The Fifth Flavor — Local services in Rye

We hired Nina Parrott of Fifth Flavor for our wedding catering in October 2021 in Portland, ME. She was recommended to us by our venue, Grace. We cannot speak highly enough of Nina's food! Very quickly during our process, Nina was our front-runner for a caterer, and that was cemented when she hosted us at her kitchen for a tasting. All the food was fantastic.

As the wedding got closer, and we requested some small changes, Nina was super responsive. On the actual event day, everything went incredibly smoothly. Her staff did a great job with all the passed appetizers, including making sure some made it to where family was taking photos during cocktail hour. They made sure to identify the few people with dietary restrictions and make sure that they got everything they needed as well. Plated dinner service was very efficient, all entrees were on tables about 20 minutes earlier than anticipated. Her staff did a great job making sure that the two of us had a chance to eat as well, even as we were trying to make the rounds to chat with guests during dinner service. Passed desserts were absolutely incredible. We went with homemade oreos, pumpkin whoopie pies, coffee creme brulee spoons, five-spice donut holes, macarons (GF), chocolate chip cookies (GF). We got nothing but compliments all night from the guests on the food, all thanks to Nina and her staff!

At the end of the night, Nina's staff handled getting the venue back to how it was setup before we came in, and they were incredibly fast but also not noticeable. Guests were out at 10pm, and when I casually took a glance at our lounge area around 10:15pm, it was already fully reset, and I hadn't even noticed them while they were working!

We so appreciated Nina's creativity, can-do spirit, and warmth through the planning process. And again, all of the food was seasonal, fresh, and clever. From start to finish, our experience with her was phenomenal, and we can't recommend her...

Nina and her staff were superb. We started out planning with a specific vision for the style of food we were hoping for at our wedding reception, but it was trickier to find than we thought. We didn’t want a sit-down meal, but also didn’t want an all-out buffet. What we really wanted was a small-bites, appetizer-heavy mix-and-mingle event where everyone could move around and no seating chart was required, but keeping an elegant feel and ensuring everyone had plenty to eat. Nina executed this wonderfully. We looked for inspiration in her existing menus on her website, described what we had in mind, and Nina created an amazing example menu for us. We only had to make maybe 3 small tweaks for allergies and preferences, and otherwise were so excited by what she put together at such a reasonable price. We stayed in touch with Nina leading up to the day, finalizing how many staff she would need, adding iced coffee to the plans, etc. The day-of, everything was executed as planned- the charcuterie and stationary appetizer station was set up beautifully. The servers walking the passed appetizers around were delightful- friendly, attentive, and made sure everyone got a chance at each tray. I refused to stop dancing long enough to enjoy the dinner salads that everyone finally took a seat to eat, but heard the salmon nicoise in particular was great. The passed desserts came out and the room started buzzing all over again- the mini bourbon apple pies have been talked about daily since. We’re so happy we went with Nina @ The Fifth Flavor.

Photo credits to Shado of a Rose photography in...

I honestly can’t say enough great things about my wedding experience with Fifth Flavor. The food was absolutely delicious; our guests were raving to us about cocktail hour, dinner, and desserts. The waitstaff provided UNBELIEVABLE service making sure all guests were taken care of at every second while also going unnoticed at the same time. Additionally, our wedding was outside under a tent and the catering kitchen was located next to the tent; servers did not skip a beat as it started to pour and they had to continue delivering food and drinks to us under the tent.

Most importantly, Nina, the owner and head chef of Fifth Flavor is incredible to work with. She offered fantastic guidance on the flow of our reception, making sure everything ran smoothly for 170 guests, and was beyond accommodating when it came to our special menu requests and changes. Having a wedding caterer who is quick to respond throughout the entire wedding planning process is not something to take for granted and Nina did just this for us at all times.

I would recommend Fifth Flavor to anyone planning their wedding that wants a stress-free and positive experience all while getting 5-star...