A wedding caterer is responsible for more than the meal. Good food is a given, but an excellent caterer will help set the tone and ensure that your wedding day is a reflection of your style as a couple. We’ve asked some Island caterers to share their favorite menus, and they’ve responded with a truly delectable array of options that reflect their versatility and creativity. Whether you’re planning a backyard barbecue or a multi-course extravaganza, these caterers have it covered.

A Spring Wedding
Jan Buhrman, Kitchen Porch

Since 1986, the Kitchen Porch catering company, a pioneer in the Island’s Slow Food movement, has featured local, seasonal, and sustainable foods in a wide range of cuisines for events of all styles and sizes. This menu celebrates the freshness of a New England spring garden, with Island-grown ingredients.

Welcome Drinks

• Cucumber Water
• Hibiscus Limeade

Specialty Cocktails

• Mint Juleps

Passed Appetizers

• Lobster Profiterole
• Aleppo and Coriander–Encrusted Tuna with Pickled Ramps on Crispy Potato
• Spring Vegetables Wrapped in Rice Paper with Micro Greens and Miso Lamb with Tzatziki
• Chicken Skewers with Ponzu

Family-Style on Tables

• Pickled Spring Carrots and Turnips and Grissini Breadsticks
• Warm Mermaid Farm Feta with Focaccia
• Spring Greens from North Tabor Farm

Plated Main Courses

• Grass-Fed Hanger Steak with Tomato-Onion Jam
• Seared Halibut with Salsa Verde

Sides

• Spring Vegetable Succotash
• Grain Salad with Chard, Organic Faro, Quinoa, and Rice with Peppers and Thyme

Dessert

• Wedding Cake with Raspberries and Chocolate Ganache
• Almond Cookies
• Ginger Shortbread

Summer's Bounty
Rose Willett, Fiddlehead Farm Catering

Fiddlehead Farm Catering provides custom menus using organic, local, and seasonal ingredients. Services range from intimate to large dinner parties, cocktail parties, brunches, rehearsal dinners, and wedding receptions for up  to a hundred guests. Fiddlehead Farm Catering also offers event planning services, gift baskets, and pre-ceremony catering for bridal parties.

Passed Hors D'oeuvres

• Morning Glory Farm Sweet Corn Cakes with Smoky Tomato Coulis
• Salmon Tartare with Red Onion Crème Fraiche
• BLT Tartlets
• Endive with Fresh Cloumage Cheese and Fava Bean Purée

Salads

• Fiddlehead Farm Field Greens, Herb, and Flower Salad with Sherry Vinaigrette
• Heirloom Tomato Salad with Red Onion, Opal Basil, and Aged Balsamic Vinegar

Plated Entrees

• Grilled Herb-Marinated Butterflied Leg of Lamb with Flageolet Beans and French Salsa Verde
• Oven-Roasted Wild Striped Bass, Frizzled Leeks, and Red Pepper Sauce

Side Dish

• Island Summer Succotash

Dessert

• Cornmeal Shortcakes with Frog Hollow Farm Peaches, Mint, and Mascarpone
• Bittersweet Chocolate and Brown Sugar Brownies

Paella
Dee Smith, Tea Lane Caterers

Tea Lane Caterers – famous for its three-foot pan of seafood paella created on the premises – started working with Mediterranean and Spanish cuisine more than sixteen years ago. For wedding parties with dietary restrictions, Tea Lane offers gluten-free cookies, cakes, breads, as well as main entrées prepared in a gluten-free commercial kitchen.

Vineyard-Style Seafood Paella

• Loads of Vegetables with Chicken, Sausage, Shrimp, Littlenecks, Mussels, and Squid

Served With

• Simple Salad
• French Bread
• Grilled Asparagus

Sweet Buffet

• Belgian Chocolate Ganache Brownies
• Chocolate Mousse
• Petite Lemon Meringue Pies
• Spanish Flan
• Assorted Cookies

Fall on the Farm
Bernadette Cormie, Herring Run Kitchens & Provisions

Herring Run Kitchens offers full-service catering and private chef services for intimate gatherings, as well as lobster and clambakes, weddings, fundraisers, and drop-off meals. This menu showcases seasonal Island produce for a relaxed meal of satisfying cool-weather comfort foods.

