Finesse Catering

06/11/2024

After four years of running Finesse Catering I have decided to hang up my apron and take some time out.

We have had a particularly challenging year with health and operational problems to navigate, which have ultimately led to our chef making the difficult decision to resign from Finesse.

I am very sad about that decision obviously and we have talked at length to try to find a solution. I have tried to work out if we could run the business in a different way, working with freelance chefs, or to look into hiring another full time professional chef but to be honest it just all felt too big a mountain to climb right now.

I have been in discussion at length with Tom Holden and his team in Cardigan. Tom runs a successful, professional catering and wedding business and I have painstakingly planned a handover of the weddings & events we had booked in the diary for 2025, to him.

Hospitality in all of its forms is as tough as it is rewarding.
I feel like it’s the end of a chapter for me. Closing the door on hospitality for the last time.

It all started in 2020 when the cafe at Stiwdio3 became my responsibility and Dave was my Head chef. We battled our way through Covid with the other chefs and staff support. When Dave announced at the end of 2021 that he was going to sell the business, I said I’d buy it 😅 It was the steepest learning curve of my life!

It’s a big thing to put your trust in a bunch of people to provide the food for your wedding day and I feel privileged to have had that opportunity. Thanks to the couples who booked us.

I am also still in awe of the skills of our chefs. How you actually manage to deliver such superb food (quite often from a tent, in a field, with a cold tap nailed to a stick as your only luxury) still remains a mystery to me.

It goes without saying that I couldn’t have done it without the many many people that have helped to make it all happen and I thank every one of you for your help, partnering, supporting, shopping, cheffing, cooking, chopping, serving, packing the van, unpacking the van, the list is endless.

Adieu from a (slightly) weary business owner.

17/09/2024

Jess and Charles
14th September 2024
Serenity Gardens

Back last year I was invited to an open evening of a new venue Serenity Gardens and on Saturday we got the opportunity to cater a lovely wedding there.

A wonderfully setting with a kitchen space around the side of the tipi.

Jess and Charles wanted a BBQ platter and trio of desserts. Perfect for the relaxed style of wedding they wished for.

It was our last wedding of the season and we had a little glass of champers to celebrate another amazing year.

I wish to personally thank everyone who’s made this year possible.

Thank you to the team ♥️

chefs 🧑‍🍳👩‍🍳

To the wonderful venues 🏡

… and more recently to Benji for his help 🚐💪

We have a few weekends left for 2025. Please get in touch via the online enquiries form for more information…

See you next year 🥂🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🍽️💍

25/08/2024

♥️ Amy & Daniel ♥️
Green Grove Barns
24th August 2024

Not many photos of the food at this wonderful wedding sorry… I must have been busy in the kitchen 😅 🏃‍♀️👩‍🍳

But we had a wonderful time ….. our first at Green Grove Barns. A beautiful, spacious venue overlooking the countryside 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 The staff there were super friendly and we were looked after with tea and drinks all day. Diolch 🙏

The wedding was relaxed, full of fun, great music, dancing and happiness.

Amy looked stunning in her beautiful dress and Daniel and his entourage (of course) looked dapper in their suits.

Gareth was Best Man who we have met before when we catered for him, his bride the beautiful and guests at Sylen Lakes back in June last year. It’s always lovely to bump into our past couples at weddings 👋

Canapés of Asian sticky pork belly, Vegetable terrine on sweet potato fondant, Honey and whole grain mustard chipolatas & Cod goujons

~ Starters ~
A Traditional Scotch Egg with a Whole Grain Mustard Aioli or Leek & Potato Soup with a Poppyseed Bread Roll

~ Mains ~
Slow Roasted Welsh Beef
with Yorkshire Pudding and Rich Red Wine Gravy
For the vegetarians a Seasonal Roasted Vegetable and Perl Las Tart with Cream Leek Sauce

All mains were served with Garlic and Herb Roasted Potatoes, Honey Roasted Parsnips, Carrots & Seasonal Greens

~ Desserts ~

White chocolate and raspberry cheesecake or a chocolate brownie with dark Belgian chocolate Ganache.

