Mangia Bene Catering & Kitchen Coach Cooking School

This review is for catering for a family reception/party. A friend of mine recommended Mangia Bene for my party when I stated I was looking for great food and low maintenance. Deb and her team absolutely pulled through:

-- Preparation: Deb worked with my partner and I on our "non-traditional" party timing and menu. She was super flexible and gave us great options to create the experience we were looking for (heavy appetizers with a lot of variety - no food "theme"). She also worked through our stranger food restrictions (low purine foods to avoid gout) based on our guest list with creativity! Deb and I mostly communicated through e-mail and phone, which was perfect considering our work schedule prior to the event. Deb made it VERY easy to work with her in planning, which made our stress levels go down a lot.

-- Staff: Deb's staff was professional, flexible, and had several ideas that made the party flow even easier. She was able to have staff walk around during the "get to know you" phase of the reception, and create a buffet of food mid-way. The staff was helpful and knowledgeable.

-- Bar: The great thing about Mangia Bene is they also can provide staff to manage the bar. This was a huge weight off our shoulders for planning as this became our "one stop shop". Deb also worked with us on planning the wine, beer, and mixers to provide for the bar and in what quantities. Her recommendation was very accurate and we were able to keep everyone happy with her setup and her staff.

-- Food: The food was great! The passed appetizers kept people going through the happy hour, and the variety and size were perfect for talking and munching. The buffet had a lot of variety. Deb made a wonderful (and beautiful!) cake of Chocolate and Vanilla layers that tasted rich and divine! Several of my guests asked for the information of the caterer throughout the event!

Absolute recommend!

My daughter had her 7th birthday hosted here by Deb with the party consisting of the kids being led through a cooking class making pizza and cupcakes from scratch. It was a hit!

Deb gently nudged my wife and I to leave, insisting that the kids are better behaved with no other adults besides her and her staff (on this day, two helpers). When we came back a couple of hours later, the kids were were busy eating their creations. They had customized pizzas and made two varieties of cupcakes and three types of frosting - there was enough variety to satisfy the pickiest eater.

Her kitchen space is more than ample for a group of kids (we had a dozen in attendance).

One little boy attending the party was shy and very nervous being left without his parents. By the end, he was Deb's little buddy and gave her a big hug on the way out. She clearly has a magic touch with the kids.

I highly recommend her! You won't be disappointed!

Tip; If you are debating taking a class here, do NOT hesitate! Deb is the type of person that you meet that every now and then that really knocks your socks off, you can tell she has experienced so many great kitchens/interesting people and you cant help to be drawn to her warm nature.

Also wanted to point out that this glowing review is very similar to NINETEEN 5-6 star reviews that yelp has withheld bc of their algorithms... That is their right of course but maybe they should speak with a person because SOMETIMES people are that great.

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We took a team building event and REALLY enjoyed it! I have a few photos which I can post but the space is excellent and Deb was a terrific host!

We had about 15 people and together cooked about 6 courses which were all off the charts and from scratch, AND all finished at relatively the same time! very impressive for a 90% group of men with average culinary experience...

I made the risotta milanese, we also had pan roasted spare ribs, minestrone alla milanee, patate mesce (basil and onion mashed potats), chicken with sage and olive truffles, insalata di prosciutto e aceto balsamico, and topped it off with Tiramisu!

We brought our own beverages and they provided some big time spreads to snack on... Olive, hummus, salmon that were all very flavorful, it was tough to stop eating because we had such a serious meal on the way!

Excited to return!

My work team came and had a cooking competition, Deb was great. I think we all learned some new skills and had amazing food! I can't wait to cook some of the recipes for my family. I would recommend having your team,family or group of friends to take part in one of her team building events. Very fun day.

My daughter and I attended knife skills tonight. A terrific class with lots of information and excellent hands on. It was fun to work in a professional kitchen. As a class, we made a variety of Asian dishes. We learned how to prep and cook. It was not intimidating and the fellow students were fun.

I'd do it again.

We used Mangia Bene for catering. They provided the food for both the luncheon and dinner for my son's Bar Mitzvah and the food received rave reviews from everyone.

One of the best things about Deb is her flexibility. She will let you bring in your own food in addition to hers or even instead of hers. We supplied appetizers and dessert while she and her crew made the main meal.

Her prices are also extremely reasonable.

