This week we are featuring another one of our preferred caterers—Eleganté Cuisine! The owner, Thomas W. Manetti, started Eleganté out of his family’s home in River Forest in 1982 and has since turned this small part-time company into a full service catering and event planning company.
Eleganté Cuisine is now based in Elk Grove Village, Illinois and own and occupy a 16,000 square foot building complete with kitchens and offices. Between all of their venues, they can do anywhere between 150-250 weddings a year.
What sets them apart from other caterers?
Thomas says one reason is being a fully from-scratch kitchen, meaning that all of their products are hand made from scratch by them.
Most importantly—our focus is an elegant and upscale culinary experience. We strive to make our clients’ events extraordinary without being unapproachable or feeling inaccessible to the everyday person. Eleganté Cuisine is an American Caterer—they really try to authentically represent the unique cuisines that make up the American palate.
Eleganté Cuisine is an American Caterer—they really try to authentically represent the unique cuisines that make up the American palate.
My heritage is Italian and Polish so obviously there are a lot of these dishes on our menu, but we are also lucky to have cooks and chefs that specialize in all sorts of international and regional cuisine.
Because we are a full service caterer and our kitchen is a scratch kitchen, it affords us a lot of flexibility to match the serving style to the client. We can do virtually anything! Buffet, plated, passed, stations—if you dream it up, we can probably do it
Thomas’s favorite part of what he does is being able to be part of major life milestones for their clients.
Knowing at the end of the day, they had a great wedding, shower, or party because we helped them execute their vision. It’s great to be able to meet people from all walks of life and get a little glimpse into their lives and their families’ lives by celebrating something with them!
We are so happy that Eleganté enjoys working with us as much as we enjoy working with them!
The Haight is a great venue to work with! Their space is very trendy and flexible so it lets couples really use their imagination when it comes to how they want their wedding to look and feel. The team at The Haight is also great to work with—they communicate so well and are very organized. Things always go smoothly when we are there!
Advice For The Newly Engaged
Thomas’s advice for newly engaged couples is even though wedding planning can be stressful; try to remember what the purpose of the whole day is.
If when everything is done, you are married and had a great time then that’s all that matters. A good caterer and a good venue will work hard with you to make sure they execute your event the way you envision it—and then you can spend your time focusing on what’s important—which is that you are beginning a life together with the person you love most in the world.