In the evening we served Pulled Pork rolls with crackling, stuffing & Apple sauce. With homemade coleslaw, herby potatoes & and tomato and cucumber mixed leaf salad 🥗 🍃

Congratulations Amy & Daniel ♥️

11/08/2024

Nia & Carwyn
10th August 2024
Pen Y Graig Barns, Abergwilli

Yey… another fabulous wedding & another stunning venue.

Congratulations Nia and Carwyn ♥️

Canapés in the sunshine on arrival … ☀️

For the ‘sit down’ our couple chose a Tapas style menu with sharing boards of BBQ ribs, Slow Braised Beef and chicken skewers.

Stuffed red peppers and Courgette & Halloumi skewers for our veggies 🫑

Humous, Tzatziki, with warmed ciabatta 🥖

Pasta, and mixed leaf salad with Patatas Bravas 🍃

Followed by our Trio of Desserts 🧁

Super day
♥️







🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

05/08/2024

♥️ Matthew & Lauren ♥️

August 3rd 2024, Llanidloes

When you are asked to cater for a marquee wedding in a field in mid West Wales you know you’re in for working in a wonderful setting ✨

Our wedding on Saturday was the perfect spot

Set in the valley of lush green Welsh hillside sat the Tipis 💚🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿💚🎪💚

Everything was beautifully thought out.

Cute table settings with informal floral arrangements, stunning canopy floral decs, a big bold floral archway 🌸🌺🌼

You just know you’re going to have a fabulous catering day when you arrive.

Canapés were served along with bubbly on the guest arrival 🥂

Sharing platters and trio of dessert in the tipi followed later.

Later served our best tea and coffee from
Coaltown Coffee Roasters

Thank you to Matthew and Lauren for choosing us to cater for you.

We had a blast and felt privileged to be part of your wonderful day ♥️









JAVA Wedding & Event Tipi's

04/08/2024

We were back at the stunning Plas Dinam on Thursday.

Emily & Graham married at the stunning Country House and had their canapés under the shade of the ‘stretch tent’ ♥️

The guests then moved into the barn for their wedding breakfast in the sunshine ☀️

We served Arancini, Halloumi skewers and Welsh Rarebit canapés outside in the tent.

After photos, the guests moved into the beautiful barn setting with informal, delightfully pretty table settings. We served a 2 course meal to the tables.

Relaxed & happy wedding, full of love and happiness ♥️ Perfect

30/07/2024

We had a verrrry busy weekend …

We started at Ffron Farm with a wonderful wedding for Vanessa and Chris. Always friendly, casual and relaxed in the round house there. Our food complemented the theme…

Sharing Menu - served on wooden platters to the tables

Halloumi, Red Pepper, shallot, Mushroom Courgette kebabs with a Basil and Honey Dressing

Falafel with mint hummus

Lamb Sheesh Kebab with Mint Raita

Chicken Sheesh Kebab with optional Chilli Sauce

Grilled Salmon Fillet with a Lemon and Coriander Marinade

Veggie Sausages and Pork Sausages
----------------------
Salads

Apple, Beetroot & Cabbage Coleslaw

Kale, Cashew & Cranberry Salad

Tomato, Buffalo Mozzarella, Red Onion & Basil

Herb Salad with Lemon, Mustard & Honey dressing

Middle Eastern Potato Salad

Plus Flatbreads

Then we bombed up to Bluestone Brewery to serve our delicious food to the crowd who were dancing to Canal Street Collective

Our loaded pork fries were a hit again this week along with Sweet Potato Panang Curry with Crispy Onions and Rice.
Red Thai Chicken Curry with crisp chicken flavour onion. Our Tofu Satay skewers smothered in Peanut Sauce served with spring onion and Pickled cucumber and Chilli salad is a hit with our Veggie and vegan customers.

