Classé Catering

My husband and I had to throw together our December wedding in only three months due to some unforeseen circumstances. I immediately contacted Classe Catering because of their reputation of great food, and quality service. My brother and sister in law had used them to cater there recepetion, so I already knew what to expect. Not only did they have to work with a short amount of time, but also a some what limited budget but that was not an issue at all for the staff of Classe. I always received prompt answers back, and my event planner Shelly was just great to work with. The food was amazing- all my guests raved about the dinner service and professionalism of the staff. We were so lucky to have been able to have Classe cater our event and would highly recommend them!

I was truly concerned; our wedding planner had quit her job one week before our wedding and we had a brand new planner named Emily. I loved working with Brandi (the original planner) and was scared out of my mind, but I did not need to be. Emily, the food, and the organization were wonderful. I did have a charge on the final bill that I did not completely understand from the event planners portion of the company, but other than that -- wonderful. And the people working the event - the bartenders and people sent to attend to us specifically - were wonderful. We were having so much fun, we actually chose to extend the event an extra hour.

We JUST got married @ 11 North Pearl on 9.24.11 and couldn't wait to write this review! We were actually one of the 1st couples to book the venue, but knew from the start it was a good choice. Classe/Brian/Brandi were amazing to work with. Throughout the wedding planning process all of my questions, comments, and concerns were addressed ASAP. Most importantly, I never felt like they said no. As a bride, I think this is super important. I've had friends at other venues in the area who had their special requests turned down. How is that possible.....it's your wedding day! In addition to the above, the food is delicious and the venue is gorgeous!!!! Our guests were blown away!!! I would suggest 11 north pearl/classe to all of my friends and family in a heartbeat. I'm actually trying to figure out what party/event I can have there next!

.............sigh. I would definitely not use Classe again. #1. They ran out of food for the wedding. Cardinal rule? Pretty embarressing for me and my guests. As good as the food can be, if people notice they cant have all the food the previous 100 guests have, its a death sentence for the gossip of your wedding after the fact. #2. For 3 months I didnt have an email or phone call returned to me until I went to the manager. #3. We went for a tasting and we werent served 1 thing on our tasting prelim menu. We ended up having to go back and pay for another tasting when we were only in town a week. Overall, I hope maybe they sacrificed our service so that another bride or couple had better service - otherwise, this company is a dud.

Had a great wedding at 11 North Pearl and great food!

As a caterer myself, I was blown away by the services that they provided. The food was delicious, the staff went above and beyond to make Jer and I have a wonderful night. I will continue to recommend them and 11 North Pearl for a venue because it was absolutely breathtaking. The staff even went and got my fathers truck out of valet parking and loaded it up with the gifts and cake! The only one thing that I would say was confusing was the decorating part, I misunderstood what was included and what wasn't. Please note that there is a separate decorating fee and decorator (who is amazing) so just make sure you ask what is and what isn't included with that!