The servers were friendly and competent and did all of the set-up and clean up. It really made our lives easier.

Stand out dishes were the Beet and Blood Orange Salad and Honey-lemon Glazed Salmon.

I just came from the knife skills class. I found the class to be fabulously informative and a really money saver in the long term since I won't need to pay someone to sharpen my knives or buy new ones thinking the dull ones are too old to be fixed. Also a finger saver, since dull knives lead to accidents!

I had always wondered what it meant to "julienne" something, and more so how those chefs on TV slice things so thin! (Turns out it's cause they have sharp knives! seriously, the only trick! ...we were slicing tomatoes paper thin with no pressure applied to the knife after a half hour of practicing how to sharpen our knives.)

The class was all hands-on, and we got to eat at the end too! (I'd expect eating at most cooking classes, but not one where one of the major goals is sharpening knives.) Plus the dishes we prepared were fabulous; not anything run of the mill. It was almost like taking a class in asian cuisine and knife skills all at the same time!

Deb is a wonderful heart-centered person. You can tell she really loves to cook and loves to share that (the how and the results) with other people. I really value a teacher who loves what they teach and who, through that passion, can inspire their students.

This review is for catering for a wedding reception. Deb and her Mangia Bene Catering company was a joy to work with!

One of the things I was most looking for in a caterer (apart from the food), was that they were communicative. Deb was always very responsive to emails, and answered all of my questions - and made sure to tell me when she had questions that I could answer.

We scheduled a tasting about 6 months out and even when I (rudely, on my part!) brought an extra person, she accommodated them immediately, even going so far as to make us a little dessert for our tasting luncheon. PERK: The tasting was FREE!! Which, in all my caterer research, I had not yet experienced.

When she heard that my (now) husband and I weren't in for a fancy plated dinner, but instead wanted a heavy appetizer buffet, she was all for it! Her Greek, Italian, Mediterranean style absolutely knocked it out of the park.

She was organized, checked in frequently, and even came out to do a site visit a month before, all the way out in Snohomish! On the day of, her staff arrived on time and ready to go. The dinner was perfection, and the guests were raving about the variety and the quality. As the rare bride who actually got to eat at her wedding, I can fully agree.

We elected to bring out own dinnerware, cutlery and wine glasses - Deb and her staff took the time to scrape each plate, and as our venue didn't have a commercial dishwasher, they boxed them for us to take home and wash. All we had to do was put them back in the car and take them home. Saved us SO much time. Lastly, she was fully cooperative with my outside baker and cut the cakes at no extra charge. Truly wonderful. Catering is almost always pricey, but I never felt nickel and dimed. Deb threw in a lot of extra perks that made the cost completely worth every single dollar.

If you are looking for a skilled, organized, and friendly caterer with a wonderful attitude, Deb is your go to person! Highly recommend!

I met Deb two years ago at the wedding show and I knew immediately that she was the perfect caterer for my future wedding! I was her earliest bride (one and a half years before the wedding) but she always got back to me in a timely fashion even though I was far ahead in my planning! She went out of her way to help and offered great advice along the way!

I can't recommend Deb enough! Her food was fabulous and I'm still hearing comments from guests at our wedding who loved the food. The presentation of food and her servers made it all come together and the cake, the appetizers and main meal were excellent. She simply blew me away with her service, food, and her knowledge! Deb knows food and how much to serve and I would highly recommend her! I already miss working with her!

Although I have not taken a class at Mangia Bene, I'm sure I will. I met Deb the owner and she is very personable and very focused on her work. She gave me a tour of the kitchen which was very well laid out and very clean.

There were people in there finishing up on projects and they seemed to be at ease and confident. There is every piece of equipment one could hope for in a commercial kitchen. The location is handy and parking was easy.

Just talking to Deb you know she knows her stuff. She started cooking at eight. She told me she had her first restaurant job at 16 and continued working in restaurants all through college.

I could tell she knows all aspects of the food industry; cooking, baking, managing, front of the house (service). She has even trained outside the U.S., something I'd love to do. Deb opened her kitchen three years ago from which she runs Mangia Bene Catering and Kitchen Coach Cooking School.

It was hard for me to not be distracted by the yummy smelling baking that was going on while I spoke to Deb. I believe I will be taking some cooking classes with her, perhaps for the holiday!