Back from haitus! Sorry I haven’t been active on potatomato for the past few months due to my wedding. I’m glad that it’s over now and I don’t have to think about it anymore. I planned the wedding myself to keep the cost down so it was a lot of effort and time spent in researching and calling/emailing around. It was fun at first and then it just became tedious. Thankfully I got lots of help from my friends and family so the event went smoothly!
Pretty early on I’ve decided to have my ceremony and reception at Marvimon. It’s located near Chinatown and was originally built in 1924 as one of LA’s first automobile showrooms. It was converted to a house in recent years and became an event space soon after. I like the space because it looks like somebody’s cool home. It fits with how I want my wedding to be: intimate, casual and fun. Another plus side of Marvimon is that you can choose your own caterer.
Now onto the food! Being a food blogger I have certain pressure from my friends to have somewhat decent food at the wedding ^^;; I find the typical wedding food (standard chicken/fish/beef entree) too generic and uninspiring. I’m sure we’ve all been to wedding where the food was average and boring and then you’re shocked to learn how much they cost. Since I’m on a very tight budget so I don’t have a lot of options. I called around and most are out of my price range. In fact a certain place (which I shall not name) actually got pissy at me on the phone for daring to ask them if they could do it in my budget. As I was giving up hope and start questioning if good, affordable and interesting caterer exists, I found Heirloom LA!
From day one, Heirloom LA was wonderful to work with! They’re very responsive and straightforward. I told them my price range and they managed to come up with an interesting menu that works within the budget. I didn’t need anything fancy or expensive, just fresh, seasonal ingredients with creativity. And that’s exactly what Heirloom LA is all about. After one happy tasting (with lots of food to take home to) we’re on board!
photo by my wonderful photographer: Floataway studio
One thing I absolutely love at Marvimon: a nice open kitchen. It’s nice to see Heirloom LA prepared and cooked for the night.
For the cocktail hour, we have two tray Passed Appetizers and an appetizer bar. Once again, these beautiful pictures are taken by Floataway studio.
Tray Passed Appetizer # 1: Wild Mushroom and Crispy Polenta Cake with Rocket Arugula
Tray Passed Appetizer #2 :
Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho Shot with Charred Burrata and Basil and Black Olive
Both are excellent! I especially loved the Gazpacho shot. Good thing I tasted these during the tasting because I completely missed them on the day as I was too busy taking wedding portrait outside!
And then we have The Crostini bar . It’s beautifully placed on a set of vintage drawers (you can see it better here). The station contains Artesian Cured Meats and Cheeses and House Pickled Vegetables. Yes Heirloom LA make their own cheese and cured their own meat and sausages, aren’t they awesome? Everything was tasty and fresh. I especially love the burrata cheese. Missing in these pictures are these excellent pizza everyone raved about. Besides the crostini, the chef also made rice crackers for a guest who’s allergic to gluten.
Now onto dinner. I love this chalkboard dinner menu from Heirloom LA. To keep the cost down we did it buffet style, and the food make sense to served in buffet too.
Lasagna cupcake – Heirloom LA signature individual “Perfect-Size” lasagna made from Parmesean Reggiano and Fresh Hand Pulled Mozzarella.
What an excellent idea! I absolutely love these cupcake size and shaped Lasagna. There are three different flavors to chooose from: Wild Boar Bolognese, Artichoke, Sweet Corn & Mascarpone. My favorite is the bolognese. They’re full of flavors and fresh tasting. The guests keep going back to get more and more!
Lettuce Wrap Buffet:
Prime cap steak with onion sprouts and Lemon Vinaigrette and Parmesean (left pix)
Marinated Sweet and Sour Jidoori Chicken
balsamic beets and red spinach, (right pix)
Confit halibut with pickled pepper (left pix)
Basically you have these lettuce cups to warp the above “toppings” and eat them like a taco or wrap. I like the idea because the lettuce gives balance with the richness of the meat. My favorite of the four “toppings” is the steak, it was so delicious and flavorful. The others are excellent as well. Top picture is by Floataway studio.
Beautiful Fruit Platter. The grapes were so sweet!
A lot of the guests raved about the food throughout the night so the food was definitely a hit! The service was excellent too. For instance, we forgot to bring a wedding cake knife (completely blank out on that) for the cake cutting and they’re happy lent us their knife. I also love their presentation very much: chalkboard, rustic wood platters, brown butcher paper and palm leaf plates, which all went really well with the space and the “intimate house party” feel of the wedding. Tal, the general manager, was super helpful in doing the rentals for us too.
I highly recommend Heirloom LA for their delicious, fresh and interesting food. They’re reasonably priced (if you have more budget than us, there’s an option of a whole roasted suckling pig!) and provide excellent service. You can taste their food at various location in LA: Intelligentsia Pasadena, Paper or Plastik cafe and Silver Lake wine.
Tags: Catering, Wedding
