Wedding venue will not do tasting

quad_red

Hi all,

Just want to put this out there and get some opinions.

Getting married this summer. Have a venue booked. It's a large restaurant with a large function room upstairs. We booked it on the basis of the good reputation of the restaurant and we've heard good things about weddings in the function room.

But, basically, they are refusing *point blank* to arrange a tasting. We can meet the chef who will be doing the wedding. And we have been offered a free dinner at the restaurant.

But we have been told that the food in the restaurant will "not be similar" to the food that will be served at the wedding. Different chef etc.. And cos the restaurant is a 'working kitchen', the events chef cannot and the venue will not do a testing.

Their tack is that they are a critically acclaimed restaurant. The restaurant is absolutely top notch. And we're made to feel like we're being really inappropriate in asking for a tasting.

Now, we're not asking for anything strange or out of the ordinary. It's all off their suggested function menu except for the starter. And they are really nice and flexible about everything else.

But this is starting to grate. We have been invited to view the function room on Saturday where it will be done up for a wedding that day. But still no tasting.

Any advice?

Cheers
Quad

Turbulent Bill

That's ridiculous - how can you assess the wedding menu if you can't taste it?! Restaurants routinely change dishes to meet individual diner's needs during normal service (especially the good ones), so they should easily be able to accommodate you.

As a compromise you could suggest a tasting when the kitchen is in 'event mode' (e.g., before another function), but you really shouldn't need to do this.

Wile E. Coyote

A lot of places don't do tasting now on the basis that a lot of them use organic or seasonal produce. So the food you could be tasting today may be nothing like the food you could be tasting in 6 months time. I'm not saying the food will be better or worse but it may not be what your expecting. The free meal they offer should give you some idea of the quality and standard of the food you'll be served on the day.

Dempo1

As a Hospitality professional i find this venues refusal not to do a tasting quite bizarre. Banquet menus are traditionally a lot simpler to manage and serve and i doubt it would task this venues chefs too much to do a tasting menu at an agreed time. Quite frankly the venues arrogance about being an acclaimed restaurant means absolutely nothing. Banquets particularly weddings need very specific attention to detail and even the very best venues can get it wrong. Finally venues are currently falling over themselves to attract wedding business such is the state of the industry. I would quite simply put my foot down and insist a tasting is arranged or you will bring your business elsewhere.

hunnymonster

ours wouldn't even give us a free meal in the restaurant. Cost us €182 to get an idea what the the food is like. mind you this is the same place that has sent me 4 vegetarian menus, none of which are actually suitable for vegetarians.

Dempo1

Extraordinary, they charged you? In my experience once a contract is signed and all is agreed, Bridal Couples become number one priority and this would definitely include either a tasting experience and certainly a meal with compliments in the restaurant. Vegetarian options also seem to confuse venues somewhat, whilst a Manager i am also a chef and to be honest, vegetarian options are not rocket science, perhaps your venues chefs are a little blinkered. I am assuming "without naming" your venue is at the high end of the market, it must be at the price you paid for dinner.

hunnymonster

yeah it is and I have to say the non veggie meals that we paid for were very very good and the service was excellent. it is in Portugal so the norms might be slightly different there but I have sent a complete list of what veggies won't eat and it's still not getting through. My latest attempt is to send them a copy of the cafe paradiso cook book and hope they can figure out something from that. I also wasn't impressed that the under 12's meal was 50 quid for chicken nuggets, chips and jelly. /sorry about the thread jack

quad_red

Thanks for all the feedback folks.

We're not going to walk away and get someplace else and I think the venue know this.

I think we're just going to have to suck this up and trust good reports and the quality of the restaurant.

quad_red

Actually, after talking it over tonight, we're actually quite unhappy with the way the venue is behaving.

We've no set point of contact - been talking to three people on and off. Mrs Quad (to be ) has had to hassle them to send through updated costings etc.

And the total lack of interest in helping us with a tasting is sort of topping this off.

Given the good feedback I've read about the venue on here and from other people, this is pretty disappointing.

kayos

We know of one certain place that wont do a tasting for the weddings, their reason well we're the <insert name here> we dont need to.

