Andres, the bartender makes the awesome an Manhattan!
Melody D.
I purchased a deal from Living Social for the Taste of Morocco cooking class. After registering for the class, I had a question and emailed the chef. He never responded to my email. On the day of the class, we arrived at the location in a sketchy looking parking lot to find a note on the door stating the facility had a gas leak and provided a nearby address for the alternate location. The alternate location was a dirty manufacturing kitchen that did not have air conditioning. It had been 100 degrees that day and the kitchen was extremely hot. Several fans were blowing in a feeble attempt to cool things down. The advertised menu was lamb tangine but the chef announced that the meat was a beef and lamb combination. The class started at 7 but we did not have anything to eat or drink except water until almost 8:30 - even though the class was ending at 9pm. We finally asked him to serve the wine and he did about15 minutes later. The wine was good but hot. Not warm, HOT. The carrot dip was served before the wine but the chef forgot to bring appetizer plates. I am not sure why he would not let us use the dinner plates but we sat there looking at it not sure what to do until I finally announced that I was hungry and would make do without a plate. After that the chef gave out some small napkins for us to use. The food was mediocre and the chef did not have enough copies of the recipes for everyone in the class. One recipe he only brought 2 copies, another 3. There were 12 people registered for the class. He said he would email the recipes but I have yet to receive anything from him. Chef Coulon did not follow his recipes and used different ingredients from what was listed. The Chef took shortcuts on everything and the flavors reflected that. I did not taste any lamb at all and the tangine was made with low quality beef. The chef is a very friendly and nice guy but I am guessing he was more concerned with possible refunds than in presenting a quality experience. He should have canceled the class and both the food and the experience given should have been below his standards. The chef could have made the experience better by serving the wine sooner, cooling it down before class, providing something to snack on before 8:30, among other things. I am not sure how different things would have been if he had been in his own facility but I doubt the pace of the experience would have changed significantly. It was unacceptable to advertise a lamb meal and serve low quality beef in its place. I understand that things were disrupted by the gas leak but the level of preparedness was on par with the gas leak having happened 1 hour before the class, not the day before the class. I do not recommend Basikneads for a cooking class.
Tami S.
We bought a Groupon and went to the Seafood Cooking Class. My husband isn't much of a cook and since he's retired and I'm still working, I want him to take on more of the cooking duties. I was worried at first because the class started slowly and I know my husband gets antsy. I shouldn't have worried. We both walked away as huge fans and he's even tried some of the techniques (not recipes!). Great class; food is good; I learned a lot and will use what I learned.
Yelpowitz E.
I had a great experience with Basikneads for my wedding. Given that there was a hurricane that day and all the servers showed up and did an amazing job helped a lot. They were all properly dressed and the food was mouthwatering. My husband and I had two food tastings and we had good control on the food options (we had some vegetarians, kosher, food allergies, etc) but they met all the requisites. The Chef is very personable and knowledgeable and our coordinator, Lena, was exceptional. I highly recommend them!
debbie m.
To be fair - the first time I used Basikneads catering (Christmas Party 2010) it was awesome and I was pretty pleased. This time - not so much. Sure the food is really super good and the price is right - well kind of. First of all - i adjusted my number down by the required time and yet did not get a better rate for the food. When i called this to their attention i was told i would get a credit - which i am still waiting for. In addition - my event started at 1 pm. he arrived at 1:20. seriously!! the only saving grace was that only one person had arrived before the food. I had to rush to get everything in place, which i was doing when my other guests arrived. in addition, he brought food that was to be served hot on trays that i had to transfer instead of foil pans - and who ever heard of eating scallops wrapped in bacon cold? Gerrr. I was incredibly disappointed especially after having a good first experience. Plus i am still mad i haven't gotten my credit a month later. So what would have been a good reccomendation is now a Eek! Methinks not.
Arnold S.