Whilst this was happening more of us were down at Cardigan Rugby club at a charity event serving a BBQ and salads to a crowd of 300 or so… phew. Maesglas Veterans football match, raising money for a cancer charity.

Thanks to our amazing Chef (Gareth) Front of House team (Eirlys, Bethan, Colleen, Eira, Lleuci, Grug and new FOH Daniel. Ben driver-er of cookers and stuff from kitchen, to venues.






Fron Farm Yurt Retreat Bluestone Brewing Company Maesglas Football Club

17/07/2024

Did you know we ‘do corporate’?

As an event caterer we cater for many different types of events (as well as our wonderful weddings, which we are more widely known for).

Yesterday we were in Whitland all day providing refreshments lunch and dinner for our clients Magstim.

Serving to a multi-cultural delegate list, we provided a tasting firstly to our clients so that they were confident that we would provide food and a service that was of excellent quality.

We served 3 coffee breaks with cakes and pastries and our favourite Coaltown coffee and speciality teas (a couple of pots of ‘builders’ tea too of course) 🫖🫖

Lunch

Coronation Chicken sandwiches
Tuna and Red Onion with Coriander wraps
Roasted Vegetables and Goats Cheese wraps
Southern Spiced Chicken Goujons with BBQ Dip
Creamed Leek and Gruyere Cheese Tartlet topped with Toasted Thyme (V)
Vegetable Pakora with Mint and Honey Dip (V)
Plum Tomato, Black Olive and Basil Bruschetta (Vegan)
Potato Salad with Red Onion and Chive
Roast Mediterranean Vegetables Pasta Salad
 Tomato and Cucumber Salad
-————
Evening Menu - served buffet style

Sauté Chicken with Chestnut Mushrooms in a White Wine & Tarragon Sauce (GF)

Moroccan Lamb Tagine & Fragrant Couscous

Cajun Salmon with Jambalaya Rice (GF)

Mediterranean Vegetable and Mixed Bean Chilli served with Guacamole, Soured Cream and Nachos (V)

Sides Fork Buffet
Roast New Potatoes with Sea Salt and Fresh Rosemary (gf, vegan)
A Medley of Seasonal Vegetables with Herb Butter (gf)
Artisan Bread and Butter

Trio of Dessert
Blackberry Cheesecake, Brownie, Banoffee Pie

We quoted a price per person for the day.

Please get in touch if you have a corporate or business event you’d like us to cater.

12/07/2024

We are at tomorrow early evening for their GIG... supplying our delicious food to you hungry revellers 😊 A wonderful selection of our delicious food cooked freshly by Gareth our chef and served by me, Eirlys and Colleen (service with a smile).... 🔸 Sweet Potato Panang Curry with Crispy Onions (VG/V)
£14
🔸 Red Thai Chicken Curry with crisp chicken flavour onion
£14
Served with rice
-------------

🔸 Thai Tofu Satay skewers and Peanut Sauce with spring onion and Pickled cucumber with Chilli salad (VG/V)
£8.50

🔸 Loaded salt and pepper Fries with Korean pulled pork, pickled onions and Chipotle mayo
£8.50
🔸 Salt and pepper fries-Plain
£4.50

☕ Coaltown Coffee and Teas
£2.50 + £2.00

And a sweet thing if we have time to bake today 🙂 🍰 See you tomorrow. Go get your tickets on the Bluestone website ...PS images are from last year 📸

07/07/2024

📸 The stills…

❤️ Abbie & Helen ❤️

🔸Ffron Farm, 6th July 2024🔸

🍴Wedding Buffet 🍴

07/07/2024

Abbie & Helen
Ffron Farm Yurts
6th July 2024

What a joyful, relaxed fun filled wedding yesterday.

The whole (catering) journey with Abbie and Helen has been smooth and it’s been a joy to work with two of the loveliest of people ❤️

Fron Farm is such a wonderful place for this type of wedding. The wedding party took over the whole site. Staying in the roundhouses over the whole weekend.

