Ellen was absolutely outstanding and truly went above and beyond. Every dish she prepared was not only delicious but also beautifully presented. You can tell she genuinely loves what she does, and her passion shines through in every detail. She created a menu that was incredibly creative, with unique and interesting dishes that impressed everyone. Throughout the party, I kept hearing guests rave about how amazing the food was. I will definitely be using Ellen’s services again for future parties and would highly recommend her to anyone looking for a private chef. I can’t thank her enough for her fabulous work—she made our event truly special!
Renegade Outpost
In high demand
- 312 hires
- Based in New York, NY
- 12 years in business
- 5 employees
- Background checked
About Renegade Outpost
Renegade Outpost is a full service event planning and chef services company. We've been in business for 12 years and have been associated with Thumbtack for 9 years. We have been hired more than 400 times and have more than 250 excellent 5 STAR reviews across various platforms. We offer logistical services as well as day/of coordination and securing orders for rentals. Our "rolodex" includes many of the best vendors for all your event needs, whether it be entertainment or lighting to photographers and waitstaff. We take pride in our work with making your job easier as our highest priority. Wonderful food always begins with amazing ingredients, especially produce. We source directly from local farmers, we work with an organic butcher, a wild fish monger and importers of select cheese and specialty products. We make our own burrata, as well as duck and lamb prosciutto, smoke our own duck breast and make our own kimchi. Food is the heart of every catered event. We work with your ideas and curate the menu based on seasonal delicious produce, expert preparation and beautiful presentation. The produce inspires us and we often build a dish around vegetable. From plated dinners to high end cocktail events... from chef-manned stations to grazing tables... from fundraisers and galas to weddings and themed events, we have the professional staff and connections to ensure your event runs smoothly. Looking forward to working with you and making you a fan as well. We make sure all the elements meld together. We want you to relax and have fun with your guests. We will make your dreams a reality for beautiful memories for years to come... Polished or playful, dynamic or understated, we will work with you on your vision. SMALL EVENT CATERING Organic/local/small farm Almost Zero waste kitchen Menu planning Vegan options Allergy awareness Plated meal Family style Grazing stations Decorative Manned Stations Amazing Plating-unique platters In/house made products-kimchi/burrata/smoked duck Food pricing starts at $55pp WEDDING/COMPLETE PLANNING AND EXECUTION Complete wedding planning and execution Rentals ordering Logistics Menu planning Sourcing decor rentals Liquor order Bar menu Table decor Menu planning Staffing schedule Timeline preparation DJ Lighting Photography Food pricing starts at $65pp CORPORATE/COMPLETE PLANNING AND EXECUTION/CATERING Complete event planning and execution Rentals ordering Logistics Product placement Menu planning Sourcing decor rentals Liquor order Bar menu Table decor Staffing scheduling Timeline preparation Food pricing starts at $50pp
Reviews
Chef Ellen & her staff were amazing. My sisters & I were planning an 80th birthday dinner for 20-30 people at an AirBNB rental property we had never been to before and was 500 miles from our home. Chef Ellen’s expertise and thoughtful consideration of numerous planning items we had not yet considered, helped us to plan a fantastic event. Working with Chef Ellen to develop our menu was a fun collaborative process and she was able to accommodate several allergy restrictions. Chef Ellen’s food was delicious. We have some finicky eaters in our bunch and she did a wonderful job navigating several precise requests about food & meat preparations on the spot from the birthday guest. All our guests remarked on how wonderful the food was, but our greatest delight was how Chef Ellen and her staff incorporated the eager curiosity of our 4 kids age 5 -12. On the spot, Chef Ellen focused and incorporated their eager energy into circulating appetizers - teaching them precisely how to carefully carry each kind of tray and each type of appetizer. It was her willingness to incorporate the kids (we had not discussed or even imagined this until the kids invaded the kitchen!) in such a productive, educational, and thoughtful manner that had us & all our guests delighted. Our kids will carry this happy memory for a lifetime. We expected good food and we got it, but Chef Ellen also brought a kind spirit to our gathering that I believe is a truly rare find in this business. We could not recommend her food and her service more highly.
Choosing Chef Ellen as the caterer for my wedding is a luck. She is professional, cordial and detail-oriented towards food which makes each plate presentable. She and her team went above and beyond to ensure that every detail of the event ran smoothly. I appreciate and highly recommend!
We had a great experience working with Chef Ellen. Not only did she do an amazing job on the food, she also helped with furniture rentals and staffing as well. She was extremely accommodating and worked with us to create some unique dishes based on my wife and I’s background which she absolutely nailed. During the whole process she was very responsive and really went above and beyond to help us stay within budget while providing excellent service. Highly recommend!
Chef Ellen and Renegade Outpost did a fantastic job for our event. In the leadup she was very transparent, consulted on all menus, and was quick to respond throughout. At the day of the event Chef Scott and Claudia did an incredible job throughout. From independently preparing everything for our event onsite without assistance from our event attendees, going above and beyond cleaning the space, and ensuring all the guests needs were met while preparing great food, I'd absolutely use Renegade Outpost again and would recommend to anyone looking to hire a great chef.