We emphatically do not recommend Basikneads as a caterer, because of their terrible business practices. Our daughter selected Basikneads based on food tastings and their promise to provide the wedding buffet dinner she requested. We paid Basikneads over $10,000.00 in advance to keep that promise. Here is what happened on the night of the wedding and the several weeks afterward. * There was clearly not enough food provided on the buffet for 1/3 of our guests. The buffet table ran out of four items before those guests were served. In a subsequent phone conversation two days later, chef-owner Cornell Coulon said that he had planned 1-1/2 each of the salmon and chicken satays for each of the guests. On the night of the wedding, as the mother of the bride took a chicken satay, one of the servers said that there was "only one per person" and asked that another server come to those plates to oversee the distribution. Each of the satays barely had any meat on them to begin with, so it was surprising to the bride's mother that only one was being allotted to each guest. Cornell blamed the lack of sufficient food on children at the wedding. However, the employees of Basikneads served the items on the buffet, so they were in charge of how much each guest received. One and a half of these items was simply not enough for guests at a buffet dinner at a wedding. In addition, the buffet ran out of two other items. * The bar table was disorganized and sloppy. The bartenders did not even put out all the wines that were brought in. They turned guests away who requested merlot, saying that we didn't have any. They simply never opened all the boxes of wine to look at what was in them. The father of the bride had to go into the back room to bring them out. In addition, the bartenders opened an excessive number of bottles of alcohol in advance, causing the parents of the bride to be charged for wine and liquor that was never served. * The mother of the bride contacted Basikneads the day after the wedding via e-mail to express disappointment with the lack of sufficient food. The next day we called Basikneads and left a message to contact us. Lena Muhtadi returned the phone call later that day, and the mother of the bride described how upset and embarrassed we were in front of our guests to both Lena and Cornell. Ultimately, after listening to their justifications, we asked for restitution of the individual costs of the four items multiplied by 33 guests. The total came to $330, which Lena promised would be sent. * When no check arrived after two weeks, we sent a reminder e-mail. Receiving neither response nor check almost a week later, the father of the bride called Basikneads twice in one day. Whoever answered the phone acted rather strangely, first offering Lena's and Cornell's voice mailboxes to leave a message, then saying, "Oh, we don't have voice mail." The father of the bride left messages with this person both times and asked for a return call. The calls were never responded to by anyone from Basikneads. * A couple days later, we received an e-mail sent by Lena saying that Cornell was on vacation and stating, "I assure you that he has not forgotten about your refund, and this is a priority to him." * Two weeks later, not having received the check, we sent three separate registered return receipt letters to owners Cornell Coulon and Kristen Coulon and their manager Lena Muhtadi. They all signed for these letters, but it is eight weeks after the wedding and we have not received a check or an acknowledgement from anyone at Basikneads. In dealing with this matter, both verbal and written promises were broken by Basikneads. Thank goodness everything else about our daughter's wedding was wonderful, but our experience with Basikneads after the wedding has left a bitter taste in our mouths.
Jim B.
My girl got me a cooking class groupon last year as a gift. Finally was able to head to Basikneads last night with her and use it. I can't believe I waited this long!! We signed up for the Creole 101 class, as the food interests us. The menu consisted of gumbo, mac n' cheese, and bread pudding. All were home runs. At the beginning of the night I found myself antsy that we weren't immediately chopping and moving along with a recipe. Shame on me for not relaxing in the kitchen and enjoying the process! Chef Cornell Coulon moved at a deliberately relaxed pace as he explained his beliefs on cooking (learn methods, not just rote repetition of recipes), how you can alter recipes (you want more cheese? add more cheese!), and the secret to all good cooking (lots of heavy cream), and also his sense of integrity about his cooking and the food business. I finally began to relax and take in all the knowledge that was coming my way. Got some great stories about the industry and had a great time (and great meal.) Check them out, whether for catering or classes.
Randy M.
My review is based on my experience with Basikneads over the past six months concerning my wedding reception. My wife and I both found the people at BK to be very friendly and flexible. Back when we were first looking for a catering vendor, we called BK for a quote and some information, which lead to our first meeting and tasting. Going on just "tropical themed wedding", Chef Coulon and the staff at BK created a menu specially for us. And they hit the nail right on the head. hors d'oeuvres: -Plantain Chips with Black Bean Tomato Salsa -Smoked Mozzarella and Caramelized Onion Empanadas -Jerk Chicken Skewers with Spicy Pineapple-Banana Dipping Sauce -Shrimp Croquette on Sugar Cane with Cucumber Sauce -Mango BBQ Sliders with Julienne Plantains Main: -Cayman Islands Mango Chutney Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Tropical Fruit Salsa -Chipotle Marinated Flank Steak with Salsa Verde -Island Black Bean, Rice, and Vegetable Salad with Orange Vinaigrette From that first tasting to the reception we only ended up changing out one of the hors d'oeuvres. I mentioned that BK is flexible and can meet your needs. Having a tropical theme, we greatly desired to have a frozen pina colada machine, and after a few attempts of finding one on our own we turned to the resources of BK. They don't have the machines themselves, but were able to find one at a reasonable price and just rolled all the paperwork into our contract to make it all very easy. BK also worked with us every inch of the way in helping us customize the whole experience. On the big day BK was firing on all cylinders. From the deliveries, to food prep, to hors d'oeuvres, to dinner, and the bar there was not one issue I was aware of. 5 star service and personality to go along with a 5 star product. If you are looking to break the mold for your wedding, you should see what BasiKneads can offer you.
