Chef Nicholas Catering

Great quality food and good service. Nick usually caters for events a Ceago winery and received excellent reviews so I decided to use him for my wedding up in Mendocino county. He also lives in a yurt on his goat farm which I thought was awesome!
Appetizers:
* Hominy cakes! We tried these at the Ukiah Wedding Fair and absolutely loved them.
* The «fig» with blue cheese turned out to be strawberries. Major bummer! It would have been nice to get a heads up before the day of the wedding!
* The cheese spread with breads was a hit!
Plated Dinner:
His plated dinners were very good and received lots of praises from our guests. We choose sockeye salmon, NY strip and tofu porcini for the veggie heads
Cake:
YUM! My husband wanted strawberries and cream and I wanted chocolate. We got both and both were amazing!
Working with Nick…
Nick is very responsive to questions and will email you back right away (unless he’s at the Bohemian Grove). For details however you need to be a bit proactive yourself and reach out to him. My only other complaint is that in terms of cost he is not very transparent. He ended up charging 600 more than the original quote and finally when I asked him for the breakdown he said he overcharged me about 300 or so. A little bit of fuzzy math. You will need to ask him for the breakdown. That’s all.
The service was also very good. Nick is kind of a quiet guy and I can never tell if he’s happy or not but he’s definitely professional and I enjoyed working with him. He’s very accommodating to your requests and I do recommend him!

Can you say GOURMET?
Chef Nicolas catered my husbands 50^th birthday party at Ceago Winery in Clear Lake, CA and did a FANTASTIC job! He worked with me long distance on the menu and kept the price range just where it needed to stay. Very upfront, professional, but with kind touch…
His menu is one of the finest I have ever seen and like a previous reviewer, many of our friends and family are FOODIES, so I wanted the best in chefs ! We had an assorted of wine & appetizers before hand. Chef’s non alcoholic drinks were superb too. Our buffet dinner was a Spanish theme of Paella with tons of mussels, clams, fish, and shrimp.
We also had his ham, chicken, and stuff bell peppers for those who don’t care for shellfish and these dishes were just as delicious as the paella.
The evening was topped off with chocolate mousse which was just to die for! It’s the best my husband and I have ever had… and we’ve sampled many over the years!
His wait staff was very professional and right there to wait upon you.
The evening was just awesome and many thanks to Chef and his staff for the great job they did!!!

Chef Nicholas catered our wedding in St Helena. From the appetizers to the dessert and everything in between, we were soo pleased with the food! We received many compliments on the delicious dishes, and the custom beverages he made were stellar!!!
Thank you Chef Nicholas!!!

Chef Nicholas catered my wedding for #100 people and I could not not have asked for a better outcome. After searching high and low for even an adequate caterer in Lake County, I had very nearly given up when I found Chef Nicholas. From the menu planning, to frequent follow-up’s to the day of execution, the cost and friendly, professional demeanor of Chef and his staff, it was an absolute treat and a very memorable meal. The «memorable meal» part was especially tricky because the majority of my guests were serious foodies and/​or food service professionals from the Bay area. I was particularly concerned about serving chicken breast because (as a food service professional myself) I have witnessed many a train wreck with it in large doses. But Chef’s chicken turned out to be expertly prepared and really delicious. Literally ALL of the guests enjoyed the food and many, many of them made special comments about one feature of the meal or another. Chef and his staff were extremely generous, pleasant and patient as the service time got pushed back further and further. It also didn’t help that the temperature was over 100 degrees that day and the service conditions were brutal. When the bill came it was exactly what we had agreed to. If given the opportunity, I would hire Chef Nicholas again and again.

We held a weekend birthday party and Nick Heidemann of Chef Nicholas Catering prepared a buffet dinner and brunch. We were very pleased with his attention to detail and presentation. The appetizers were excellent and I know it took a lot of time to prepare them. The grilled dinner and side dishes were very good. He also prepared a dessert station with different desserts and my birthday cake. However, I wished he had planned more of a birthday presentation for my cake to celebrate my birthday… it didn’t have any decorations on it and just a big candle from my dining room table stuck in the center!!! He charged a lot of money for the cake and it did not meet my expectations based on our conversations. I recommend you have a professional cake baker provide your special cake.
The following morning he prepared a beautiful brunch spread for all of us to help us get over our hangovers from the night before. The carrot cake muffins with the icing were soooo good! Everything tasted great but the french bread for the sandwiches was very hard; I noticed people having a hard time eating it.
The reason I gave Chef Nicholas Catering only a 2 stars and not higher is because the surprise we had when the bill came. All along I thought he had submitted a menu based on my budget and the cost per person he stated in his documentation; however, the cost was far higher than we agreed on and my husband was mad at me for the next 3 days!
If you use Chef Nicholas Catering, make sure you clarify all costs beforehand and agree on a final price based on the menu he provides you and the head count. Also, make sure he is not charging you for more head count than you provide him. Just document everything so there are no misunderstandings and have a signed contract. Also, request that he leaves any leftovers for you. There was a lot of leftover meat and he didn’t leave one piece for us after we paid for it!!!
We had a great party and I do believe it was because of the bands and Chef Nicholas but the party ended on a dark note due to the unexpected catering cost. If you are able to finalize every detail up front regarding the costs, then there won’t be any surprises and you will be happy with his services. Unfortunately, we won’t use him in the future because of how he handled his business transactions. We have never experienced this with any other catering company.