Before I finally met Midori in person, I had heard wonderful things about her company. "Their food is so good," a friend from the event industry told me. Catering By ... The Other Woman, founded in 1988, certainly has made a mark for itself and is one of the best kept secrets in the Bay Area. When I arrived at the kitchen, Midori just had come back from a catering job, and the first thing she did was offer lunch. "Leftovers, just bits and pieces," she told me. We sat in her small office with Mary, the chef, while they talked and I listened and ate the best "bits and pieces" I ever had.

"Bride and groom should only focus on themselves during this most important day, and we take over the rest." Midori told me. In the beginning they will listen to how the couple imagines their wedding. Then they propose different menus, recommend the appropriate vendors, and provide as much or as little event coordination as the customers want. Depending on the size of the wedding, they meet with bride and groom as many as three times before it takes place. "We try to give them what they want and more," Mary added, "we take pride in our work and always exceed their expectations. Usually we are friends with our clients by the time the wedding is over."

One of the reasons you can trust Midori completely is illustrated in the following story: It happened in summer of 2002 when California was plagued by power outages. As usual Midori and Mary came early in the morning to the kitchen to prepare for a wedding. Midori went to the refrigerator to check on the marinated tenderloin and realized there had been a power outage overnight and the meat was spoiled. Immediately Midori took off and bought fresh meat, while Mary prepared a new marinade. They had five hours in which to let the meat season. Nobody noticed, and the meat tasted wonderful.

Midori has a certified kitchen and buys the food from the best purveyors. She supports local farmer whenever possible and emphasizes her seasonal, sustainable ideology. The owner and chef team are proud to have the Food and Drug Administration among their customers. They catered an award dinner for the premier 15 Northern California chefs and got a standing ovation for their menu. Now you can peruse her new website for a small sampling of her menus.