A relaxed wedding buffet of ‘finger food’ was the food of the day …

A Selection of Sandwich Fillings in Bread & Wraps

~ Ham and wholegrain Mustard with Rocket

~ Tuna and Red Onion with Coriander

~ Roasted Vegetables and Goats Cheese
------------
~ Halloumi and Red Pepper Skewers (V)

~ Creamed Leek and Gruyere Cheese Tartlet topped with Toasted Thyme (V)

~ Honey and Wholegrain Mustard Chipolatas

~ Asian Sticky Pork Belly Teriyaki Chicken Skewers with Spring Onion and Miso Dip

~ Vegetable Pakora with MInt and Honey Dip (V)

~ Caerphilly Cheese Welsh Rarebit with Caramelised Onion (V)

~ Pork, Apple and Caramelised Onion Sausage Rolls

~ Moroccan Spiced Vegetable Pastry Roll

The dessert was the spectacular 4 layered wedding cake made by one of the guests which Gareth our chef sliced up for everyone.

We left as the band was setting up. I’m positive the fun and laughter went on into the late evening. Fron Farm Yurt Retreat

03/07/2024

We are catering at this event.
Looking forward to seeing you all 😍🍻

Tickets available here 👉 https://bit.ly/49wZtgH

Gonora Sounds is a family band that has been busking on the streets of Zimbabwe since 2004. Entertaining thousands of commuters with their street beat dubbed Gonora Sounds by regular revellers. The band is led by blind singer/songwriter Daniel Gonora, a wizard on the guitar with his drumming protege son Isaac on drums. In recent years, the band has extended to include seasoned musicians such as Nelson “Mr Longman” Mutanda on lead guitar and Malizani Mbewe on bass. Daniel and Isaac’s street performances have garnered millions of views online, and a
growing international fanbase.

29/06/2024

Alice’s 40th Birthday BBQ, Pantyderi Mansion
We catered a wonderful BBQ last night at the beautiful Pantyderi Mansion near Boncath.

Alice, chose to ‘soup up’ our traditional BBQ menu for her birthday party of 20
— - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

BBQ Menu 🍗🥗

Brazilian Beef Picanha Steak with Chimichurri

Korean-style BBQ chicken Thighs

Filipino BBQ Pork Skewers

Teriyaki Salmon Skewers

Corn with Cajun Spices 🌽

Fennel, Roast Lemon & Tomato Salad

Roasted New Potato, Kale & Feta Salad

Tenderstem, Toasted Almonds and Cumin-roasted Butternut Squash salad

Mixed Leaf, With Red Onion and Tomato Salad, Lime and Coconut Dressing

Selection of Bread 🥖🥐

The band played whilst the guests ate. 🎸🎹🎶

We left as the night was closing in and the party ramping up (I’m guessing 😉) 🎉🥳🍾🍻🍸🍹

23/06/2024

Gemma & Calum ❤️
22nd June 2024 - Florin (Gwynfryn) Llanarth

What a day!
The venue…
The food …
The dancing…
The pizza…

Gemma and Calum chose the perfect venue for an intimate wedding.

A stunning house in a beautiful garden.

We served delicious starters plated for the guests and the curries were served in bowls to the tables to share.

Gemma and Calum had .cymru donuts for dessert with an icecream van for the guests after the main meal.

We served pizzas in 3 varieties in the ‘cabin’ at the top of the garden in the evening.

I didn’t get many photos of the food…. why would I when there was a professional there 😂 Leia Morrison taking photos all day.

Gemma and Calum chose:

For Starters

Thai Prawn Fish Cake on a Bed of Sea Greens, Lemon and Coriander Aioli with a  Sweet Chilli Dressing & Micro Coriander

Duck Spring rolls with Hoisin sauce & a spring onion &  cucumber salad

Thai Tofu Satay skewers &  Peanut Sauce with Pickled cucumber & Chilli salad

-————
Mains

Chicken Thai Green Curry with Lime and Coriander rice topped with Roasted Peanuts

Beef Panang with Coconut jasmine rice and Roasted Cashew Nuts 

Sweet Potato Massaman Curry and garlic and coriander Flatbread 

-————

What a delight to cater this beautiful wedding.