Specialty Drink

• Mulled Cranberry Cider

Hearty Soup

• Shrimp Corn Chowder

Passed Hors D'oeuvres

• Pulled Roasted Duck on Za’atar Crostini with Red Onion Port Marmalade
• Miniature Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Kilchurn Cave-Aged Cheddar
• Coconut Ginger Crab Cakes with Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
• Black Truffle Risotto Balls
• Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Phyllo Pouches
• Scallops with Prosciutto

Cheese Station

• Assorted Cheeses
• Vegetable and Fruit Platter with Organic Greek Yogurt, Cumin, and Cucumber Dip with Fresh Herbs
• Roasted Beet Tzatziki
• Fall Apple Fig Compote
• Herbed Olives
• Artichoke Crab Dip with Za’atar Spiced Pita Chips

Plated Salad

• Baby Greens and Arugula with Kilchurn Cave-Aged Cheddar, Cabernet-Cranberry Figs, and Bull’s Blood Beet Greens with Maple-Glazed Cayenne-Roasted Walnuts and Aged White Balsamic Maple Dressing

Small Plates Buffet Station

• Cabernet-Braised Short Ribs over Gorgonzola Polenta with Herb Gremolata and Cabernet Reduction
• Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Melted Leeks, Sautéed Endive, Kale, Spinach, and Feta
• Grilled Local Fall Vegetables with Balsamic Marinade
• Herb-Roasted Red Potatoes
• Tomato, Zucchini, and Asiago Casserole
• Lemon-Dressed Israeli Couscous with Roasted Fall Vegetables

Festive Dinner
V. Jaime Hamlin and Sons Catering & Party Design

From Jaime Hamlin: This is the menu from my own fall 2012 wedding. Even though I have been in the catering business for twenty-eight years, putting this menu together with my fiancé, Paul, was a compromise because he loves to cook – and eat – too! I thought having an array of tapas on the table when guests sit would be fun. I wanted it to feel more like a dinner party at home with friends and family passing things around. This summer Paul made three kinds of pickles and sold them at Fiddlehead Farm in West Tisbury; we’ve paired them with a Cotswold’s cheddar. The caramelized pork belly sandwiches were something I made for a Korean bride this summer and they were so good, I had to have them. Having tried about a million cakes in the course of my career, I realized I don’t really like them, so Paul suggested his childhood favorite: an icebox cake with chocolate wafers and espresso cream. And who doesn’t like a tiny cup of hot cocoa with cinnamon marshmallows at a fall wedding?

Drinks

• Dark and Stormys
• Spiced Pear Martinis
• Wine, Beer, and Full-ish Bar

Raw Bar

• Local Littlenecks and Oysters
• Cold Shrimp with Homemade Cocktail Sauce
• Vineyard-aigrette
• Fresh Lemon

Cold Hors D'oeuvres

• Bay Scallop Ceviche
• Spicy Tuna Tartare on Warm Brown Rice Nori Cakes

Hot Hors D'oeuvres


• Caramelized Pork Belly Sandwiches with Radishes, Scallions, Cilantro, and Spicy Sriracha Drizzle
• Demitasse Cup of Corn and Lemongrass Soup
• Tomato Tart with Fontina Cheese, Dijon Mustard, and Parsley Vinaigrette

Tapas on the Table

• Paul’s Pickles and Cotswold’s Cheese
• Tzatziki
• Olives
• Roasted Tomato Dip
• White Anchovies
• Grilled Baguettes with French Salted Butter

Entrees

• Marinated Butterflied Lamb with Fresh Chili-Mint Sauce
• North Tabor Farm Greens with Shaved Parmesan, Lemon, and Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• Roasted Striped Bass with Roast Tomato–Basil Beurre Blanc
• Duncan’s Mac and Cheese

Vegetables

• Classic Potatoes Dauphinoise

• Maple-Roasted Beets, Carrots, Parsnips, and Delicata Squash

Dessert

• Paul’s Ice Box Cake
• Demi-Cups of MariBelle Hot Chocolate with Cinnamon Marshmallows

Pig Roast
Everett Whiting, Local Smoke

Local Smoke uses Island-raised chicken, lamb, beef, and pork, seasoned with Kansas City–style barbecue sauce and a homemade dry rub. Whole pig roasts are a specialty, along with spit-roasted whole lamb and chicken cupcakes (boneless chicken thighs with dry rub, smoked in cupcake trays). This is a casual menu perfect with paper plates and a keg of beer, for a down-home rehearsal dinner.
    
The Mains

• Whole Smoked Pasture-Raised Pig
• Dry-Rub Chicken Cupcakes

Sides

• Broccoli-Carrot-Cabbage Slaw in a Light Rice Vinegar Dressing
• Sweet Corn Custard
• Red Bliss Potato Salad

Late Night

• Pulled Pork Sandwiches