Andres, the bartender makes the awesome an Manhattan!
I purchased a deal from Living Social for the Taste of Morocco cooking class. After registering for the class, I had a question and emailed the chef. He never responded to my email. On the day of the class, we arrived at the location in a sketchy looking parking lot to find a note on the door stating the facility had a gas leak and provided a nearby address for the alternate location. The alternate location was a dirty manufacturing kitchen that did not have air conditioning. It had been 100 degrees that day and the kitchen was extremely hot. Several fans were blowing in a feeble attempt to cool things down. The advertised menu was lamb tangine but the chef announced that the meat was a beef and lamb combination. The class started at 7 but we did not have anything to eat or drink except water until almost 8:30 - even though the class was ending at 9pm. We finally asked him to serve the wine and he did about15 minutes later. The wine was good but hot. Not warm, HOT. The carrot dip was served before the wine but the chef forgot to bring appetizer plates. I am not sure why he would not let us use the dinner plates but we sat there looking at it not sure what to do until I finally announced that I was hungry and would make do without a plate. After that the chef gave out some small napkins for us to use. The food was mediocre and the chef did not have enough copies of the recipes for everyone in the class. One recipe he only brought 2 copies, another 3. There were 12 people registered for the class. He said he would email the recipes but I have yet to receive anything from him. Chef Coulon did not follow his recipes and used different ingredients from what was listed. The Chef took shortcuts on everything and the flavors reflected that. I did not taste any lamb at all and the tangine was made with low quality beef. The chef is a very friendly and nice guy but I am guessing he was more concerned with possible refunds than in presenting a quality experience. He should have canceled the class and both the food and the experience given should have been below his standards. The chef could have made the experience better by serving the wine sooner, cooling it down before class, providing something to snack on before 8:30, among other things. I am not sure how different things would have been if he had been in his own facility but I doubt the pace of the experience would have changed significantly. It was unacceptable to advertise a lamb meal and serve low quality beef in its place. I understand that things were disrupted by the gas leak but the level of preparedness was on par with the gas leak having happened 1 hour before the class, not the day before the class. I do not recommend Basikneads for a cooking class.
We bought a Groupon and went to the Seafood Cooking Class. My husband isn't much of a cook and since he's retired and I'm still working, I want him to take on more of the cooking duties. I was worried at first because the class started slowly and I know my husband gets antsy. I shouldn't have worried. We both walked away as huge fans and he's even tried some of the techniques (not recipes!). Great class; food is good; I learned a lot and will use what I learned.
I had a great experience with Basikneads for my wedding. Given that there was a hurricane that day and all the servers showed up and did an amazing job helped a lot. They were all properly dressed and the food was mouthwatering. My husband and I had two food tastings and we had good control on the food options (we had some vegetarians, kosher, food allergies, etc) but they met all the requisites. The Chef is very personable and knowledgeable and our coordinator, Lena, was exceptional. I highly recommend them!
To be fair - the first time I used Basikneads catering (Christmas Party 2010) it was awesome and I was pretty pleased. This time - not so much. Sure the food is really super good and the price is right - well kind of. First of all - i adjusted my number down by the required time and yet did not get a better rate for the food. When i called this to their attention i was told i would get a credit - which i am still waiting for. In addition - my event started at 1 pm. he arrived at 1:20. seriously!! the only saving grace was that only one person had arrived before the food. I had to rush to get everything in place, which i was doing when my other guests arrived. in addition, he brought food that was to be served hot on trays that i had to transfer instead of foil pans - and who ever heard of eating scallops wrapped in bacon cold? Gerrr. I was incredibly disappointed especially after having a good first experience. Plus i am still mad i haven't gotten my credit a month later. So what would have been a good reccomendation is now a Eek! Methinks not.
