t think of a better way to stay involved in weddings than to write about them and to stay in touch with the trends and new ideas. Lucky for me, Ashley likes my blog and trusts my experience to bring me on and so far, it’s been a blast.
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Posted on June 27, 2011 |
Filed under: Helpful Vendor Interviews!,
