Reviews of Essence Catering (Event Planner)

Jon and Ellen Williams

We used this catering service for a birthday party and it was perfect. The food was wonderful and the service was excellent. Totally worth it!!!!

Peter Schattmann

Best kept dining secret in Covid times. Fixed menu takeout is some of the best food I've eaten in my home. Light some candles, put on your favorite music and succumb to the flavor of outstanding cuisine. Have used their service 3 times now. 5 stars every time!

Laurent-Philippe Veilleux

Chef Jason prepared a wonderful meal for our family at home recently. Would highly recommend.

Kevin Dunseath

Absolutely fantastic. We booked Jason at Essence Catering for our wedding this past weekend. We used a small plates format, with hot and cold hors d'oeuvres served as bites, and larger dishes served in Cosmo glasses, cocktail party style rather than sit down. To a dish, the food was spectacular: Beef tenderloin, Salmon on couscous, duck confit, eggplant bites with miso, chicken on basmati rice cakes, chocolate bites... All so good! And rave reviews from our guests. Jason was a pleasure to deal with, helped us estimate our needs, organized the staff and glassware rentals.. All easy as pie. If you are in Ottawa and need a caterer, do yourself a favor and call Essence.

Doreen Wilson

Jason's food at or wedding was the star attraction. Great canapés, fantastic small plates and we had the freedom to pick our own wines. We'd use him again in a heartbeat.

Jaime Nead

We used Essence catering for our wedding and the food and service was phenomenal! Jason and Tanya are incredibly professional and completely down to earth people who are incredibly talented. Their staff is also so respectful and hardworking. Would highly recommend for any function big or small!

Hannah Corrigan

We had Jason and his team from essence catering, cater for our wedding and we were beyond pleased! The food was honestly beyond words and still people are talking about how great and tender the steak was as well as the vegetarian options (cauliflower steak ????). Two of my brothers said they could have eaten a plate full of the steak sushi hors and it would have been money well spent! But beyond that the staff was all very kind and helped out beyond just the catering! Could not have asked for a better experience!

Alex Harder

Jason and Tanya were such a wonderful part of our small family wedding (14 people) at our cottage. Jason is a dynamic and talented chef, and prepared a beautiful meal of passed canapes and 3 small plate courses. I don't think I can do the food justice in words - it was absolutely spectacular and everybody raved about it. Jason also did a wonderful job of accommodating food restrictions - one of our guests who is vegan and one who has some very restrictive food allergies. I also really appreciated Jason's suggestion of doing a cocktail-style meal instead of a plated dinner - having small plate courses and the ability to move around the cocktail tables and lawn at the cottage was perfect to allow for lots of mingling among our small number of guests, and we would not have thought to do this had he not suggested it. We would highly recommend Essence Catering!

Marlene Cross

We found Essence Catering through a Google Search and contacted them to cater an intimate immediate family only wedding at our cottage at Lac Sainte Marie, PQ, after reading the many glowing reviews. They exceeded expectations. Though communication was a bit delayed during COVID lockdown periods, they more than made up for it during the event itself. They were on time, well organized, courteous, COVID sensitive, and provided canapés and small plates that were interesting and excellent. Jason was unfazed by the unique dietary requirements of some of the guests and produced the same quality of dishes to meet their needs. We were all super impressed...and the kitchen was left spotless! Highly recommend Essence Catering for your event.

John Morand

We are the parents of a wedding party that Jason and team catered at our home on the Big Rideau Lake on Aug 21 2020. We were very impressed at how they followed all the Covid rules. The servers have to be commended, travelling so may times, up and down our many stairs to the lake, to serve the most delicious food, all afternoon and into the evening! They were pleasant and professional. And to top it off, our kitchen was left immaculate. We so recommend Essence and will definitely use them again. Morand and Haddad Families.