Having been at a number of events there over the years weddings and other events the real reason is becuase there events food is not on the same page as their normal food heck its not even in the same book. And their normal food is nothing to write home about in my mind. It makes no sense that any venue would refuse a tasting of the wedding menu. The days of places not needing to worry about business and knowing that the day will be taken by another wedding/event are long over.

llester

When we got married the hotel wouldn't let us do a tasting either. They said they were confident enough in their product.

I wouldn't let it worry you. Unless you have Tom Doorley as a guest, people will enjoy the day regardless.

llester

quad_red wrote: »

We've no set point of contact - been talking to three people on and off. Mrs Quad (to be ) has had to hassle them to send through updated costings etc.

Ah no. This isn't normal. You should be appointed one person to contact, or who will contact you, and they should be sending you the updated costings without the need for you to request it. Unless Mrs Quad to be is a bit of a bridezilla and changing her mind every 5 mins? In fact when we got married we had two or three meetings with our point of contact.

quad_red

llester wrote: »

When we got married the hotel wouldn't let us do a tasting either. They said they were confident enough in their product.

That's the attitude we're getting off our place.

Our food is 'renowned', we use quality ingredients, it's really inappropriate of you to ask.

They said that as a working restaurant, the chef will not allow the functions chef to do taster meals in his kitchen.

The more I repeat that excuse, the more ridiculous it sounds

quad_red

llester wrote: »

Ah no. This isn't normal. You should be appointed one person to contact, or who will contact you, and they should be sending you the updated costings without the need for you to request it. Unless Mrs Quad to be is a bit of a bridezilla and changing her mind every 5 mins? In fact when we got married we had two or three meetings with our point of contact.

Nope, no bridezilla. We had a meeting a few months ago and another meeting a few weeks ago. In fact, midway through the meeting the table we were at in the function room collapsed... (not joking).

We selected the meals we wanted and they promised to send through the updated costings and details. Heard nothing and (as indicated) we had to contact them again to remind them. Then the stuff came through.

How Strange

quad_red wrote: »

Our food is 'renowned', we use quality ingredients

Nobody doubts that they use quality ingredients blah blah blah but the tone of superiority is a bit much in this day and age.

it's really inappropriate of you to ask.

No it's not. You're the client and you're paying for a service so you've a right to know what the product will be like on the day.

They said that as a working restaurant, the chef will not allow the functions chef to do taster meals in his kitchen.The more I repeat that excuse, the more ridiculous it sounds

Yep, sounds ridiculous alright.

We've no set point of contact - been talking to three people on and off. Mrs Quad (to be ) has had to hassle them to send through updated costings etc.

That's not good. I think some bride and groomzilla antics might be called for. Perhaps you're both being too nice and reasonable about everything.

Is walking away an option for you? That really is your only bargaining power at this stage. I know it's not an ideal thing to do but they aren't the only venue around.

Dempo1

As i follow this Thread i am becoming quite bemused at the Venues arrogance and attitude, for them to actually admit their "Awe inspiring restaurant chef won't allow the humble Banqueting chef use his Kitchen" is quite extraordinary. If he was working for me i would soon educate him on his attitude, seems to me this chef does not approve of Banquets which probably keep the place afloat. This venue either wants your business or not and i have to say given the attitude coming across i would be considering another Venue.

Weddings and their planning are a very complex event to pull off, the Bridal couple must have 100% confidence in the venue, its management, approach, staff and of course food. I have learned through experience that even the slightest obstacle or break down in communication can spoil the event entirely (Although thankfully i insured any breakdown in communication was rectified immediately. I once had a Bride who emailed me a minimum of twice daily for almost 6 months, my approach was to insured despite whatever reservations she had, her event would be an occasion to remember, five years on i still get occasional holiday cards and emails from the very happy couple.

hunnymonster

Dempo1, it's good to hear from someone on the other side of the equation. We're used to hearing from brides and bridezillas but it's interesting to hear from the people we've put all this trust in. I hope you'll post most in this forum.

Dempo1

Thank you, i am pretty new to this but its fascinating and glad to contribute. In relation to this specific topic, i was quite shocked at the lack of attention the bridal couple where getting. I ran two big venues over the years but i am also a humble chef which is why i got annoyed at the chefs attitude in this venue.