When we contacted the vendor of our displeasure this was their email response: Hello and thank you for following-up. Please know your accusations are of great importance to us and have been taken very seriously. In fact, I have personally discussed your wedding with numerous professionals who were working on site for _____ and _____’s wedding. The most interesting, yet confusing but unanimous response from all the staff was SHOCK - As they all testify that they were praised by numerous guests and in fact were brought into a separate room where the were individually thanked and told how happy they were with everything by _____ and ______. They then tipped the entire staff to recognize the great experience they received. After reviewing the food production schedules, event management timelines, operational packing list, food invoices, as well as the Chef and Event Manager’s reports – we have concluded the following: · RE: Cheese – 1. The cheese was purchased fresh for the event and delivered vacuum packed in a refrigerated truck by Sysco on Wednesday morning. The shop steward received the order and had it completed put away immediately. Kaylin and Michael ordered wheels of cheese which require little to no preparation. The wheels of cheese were transported in an professional grade insulated ice chest from Colonie to Saratoga and loaded into the kitchen at the Dance Museum where the cheese wheels were transferred to the refrigerator on-site. The cheese was not even removed until the ceremony started – at that point (reported by several staff members asked individually) the cheese was quickly plattered up and moved to “stage” it closer to the cocktail area in a cooler, in air conditioned room. Not sure where you are coming from when you say the cheese was placed out an hour before the guests were served as that would mean it was brought out prior to the ceremony and that was not the case as reported by several of the on-site staff. When the cheese was placed out, it was set-up on a shaded table with a covering we provided. Please note - Food Safety is paramount, our staff is trained, certified and and our record with the NYS Health Department is flawless over the 16 years we have been in business. · RE: Food Quality – 1. Canned Gravy, Generic Slop? You were obviously very emotional when writing this and apparently can not tell the difference between canned gravy and authentic demi-glace because Veal Demi-glace was served with the beef dish. The demi-glace was prepared by our award-winning Executive Chef Jeremy Kane – he used the same process we use every week which (also the same as process used for the tasting when Michael selected the beef). The demi-glace is made by roasting 100 lbs of veal bones with carrots, celery, onion and tomato paste, simmering it for two days and then straining it. He then completes the sauce by fortifying with port wine, reducing it by half and seasoning with salt and pepper. He has used this exact method for the past 20 years, as recommended by the Culinary Institute of America. Additionally, the beef was cooked medium and your comment that the Filet was over cooked conflicts with the fact that the Chef reports steak was done to medium and the food production report shows 7 Beef dishes were sent back to the kitchen that night to be cooked more – from medium to medium-well. 2. RE: Salty Sauce – The ginger-lime sweet soy that was glazed on the Sea Bass that Kaylin and Michael ordered for the wedding is prepared with soy sauce, sugar, ginger, water, lime and crushed pepper. No additional salt is added and this is one of our most popular sauces – which Michael also commented how delicious it was. · RE: Coffee Service – I was not on-site but according to the Event Planner and Event Manager as well as the service team taking care of your guests: As the Cake Cutting was happening, several service staff were preparing the coffee accoutrements so that directly following the cake cutting they could begin service. As standard protocol their partners were on the floor setting the coffee cups to guests who were ready for coffee. At this time the dessert platters you provided were placed on each guest table. Two rounds of coffee were offered to those that were seated and many more to those that requested refills, as we do not pour coffee for those that are not seated. It is our policy to wait until guests are seated so as not to come back from dancing or socializing to a cold cup of coffee You have made yourself clear about being unhappy and your perceptions were taken into consideration. Our management team has concluded that although you have expressed your opinions, they are unsubstantiated and untrue. Your message about not getting Kaylin and Michael involved we feel is not an option as we are aware that you are slandering us online and felt they should know how you have insulted and attacked our company. Moving forward please direct all correspondence to our corporate attorney Joseph Zappone – 518.783.2600. They were not happy we wrote them poor reviews, then called us liars. This is what I wrote. My email response: Leanne, I am not going to continue correspondence with you after this point, I refuse to be called a liar when the facts are clear, the cheese was melted, the amount of time it sat in the sun isn't for certain, but the reality is, it was melted. Honestly, we weren't looking for anything other than a apology. We all know that in restaurants one thing is true, someone has a great experience they tell one person, when they have a bad experience they tell 100. With that being said your response should have been as follows: "Dear Ms. Smith, I am sorry you felt we did not meet our own high standards, which we have worked for years creating and maintaining. I can assure you that the appetizers were brought out shortly before cocktail hour, because of the extreme heat the quality may have been compromised, we will take steps in the future to assure this will not be a problem again. We know at Classe that weddings are a big deal for the bride and groom and their families and we do everything in our power to ensure that their day will be as memorable as it should be. I am sorry you felt that our glaze was sub par, our chefs work very hard creating it in house. Many people enjoy their filets cooked at different temperatures, which is evident in the fact that seven were sent back that evening to be cooked further. I am sorry if you didn't feel the coffee was brought to you in a timely manor, it is our policy that we only serve it to seated guests. We pride ourselves on exceptional service, I am sorry that you felt we fell short of our mission. We will attempt to correct these problems in our future endeavors." Had you responded to our email in this way the online reviews would have been modified to reflect your sincere apology and understanding of our frustration.Instead you continued this idea that nothing was wrong; clearly we didn't agree. You have made us feel as though you do not care about the us, your customer, and continue to call us names. Honestly, there are many ways to redeem one's self, the emails you sent were not professional and lacked integrity. Because of my age, 25, I know many people getting married and planning events, I will let them know of the sheer lack of care you seem have and your unwillingness to admit when something was sub par. With these tough economic times I know that it is of paramount concern that each business continues to preform at 190% to ensure life long patronage. Our guest seemed happy because who would complain at a wedding about the food? I can assure you that my mother received phone calls asking who our caterer was after. I feel as though you only added me into the email originally to attempt to be underhanded and create issues with my mother. She was upset when she wrote the email, but it is because like every mother, she envisioned her only daughter's wedding day to be perfect. By you deciding to include me in this created a whole different level of disappointment with Classe. Normally businesses look at customer feed back as an opportunity to improve their business in the future, you however, used this customer feed back as an avenue to tell your clients that you didn't see anything wrong, and they must be idiots for thinking otherwise. Although you wrote a very lengthy email to my mother you didn't address some of the issues she brought up, the gnocchi was rock hard, that was my special dish, which I did not eat, this is evident in the fact that the Martie d' took it away after only five bites. I was very hungry, we didn't get any of the appetizers, I was so looking forward to. We got a small plate delivered to our table with rock shrimp and three other things, but I am a vegetarian and couldn't really eat any thing. I ended up at Esporantos at 12:30 for some food, when you would think that after spending 7k I would be full. The constant discrepancy with the proposal prices, every day the price seemed to change, once we were told that the original contract we agreed on wasn't right because the computer added it up wrong (I felt you should have honored your original contract/proposal, and it seemed like false advertising). My mother also discussed the dirty glassware which was not of concern to you, so you were obviously aware of the situation and must have heard it before. I know there are water spots in existence in the world and have spent countless hours with a polishing cloth and vinegar solution to solve that problem. Furthermore, I understand that your glaze is made by an award winning chef, but the fingerlings from a bag, tossed in boiling water and under seasoned green beans which only partially cleaned that were thrown on a plate without love, are clearly not award winning. I know in the service industry we don't like the old adage "the customer is always right", because we know many times they are not, but you have to put on a smile and pretend. That is basically all we were asking for, an apology, nothing more, nothing less instead you created an alternate universe where none of these problems existed.