We emphatically do not recommend Basikneads as a caterer, because of their terrible business practices. Our daughter selected Basikneads based on food tastings and their promise to provide the wedding buffet dinner she requested. We paid Basikneads over $10,000.00 in advance to keep that promise. Here is what happened on the night of the wedding and the several weeks afterward. * There was clearly not enough food provided on the buffet for 1/3 of our guests. The buffet table ran out of four items before those guests were served. In a subsequent phone conversation two days later, chef-owner Cornell Coulon said that he had planned 1-1/2 each of the salmon and chicken satays for each of the guests. On the night of the wedding, as the mother of the bride took a chicken satay, one of the servers said that there was "only one per person" and asked that another server come to those plates to oversee the distribution. Each of the satays barely had any meat on them to begin with, so it was surprising to the bride's mother that only one was being allotted to each guest. Cornell blamed the lack of sufficient food on children at the wedding. However, the employees of Basikneads served the items on the buffet, so they were in charge of how much each guest received. One and a half of these items was simply not enough for guests at a buffet dinner at a wedding. In addition, the buffet ran out of two other items. * The bar table was disorganized and sloppy. The bartenders did not even put out all the wines that were brought in. They turned guests away who requested merlot, saying that we didn't have any. They simply never opened all the boxes of wine to look at what was in them. The father of the bride had to go into the back room to bring them out. In addition, the bartenders opened an excessive number of bottles of alcohol in advance, causing the parents of the bride to be charged for wine and liquor that was never served. * The mother of the bride contacted Basikneads the day after the wedding via e-mail to express disappointment with the lack of sufficient food. The next day we called Basikneads and left a message to contact us. Lena Muhtadi returned the phone call later that day, and the mother of the bride described how upset and embarrassed we were in front of our guests to both Lena and Cornell. Ultimately, after listening to their justifications, we asked for restitution of the individual costs of the four items multiplied by 33 guests. The total came to $330, which Lena promised would be sent. * When no check arrived after two weeks, we sent a reminder e-mail. Receiving neither response nor check almost a week later, the father of the bride called Basikneads twice in one day. Whoever answered the phone acted rather strangely, first offering Lena's and Cornell's voice mailboxes to leave a message, then saying, "Oh, we don't have voice mail." The father of the bride left messages with this person both times and asked for a return call. The calls were never responded to by anyone from Basikneads. * A couple days later, we received an e-mail sent by Lena saying that Cornell was on vacation and stating, "I assure you that he has not forgotten about your refund, and this is a priority to him." * Two weeks later, not having received the check, we sent three separate registered return receipt letters to owners Cornell Coulon and Kristen Coulon and their manager Lena Muhtadi. They all signed for these letters, but it is eight weeks after the wedding and we have not received a check or an acknowledgement from anyone at Basikneads. In dealing with this matter, both verbal and written promises were broken by Basikneads. Thank goodness everything else about our daughter's wedding was wonderful, but our experience with Basikneads after the wedding has left a bitter taste in our mouths.
My girl got me a cooking class groupon last year as a gift. Finally was able to head to Basikneads last night with her and use it. I can't believe I waited this long!! We signed up for the Creole 101 class, as the food interests us. The menu consisted of gumbo, mac n' cheese, and bread pudding. All were home runs. At the beginning of the night I found myself antsy that we weren't immediately chopping and moving along with a recipe. Shame on me for not relaxing in the kitchen and enjoying the process! Chef Cornell Coulon moved at a deliberately relaxed pace as he explained his beliefs on cooking (learn methods, not just rote repetition of recipes), how you can alter recipes (you want more cheese? add more cheese!), and the secret to all good cooking (lots of heavy cream), and also his sense of integrity about his cooking and the food business. I finally began to relax and take in all the knowledge that was coming my way. Got some great stories about the industry and had a great time (and great meal.) Check them out, whether for catering or classes.
My review is based on my experience with Basikneads over the past six months concerning my wedding reception. My wife and I both found the people at BK to be very friendly and flexible. Back when we were first looking for a catering vendor, we called BK for a quote and some information, which lead to our first meeting and tasting. Going on just "tropical themed wedding", Chef Coulon and the staff at BK created a menu specially for us. And they hit the nail right on the head. hors d'oeuvres: -Plantain Chips with Black Bean Tomato Salsa -Smoked Mozzarella and Caramelized Onion Empanadas -Jerk Chicken Skewers with Spicy Pineapple-Banana Dipping Sauce -Shrimp Croquette on Sugar Cane with Cucumber Sauce -Mango BBQ Sliders with Julienne Plantains Main: -Cayman Islands Mango Chutney Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Tropical Fruit Salsa -Chipotle Marinated Flank Steak with Salsa Verde -Island Black Bean, Rice, and Vegetable Salad with Orange Vinaigrette From that first tasting to the reception we only ended up changing out one of the hors d'oeuvres. I mentioned that BK is flexible and can meet your needs. Having a tropical theme, we greatly desired to have a frozen pina colada machine, and after a few attempts of finding one on our own we turned to the resources of BK. They don't have the machines themselves, but were able to find one at a reasonable price and just rolled all the paperwork into our contract to make it all very easy. BK also worked with us every inch of the way in helping us customize the whole experience. On the big day BK was firing on all cylinders. From the deliveries, to food prep, to hors d'oeuvres, to dinner, and the bar there was not one issue I was aware of. 5 star service and personality to go along with a 5 star product. If you are looking to break the mold for your wedding, you should see what BasiKneads can offer you.
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