Looking forward to seeing the photos 🥰

03/06/2024

Sylen Lakes are closing until next year for a huge refurbishment.
We have had a huge amount of fun catering at this venue over the years.
Saturday was our last wedding there and we are sad to say goodbye.
Wishing Nick, Rachael, Linda and the rest of the team the best of luck for the future and we can’t wait to see you at the opening.
Suzi, Gareth, Eirlys and the rest of our team wish you well ### 😘

Wow! What a wonderful & emotional surprise yesterday to have these cards given to us by our fabulous caterers .catering. 😍

It’s been a blast working with you Suzi, Gareth and the whole team. We can honestly say we are going to miss seeing you every week, and the wonderful food you have been providing to our couples and their guests. 🥰

Thank you so much for your commitment and dedication to Sylen Lakes and for being such a pleasure to work with. 🙌🏻

May we take this opportunity to say a big thank you to all the caterers who have been a huge part in our success to date, and have provided a fantastic service to our mutual couples.

We know and appreciate that we would not be in the position we are today with our business without your support and your wonderful catering. Food is a huge part of any wedding, and the food and service you all provided has been outstanding and you have been a vital component of all our weddings hosted at Sylen Lakes over the past 10 years. ✨

A big heart felt thank you to:






We have had the pleasure of working with you all and have enjoyed it so much.

We look forward to welcoming you to The Lake House at Sylen Lakes for a drink with us next year. 😘

Thank you again, we are forever grateful.
R & N 🫶

02/06/2024

Lowri and Jordan - Sylen lakes - 1st June 2024 - Our last wedding at this venue 🥰

🔸Starter 🔸

Pate de Campagne 
A Rich Chicken and Pork Coarse Pate Wrapped in Smoked Cured Bacon, Plum Chutney, Sourdough Crisp and Herb Salad
-————
🔸Mains🔸
Slow Roasted Welsh Beef 
with Yorkshire Pudding, Garlic and Herb Roasted Potatoes, Honey Roasted Parsnips and Carrots, Braised Red Cabbage, Seasonal Greens and Rich Red Wine Gravy
-————
🔸Desserts🔸
Chocolate Ganache and Miso Caramel Tart, Blackberry Gel and Raspberry Cream

🔸Evening Food - Pizza                                                                                                                      

Margarita, Basil, Tomato and Mozzarella 
Pepperoni, Tomato and Mozzarella
Texan Feast
Southern Fried Chicken, Spiced Beef, Roasted Red peppers and Red Onion with BBQ Sauce

Loaded Fries
with Tomato Salsa, Soured Cream, Jalapeños, Crisp Onions and Pickled Red Onions Plus a selection of sauces BBQ, Chipotle Mayo Garlic Mayo, Hot sauce, Mayo and Tomato Ketchup ♦️Thank you Nick & Rachael for being such a great venue. Good luck with your development plans

30/05/2024

Tomas & Kyle - 27th May 2024

What a wonderful day!

A Bank Holiday wedding.

Some weddings just have so much joy 💕
We loved the happy feeling at Mondays wedding. The sun was shining and everyone was just HAPPY!

Tom and Kyle decided on a 3 course wedding breakfast.
Guests choices were:

Leek soup or Pate
- - - - -
Beef or Chicken with all the trimmings
- - - - - -
Sticky Toffee pudding or Gareth’s delicious Cheescake
- - - - - -

In the evening guests enjoyed a scrumptious Hog roast, with crackling, apple sauce, homemade coleslaw, herby roast potatoes & green salad 🥗

It was a full on day for us at Finesse but we loved every minute. (Dancing in the kitchen to the evening music too) 🎶🎵💃🕺

Thank you Tom & Kyle