Had a beautiful wedding planned at a beautiful location everything was nice with the exception of the catering which was horrible. It is not hard to realize they must do a lot of self reviews on this site and I am sure others. When it is 96 degrees outside is it really a good idea to put out appetizers to wilt and melt in the summer sun? From bland spoiled appetizers it sadly went downhill. The toast to the bride and groom was view through cloudy glasses. When i worked in fine restaurants in my youth polishing glasses and silverware were a basic. The tomato mozzarella was edible yet uninspiring. The main course was either overcooked filet with generic canned gravy undercooked green beans with the stems still attached and potatoes. The second option was Sea Bass in some salty nonsense with a twig of bok choi. For those who chose not to eat meat they were greeted with undercooked gnocchi.Come on now how can you not get boiling water right. I would not recommend them for a preschool picnic let alone an event you would invite friends and family to. Awful, horrible, rotten, and certainly as far from phenomenal as believable is from the reviews previously on this site.

These guys were phenomenal!! We couldn't have asked for a better caterer. The prices were so reasonable and the food was awesome. All of our guests loved it! They had so many choices for hors d'oeurves, and they were great because they were so different than what you normally see at weddings. The sit down dinner was amazing. And the service was the best I've ever seen at a banquet-style event. Water was always full; your chair was pushed in and napkin re-rolled when you got up; there were never dirty dishes on the table; and they were never in the way. They also had all of the silverware, plates, glasses, linens, etc. - it was great not to have to go rent them from another vendor. The cake was also included, and we were able to meet with the baker to choose what we wanted. They did all of the set up, so I didn't have to worry about anything the day of the wedding. I can't say enough good things about them. You will not be disappointed!

