FAQ

Yes we do! Our tastings are the perfect time to do just that! You will have an opportunity to try some of our menu items and receive lots of valuable event planning tips. We know how much goes into planning your big day…A Grand Affaire Weddings by Duos will be there to help along the way.

If you cannot make it to our tasting parties and prefer a private tasting we can do this for a fee of $50 per person. (Fee is waived if you book the day of the tasting or before.) With this option you will receive a one to one experience at our venue, The Lounge, in West Seattle. Typically we can schedule tastings every Wednesday until 8pm to accommodate your work schedules.

We offer our catering services anywhere within 3 hours of our West Seattle kitchen.  That has taken us as far as Centralia, Poulsbo, Snohomish, Ashford, Seabrook, and Stanwood. Travel time charges will apply for our staff for any event further than 30 minutes from our kitchen.

Yes, we are happy to accommodate special requests in your custom menu to address special needs such as gluten free, dairy free, vegan, vegetarian, etc.  We will take best precautions to prepare your food with any allergies or food intolerances in mind.  However, please keep in mind that we are not in a certified gluten free kitchen and there’s always a small chance of cross-contamination.  So if you have a severe allergy we will work with you to provide your own meal.

We cater up to 4 full service events per day depending upon the size of each event.

For full service events we ask for an initial payment at the time of booking equivalent to 50% of the estimate. We realize that hosting an event can get very expensive so if needed please inquire about a payment plan in smaller increments. If you do choose a payment plan for your event, any cancellation will result in a full forfeiture of any payment amounts we’ve received.

For our standard 50% deposit events, you will be fully refunded for cancellations up to 90 days of your event. Any cancellations after 90 days of your event may result in a full forfeiture of your deposit. We understand that things do occur that you have no control over. Any cancellation due to extenuating circumstances will be considered on an individual basis and are made at our sole discretion.

That really depends upon your event date.  Weekends in the Summer book up about 6-12 months in advance as it’s prime Wedding Season, and weekends in December are also very popular due to the holiday season.  But we can also often accommodate last minute bookings when available. If you have received a quote from us, we will touch back with you any time there is a potential client looking to book your date. For daily deliveries, we require a 2 day minimum notice for daily corporate deliveries and 10 days for a private or corporate event.

Yes, we provide licensed and insured bartenders to serve your own beverages with a bar service fee. The hourly rate per bartender is $30 per hour for beer & wine bartenders, or $35 per hour for mixologists. Or if you prefer a cash bar or hosted bar provided a bar caterer we can arrange that for you through our sister company, Sip. Packages start at just $14 per person for unlimited beer, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages. Full Bar Packages with hard liquor as well start at just $20 per person. Or you may purchase beverage a la carte by the bottle or by the drink.

Yes, you are welcome to supply your own beverages and we are happy to serve them with a bar service fee of $5 per person.  This includes liquor liability insurance, bartender licensing, bar supplies, and our non-alcoholic beverage station with lemonade, iced tea, and cucumber water.  You can bring beer, wine, champagne, and hard liquor and we’ll help you plan for the appropriate accompaniments as well.

Due to liability issues we are required to serve any alcoholic beverages at your event. Exceptions may be made if the venue provides this service and is fully licensed to do so, or if this is a smaller party in your private home.

We are happy to serve your own beverages that you may provide including beer, wine and hard liquor.  We will serve kegs, however, we don’t recommend them and and suggest bottled beer.  We have experienced many problems with kegs at off site locations due to the inconsistent holding temperatures.  Also the recent transportation causes a great amount of foam from jostling around and not having a full day in a refrigerator to settle the foam. This also causes long waits and lines at the bar. I’m confident that you’ll find that bottled beer is easier and faster to serve, looks classier, and in the end is actually less expensive.  It saves you from having to rent a lot of glasses and you can keep your leftovers after the party is over. That’s a lot better than having guests try to finish off a keg before the end of the party just so they don’t waste it, and then possibly drive home.  Leftover keg beer doesn’t hold so well, but bottles will hold until your next party!

Yes, we believe that catering is customizing!  Often times people ask what we specialize in, but it’s hard to pinpoint a specific type of food because we customize every client’s menu just for them.  Please feel free to mix and match items from different menus, create substitutions with our menus items by category, or we can even create something new just for you.

Yes, our chef has traveled the world learning traditional techniques and flavors profiles. We have many items listed in our menus, or we will research recipes, or even create a dish using your own family recipe. Some popular types of foods that we’ve done include Asian, Indian, European, Latin, and more!

Yes you can!  We have a very flexible policy that allows you to provide up to 3 items of your own food to supplement our catering. We do have to ahi you sign a waiver that releases us from any food borne illness issues.  This is a very popular option for guests that want to provide some traditional ethnic dishes of their own, or if you just have some specialty homemade dishes that you want to share with your guests.  We just ask that you deliver it to the event site ready to serve (if there’s an oven on site we can heat it for you.)  We will also work with you to provide chafing dishes or warmers if needed for your items.  We want to do whatever we can to make your event go smoothly and also help you have your own unique touches to your menu.

Yes, we do provide china, glassware, flatware and linens if you’d like it. (Or we can provide disposables if you prefer.)  Or we can also coordinate items from many local party rental companies such as Pedersen’s Rentals, Cort Party Rentals, Platinum Designs Linen, Creative Covering Linens, and more.  Just let us know what you’d like and we’ll get it for you!

Yes, of course, we carry a 2 million dollar liability insurance policy as well as permits with the King County Health Department, and City and State business licenses. An important thing to note is that many venues require you to provide your Owen event insurance which you can find at most popular insurance agencies.

Yes, we work out of the Duos Lounge kitchen in West Seattle.  We share this commercial kitchen with our sister company, Duos Catering, as well.  This is a great location just 1 minute from the West Seattle Bridge, 10 minutes from downtown Seattle, and 45 minutes from Tacoma.  And since the Duos Lounge is a venue we can have meetings with you in a relaxing environment or even hold your event at The Lounge.

For full service catering we have an overall sales minimum of $1000 (including food, staff, rentals, transportation, and service charge).  However, for the Express Party Platters there is just a $300 minimum.

Yes, for full service catering we always provide full staff for set up, service, and clean up.  The hours for the staff will be estimated for you based on your timeline.  If you’re just ordering party platters from our Express Platters menus you can also add a server or a bartender to assist you with your event.  Lead servers and Bartenders are $30-$35 per hour.

It’s up to you!  We’re happy to work as late as you’d like us to. Of course, it does depend on the rules of your venue and the time you have it booked for. Please keep in mind that we’ll need about an hour for clean up and consider that when scheduling your time with the venue.