Chef Ellen did a fantastic job of catering for our party.The food was really good; the guests all enjoyed the food and presentation.The hors d’oeuvre were a big hit,main course was top notch.Ellen helped me navigate the curveballs of a surprise party and she was so easy to talk to get opinions on as well.She helped us with finding the rentals and all of her wait staff was excellent in keeping track of the new joinees,vegetarians and offering them appropriate food.Such a pleasant group of crew who makes the evening a great experience.Will hire her again!
Hired chef Ellen for a birthday in the Hamptons and she did a wonderful job catering my 20+ person party. I curated our menu from quite literally hundreds of choices and she was so flexible. The food was absolutely delicious!
Amazing to see the organization of the catering. Elegant, beautiful presentation and delicious too.
Ellen is wildly creative and the consumate professional! Can't wait to book for next event.
I really had to sit and think before writing this review because trying to find the right words to share my appreciation and gratitude for Ellen and the team is practically impossible. I found out a week before my event that the chef that I booked unfortunately got covid. So I had a week to figure out how I'm going to cater for 45 people, with no chef, no tables, chairs, etc. I put in a new request on thumbtack at about 11pm and at 1am Ellen was already responding. The crazy thing next is that she agreed to take my call at 1am!!! We spoke on the phone until about 3am, going over all the details, from tables, to tablecloths, decorations, plates, cups, cutlery, etc. There is NO WAY I would of been able to pull this off and as smoothly without Ellen's help. The night of the actual event my Mom's 60th Birthday party, I ordered 4 different appetizers and Ellen managed to throw in 5 more additional ones! Totally unexpected and a very nice touch. She even remembered the lamp chops that my Mom wanted, which was completely separate from steak, salmon, and chicken options for the guests. She was very real with me and gave me advice about pricing, suggestions based on what I was looking for, etc. The tablescape was beautiful and exactly what my wanted. We later found out that Ellen did it all by hand with the plants and flowers that she picked up at the crack of dawn during the week. She really helped me navigate everything and I learned so much about event planning just from working and interacting with her during the week. On top of all this, Ellen and the team made the trip out of blizzarding Brooklyn to where the event was being held. "Thank you" is not enough. I am forever grateful.
Chef Ellen was great. She was very professional and wonderful to work with. The food was delicious and everyone enjoyed themselves. I would definitely use her again.
Chef Ellen was amazing!! We had a reunion at Pine Plains New York recently and rented a home. We hired chef Ellen to cook us two dinner meals. She came very well prepared with all necessary food items and served us amazing appetizers and scrumptious meals. Since our home had lots of extra bedrooms, we invited her to stay with us. To our surprise she even cooked us two magnificent breakfasts. Chef Ellen is easy to work with and we all had a great experience. I would highly recommend her.
Working with Chef Ellen was an incredible experience. The food was delicious, creative, and thoughtful. She was very professional, and working with her to create a menu for our wedding was a breeze. All of our wedding guests (small in-home wedding for 22 people) absolutely loved the food, were full, and happy. I could not recommend working with her highly enough.
Chef Ellen goes above and beyond. We had a backyard wedding for 117 guests with passed hors d’oeuvres, appetizer station (a surprise by chef!), sit down plated entrees, as well as finger sized desserts! We had a tasting prior to decide the final menu. The food is phenomenal- chef used both our indoor kitchen as well as our garage for food prep/cooking. Not only does she supply food and server staff, but has a plethora of vendor connections for all wedding necessities- floral decor, bar tending staff and decor, linen decor, tent/table/chair vendors, etc! Transparent pricing- never felt shortchanged. We talked on the phone often, going through various in depth details that by the pictures, you can see were worth the extra time! Will be using chef again for our baby gender reveal party!
Chef Ellen was very professional throughout our entire experience working together. She was flexible and kept a positive attitude, even though our kitchen situation wasn't completely ideal. The dishes she prepared came out beautiful and were delicious! Definitely recommend!
Our Experience with Chef Ellen was excellent from start to finish. Communication before the event was easy with a lot of recommendations on the menus. She arrived on time and served the everything just as we’d discussed. Food was plentiful and very tasty. When she left it was like she’s never been in the kitchen.
Ellen was amazing at accommodating our groups crazy preferences/restrictions. She has a wide range of cooking styles and innovative ideas for dishes. She traveled to us in CT for a wonderful four course private dinner. One of our favorite courses was her homemade burrata with pesto and beets. Everything was delicious! Would definitely hire again. She’s great!
Chef Ellen started out getting right back to me and very responsive throughout process. Receptive to feedback and flexible as well! She and her crew arrived as scheduled and jumped to work immediately making sure a delectable, festive feast was ready for our home holiday party! Our friends were very impressed with presentation, yummy apps served up and professionalism! Her crew was equally as professional! Would highly recommend for your catering needs.
We had a product launch event in Times Square NYC and Chef Ellen and team did an amazing job her approach was professional and every single detail was taken care. I highly recommend Chef Ellen!!!
Ella was phenomenal. She really helped us knock our catered business lunch for 50+ people out of the park. She was easy to work with and went the extra mile with presentation.
Services
Renegade Outpost★ 4.8
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