Classe was phenomenal. We knew the food would be exceptional for my daughter's wedding reception, and it was, but I have never before experienced the service that we received at the reception. Every single member of the staff was incredibly professional, attentive, pleasant, courteous. I just can't say enough about the service. We had many, many compliments from our guests

Classe catered both our casual rehearsal dinner and our wedding reception, and provided tables/chairs/linens etc. for both nights. We worked with Brian Palazzolo and Emily Bruce, and could not have been happier with them. They were very helpful in accomodating all our needs, including separate set-ups for outdoor dining and indoor desert and dancing, coming up with a backup plan in case of rain, etc. Emily met with us the day before our rehearsal and went above and beyond in helping us with last minute details, and was there at our reception making sure everything went smoothly. The servers and bartenders were all pleasant and professional and the food tasted every bit as good as it did at our tasting. We were able to sit back and enjoy our big day without worrying about any of the details, and have heard nothing but rave reviews from our guests. I would highly recommend them.

Amazing is a great way to describe this caterer. We had their Chicken Marseille and eggplant parmesan, and they both tasted wonderful! Their presentation of the meal was phenomenal, and they were very flexible in planning the buffet. The lady who I worked with to plan the reception was good about returning my phone calls and emails most of the time. She also was very flexible in helping us get everything set up. They usually will set up the tables and tablecloths themselves, but we needed to have them up early, so they allowed us to pick up the tablecloths and put them up. That was a great help to us, and they also helped us get a tablecloth that we needed on short notice. The catering staff was professionally dressed and very polite. The on-site maitre'd did an amazing job of keeping everyone happy and keeping the reception moving. I was very pleased with their work, and I would highly recommend them!

They were exceptional! They went above and beyond what I had asked for. Their service went beyond what I had paid for. I will use them time and time again!

Brian and Brandi were amazing! They worked with me to create the wedding of my dreams for a reasonable budget. They were quick in responses to emails, no matter what time of day, and helped me out with last minute changes and flower issues. The food and drink at my wedding was delicious, and everyone keeps telling me how good everything was. They will work with you to make your event unique and personal, even creating special dishes from my favorite restaurant (and it turned out even better)! The day of the wedding was executed perfectly, Brian, Liz, and all the staff were phenomenal and we can not thank them enough for a perfect day!

Classe was amazing every aspect of our wedding was perfect

We absolutely loved Classe! Kathy was fantastic. She was patient, flexible and had so many wonderful ideas that made our wedding night one to remember. We had our reception at the Canfield Casino, and Classe made sure that everything ran perfectly. And it did! We didn't have to worry about a thing: Classe took care of everything. I would very highly recommend working with Classe if you are having your reception at the Canfield Casino.

I had my wedding at 11 North Pearl in December of 2010. Our families still cannot stop talking about what a great time they had, and what a beautiful facility it was! The food and cake were also big hits! Brandi and her staff took exceptional care of everything, making it a very relaxing, smooth wedding reception. If you haven't looked at this place for your wedding, please do-it was everything we thought it to be and more! Hands down one of the best places in Albany!

We could not be happier with our Wedding planning experience with Classe. The quality of service was exceptional, all with our budget, while even providing additional services not included in the their original pricing at no extra charge. From our first phone call with Brian until the very end of our reception they provided the highest level of service we have experienced to date. Our guests are still raving about the food from the evening. The staff was particularly attentive to my (now) Husband and I the entire night, which was a major help given how busy the night can become. The team at Classe attended to everything we needed from start to finish, while providing suggestions along the way. They even went as far as to successfully put together my centerpieces and beautifully set them up on every table, as we did not go with standard floral arrangements on each table. I highly recommend working with Brian, Brandi & the Classe team on any event you are planning.

This team was great, they were able to supply me with all that I need for the big day. From the tent and tables to all the food and drinks. I didn't have to worry about a thing! You can't go wrong with Classe!

Our wedding was fantastic! Classe did a wonderful job with everything. The food was fantastic and the room looked amazing. I have to say that Aimee (she runs Event Productions making the flower arrangements, decor, ect) SHE IS AMAZING!!! The flowers were beautiful and the centerpieces were perfect. The service was great at the reception. They checked in with us every few minutes to see make sure we were happy and content. I would definitely recommend Classe!