I also know first hand how much the hospitality sector is in crisis right now and Venues should be insuring attention to detail, not just with day to day business but the very important Banqueting/Wedding business, it can be the difference between a venue succeeding or failing.

Hope the Bride gets sorted out with her tasting:D

David J L

Had a tasting recently for an event in Newman House on Stephens Green. The caterers were dead on, really obliging and assisted with every query and whim we had

Dempo1

David J L wrote: »

Had a tasting recently for an event in Newman House on Stephens Green. The caterers were dead on, really obliging and assisted with every query and whim we had

Thats more like it, glad to hear some venues are making an effort and looking after business. Have not heard of Newman House? is it hired out privately?

David J L

Yeah it is. Its located on the southside of the Green, next to University Church. Heard about it from friends, one of Dublins best kept secret me thinks...

www.ucd.ie/conferences/newman_house_brochure.pdf

rocky2

quad_red wrote: »

Thanks for all the feedback folks.

We're not going to walk away and get someplace else and I think the venue know this.

I think we're just going to have to suck this up and trust good reports and the quality of the restaurant.

quad_red,

Just seen your post,I have worked in the industry for over 20 years and I am baffled at the way you are being treated.

You are the client,the venue should be going out of there way to make you comfortable and to ensure that you are happy.

I personally would not give any establishment that behaved liked this any business.The bottom line is they don't value your custom.WALK

TequilaMockingBird

/I don't know how I ended up reading this thread but.. I also have worked on many weddings.

You are buying a product. They won't let you see/taste the product beforehand. Would you go into <random shop> and pay for X amount of items without seeing them, and just take the word of the supplier? Of course not..

I wouldn't give them the business tbh.

Other businesses would be falling over themselves to get that kind of money.

izzyflusky

When I signed the contract for booking my venue I made sure I read the whole of it, so did my H2B and also my FSIL, to make sure everything was in order and that included everything we wanted (including the tasting for 6 people we were offered).


In saying that, how can you decide the food you want for the wedding without a tasting?? I don't know if it works that way everywhere but where I'm getting married (abroad), you choose a couple or 3 dishes (depending on the place), for each course to taste. Then, from that you choose what you liked best and want to serve at the wedding.

I would NEVER book a place were they think they are doing me a favour when in actual fact I'm paying. That attitude has put me off a lot of places when I was looking for a venue.

Heineken Helen

any update on this from the o/p? Sounds very strange . A tasting is not something major for me cos I actually put trust in the venues that it will be alright... besides they'll put more effort into the tasting meal than they would on the day surely? However we've got a tasting with our package. BUT if the venue was behaving like that... I'd go nuts... and then I'd set the o/h on them to calm things down

Don't take no for an answer.

mulmulcahy

Im in a similar situation to op and i dont really know how to handle it with hotel. We're getting married in Sept and had to settle for a thurs our hotel is so popular. I know feel that the hotel has a relaxed attitude due to their popularity and im a bit peed off about it. We requested a tasting and we were told they dont EVER do that bla bla. We offered to even pay for it and eat in the bar and they huffed and puffed about it. in the end we went there and paid for a sunday lunch and i was a bit disappointed with the food. starters and desserts were lovely but i just thought the meat in the main course was like something your granny would cook (no offence to grannies!) my fiancee had roast beef but it was more like boiled beef. I know a good few people who have gone to weddings there and they all raved about the meal so im wondering if the wedding food will be different to sunday lunch. theyre also unwilling to budge on costs. Meal is 65e per head and corkage is 9 so its a bit stiff. Im just really worried that people wont enjoy their dinner. After all thats what most people will be talking about.....

rocky2

mulmulcahy

I have to say I am baffled by their attitude.
I do presume that you are getting a better price since you are having your wedding on Thursday,as the majority of venues would offer a more competitive price on a weekday.I do know that a lot of very busy hotels have scrapped corkage to be more competitive,€9 would be a normal price for a bottle of wine,but I do appreciate where you are comming from.

If you have your heart set on this venue,and they are unwilling to give you a tasting,make sure that you tell them that you expect everything to be perfect,when couples do this,it is noted.You dont have to arrogant,just be very firm,afterall you are spending a lot of money with them.

Best of Luck