Savoir Faire Catering

Our wedding catering service specializes in creating unforgettable culinary experiences for Santa Barbara destination weddings. We offer customizable menus featuring organic, locally sourced ingredients with options for formal plated dinners, buffet-style service, or interactive food stations. With three decades of expertise, our team ensures seamless execution from tastings to event day, accommodating dietary preferences while maintaining elegant presentation and exceptional flavor.

This service emphasizes sustainable food practices through menus built around seasonal produce from local Santa Barbara farmers. We create dishes that highlight fresh flavors and organic ingredients, offering farm-to-table experiences for weddings, corporate events, and private parties. Our chefs craft menus that change with the seasons, ensuring peak freshness and supporting regional agriculture while maintaining sophisticated presentation and gourmet quality.

Our vegan catering options feature creative, flavorful dishes made from fresh, organic produce and plant-based ingredients. Available for weddings and events, these menus showcase innovative preparations of vegetables, legumes, and grains while maintaining elegant presentation. We accommodate vegan dietary preferences without compromising on taste or visual appeal, ensuring options that satisfy both vegan guests and omnivores through artful combinations of seasonal ingredients.

This service provides personalized menu development tailored to each client's specific event needs and preferences. We collaborate closely with clients to create unique dining experiences, offering options ranging from formal multi-course meals to casual buffet spreads. Our chefs incorporate dietary restrictions, theme requirements, and seasonal ingredient availability to craft menus that perfectly complement the event's atmosphere while maintaining our commitment to quality and sustainability.

Our corporate catering service delivers professional-grade dining solutions for business events in Santa Barbara and surrounding areas. We provide customized menus for conferences, office parties, and networking events, with options ranging from elegant plated dinners to sophisticated buffet presentations. The service includes full coordination of food service logistics, ensuring timely execution and professional staff to create memorable experiences that enhance corporate gatherings while maintaining our standards of quality and sustainability.

Karen Smith-Warner is a self-taught chef with formal training from culinary institutions in Italy, Greece, and California. With 30 years of experience in event catering, she combines global culinary techniques with local Santa Barbara ingredients to create elegant, personalized dining experiences for weddings and special events.

Melissa Martin Scott joined Savoir Faire Catering as a prep cook during culinary school and has grown into her role as sous chef over seven wedding seasons. She specializes in breads and pastries, bringing European-inspired techniques to our kitchen while collaborating closely with Karen on menu development and event execution.

With nearly two decades of Santa Barbara catering experience, Susie Criley oversees staff coordination and bar services. She manages multiple roles from prep work to event execution, ensuring smooth operations and exceptional service delivery. Her extensive industry knowledge and organizational skills make her indispensable to our team's success.

We specialize in weddings, corporate events, private dinner parties, and fundraising events throughout Santa Barbara and the Santa Ynez Valley.

Yes, we offer gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, and plant-based options, with menus customizable to meet various dietary requirements and preferences.

While we focus on catering, we collaborate closely with event planners and venues to ensure seamless execution of your event's food service components.

We recommend contacting us 6-12 months ahead for weddings, though we can accommodate shorter timelines for smaller events when available.

We primarily serve Santa Barbara, Montecito, and the Santa Ynez Valley, with experience handling destination weddings and events in these regions.

Yes, we work closely with clients to create fully customized menus tailored to your event's theme, season, and guest preferences.

So so so so excited when I talk about our wedding food! We had a large tented outdoor wedding in December of 300 (!) and had a full and amazing dinner, plus cocktails and appetizers beforehand. Karen is the true definition of a professional at her job -- and she goes the extra mile to make it an art! During our tasting I felt like a queen, and there wasn't a single dish that didn't blow me and my fiance out of the water (and he's a rather picky eater!).

We had people coming up to us ON THE DANCE FLOOR just to grab us and tell us how incredible the food was. "Best food I've ever had.and not just 'at a wedding!'" We made several large changes in the week leading up to our wedding as well that greatly affected the menu (like adding a second main course!).and Karen handled it like a champ. Grilled Prime Beef Tri-Tip Steaks, roasted Salmon w/ lemon, herbs and basil butter, the most gorgeous persimmon salad w/ arugula. just to whet your appetite a bit. :) So thankful for this chef and her expertise and attention to detail! I felt so comfortable and at peace in her hands. Thank you, Karen and Savoir Faire Team!

Karen is an amazing chef. All her food is sourced locally, and her dishes are creative and delicious. Her staff is top-notch; they go above and beyond. Savoir Faire is great.

We had a vineyard inspired wedding in Solvang and choose Savior Faire because the food is sourced locally and was amazing at our tasting. As we got closer to the wedding we were informed that we'd need to rent several pieces of servingware, chafing dishes and even an oven. Begrudgingly we did as we wanted the menu we agreed to several months earlier. We just wished that Karen told us early on so we could account for it in our budget.

The food was excellent and the staff was ok. Guests at the wedding said they saw the staff taking leftover food to their van and asked that they leave it at the residence. The part the upsets me the most is that now, 4 months later, the owner has not returned servingware from the rental company that she admitted has. I've asked several times for her to return it and now I have to pay for the cost of the items and the rental fees. She's now ignoring my calls and emails. Her fresh faire is amazing, just dont agree to rent any equipment and keep an eye on the leftovers!

I have to admit that our wedding was eighteen years ago, and we're still happily married, thank you very much, but both my wife and I loved the food at our wedding, even though we didn't get to eat it until we were in the hotel room. The catered had saved us a couple of plates to take with us and even cake. We were having so much fun that we forgot to eat. Thank you Savoir Faire, I hope you're still making yummy food for a reasonable price.