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Name Julie W. Comment Hi Janis We wanted to put a testimonial on your web site but couldn't figure out how to do that, so thought it best to just e mail you and maybe you could place it there. This is what we wanted to say..... Dear Janis, We enjoyed working with you in planning our 50th Wedding Anniversary party for 65 guests. You did a great job in helping us arrange for a wonderful menu of appetizers, tri tip and smoked pulled pork, plus several delicious salads. We had a small area for all those people, and tables and chairs, but you figured out the logistics and made it work. Everyone had fun watching the meat being prepared on site in your BBQ trailer. The buffet set up was very attractive with flowers and linens to match our theme. We were very pleased with everything you did, and hope we can work with you again some day. Carey and Julie, Capitola SQUARE REVIEWS AND COMMENTS
Customer said: Thank you Janis. You were awesome. I love that everything you promised was spot on! The meat was great, you were kind, responsive and on time. The deliver boxes worked out just the way you said they would. It was a great family reunion. All the best. Jennifer - Sparks Nevada. August 19th, 2017 Summer L. Santa Cruz, CA Janis -- the food was wonderful and we had such a great birthday party for Mateo, thank you so much!!! Very very much appreciated! |
Hi, Janis Cota
You recently were at our home for Wedding in Soquel on 10/17/2015 for Cody Regis & Shawn Miller. The dinner you provided was over the top, so delicious you & staff did an amazing job. Bravo !! Best, Patti Eller |
Thanks Janis,
Everything was terrific. You guys did a great job.
Thank you again. Hope we can do something else in the future.
Best,
Beth
Sothebys Homes International
Carmel, CA
Everything was terrific. You guys did a great job.
Thank you again. Hope we can do something else in the future.
Best,
Beth
Sothebys Homes International
Carmel, CA
JANIS!
Many congrats to you and your entire crew. You really
pulled off a work of magic this afternoon and can be very proud.
Put your feet up girl and enjoy the sense that over
100 children will have a better holiday because of your hard work.
blessings and gratitude,
-Delilah
____________________________________
coordinator | santacruzcounty.toysfortots.org
mobile 2012: 703-357-8533
facebook.com/santacruzcountytoysfortots
Dear Janis,
I wanted to thank you again for making our picnic so
special. Still the weather was the star of the day!
I think we almost ordered perfectly. The only fault was too much, but you supplied us
with plenty of take home containers. The fruit was great. It was all
eaten up. I thought we had too much pasta but I learned that the last of
it was eaten by one family on their way back home to SLO. Everybody loved
the fresh peas, artichokes and tomatoes. The hamburgers were extra
ordinary. We were not sure what made them special, they were just
yummy. The ribs were meaty and cooked with a great smoky bbq taste.
We brought the sauce home and barbecued chicken with it the other night.
The salsa was just how my husband likes it. Hot and lots of it. It
may have been too spicy for the others. I have never frozen salsa before
and hope it stays crispy. I'm sure we will be thinking of you through the
holidays. Everybody was digging into the corn. One mother reached to
snap some in half for her little children and they were too hot to handle!
All the food came hot and ready to eat. The brownies disappeared as soon
as the tray was opened up. Very moist and chewy.
Your catering made our event very special. It turned an ordinary day at the
beach to a very special day.
Thank you.
Kathy Ellam
Scientific EMC
My surfing club (Big Stick Surfing Association) hosts an annual charity fundraising contest. The
event, now in its twelfth year, includes a banquet for roughly 150
guests from all over California. As Event Coordinator, I am responsible for arranging this dinner and have
now had considerable experience with caterers and restaurant food services.
For this year’s event, based on her experience catering large groups, we chose Janis’ Holy SmokesBBQ
for our food service and were
extremely pleased with her in all respects. Here are some specifics that I think could be relevant to your advertised positions:
Food Preparation.
The dinner was outstanding,
including BBQ pork, chicken, and for vegetarians BBQ portabella mushrooms, as well as delicious side dishes of
pasta and cole slaw salad. The BBQ’d food was cooked perfectly and served on time with all elements
of the service correctly coordinated. The presentation was ‘detail oriented’, e.g. linen-table cloths,
attractive silverware, chaffing dishes, flowers,servers, etc.
Planning.
Janis arrived on time and
prepared for planning meetings. On the day of the event, Janis arrived at the banquet site with her helpers six hours before service, carefully anticipating the time needed to cook and setup the service.
Business.
It was a pleasure to work with Janis from start to finish. She is at the same time affable
and business-like. Janis worked closely with our group making suggestions and also taking our
suggestions to tailor the dinner to the guests and the hall. Once we had a plan, she presented a
professional written contract.
I was particularly impressed with her willingness to do more
than was required in the original contract. A week before the dinner, we realized we didn’t have
staff to arrange a soft-drink service. Janis’ cheerfully offered to do this and folded the drink service
seamlessly into the other preparations. Finally, I observed that she managed her three helpers effectively,
switching them in a timely way from cooking to setup, serving, and cleanup duties. The latter left the hall
kitchen immaculate.
In closing, I can say that Janis is an extremely well organized,
excellent cook capable of arranging delicious meals for large numbers of guests. The best
recommendation I can give is that we hope to engage her for our 2013 event.
Sincerely,
Gary B. Silberstein
Event Coordinator ‘Logjam! 2012’
Many congrats to you and your entire crew. You really
pulled off a work of magic this afternoon and can be very proud.
Put your feet up girl and enjoy the sense that over
100 children will have a better holiday because of your hard work.
blessings and gratitude,
-Delilah
____________________________________
coordinator | santacruzcounty.toysfortots.org
mobile 2012: 703-357-8533
facebook.com/santacruzcountytoysfortots
Dear Janis,
I wanted to thank you again for making our picnic so
special. Still the weather was the star of the day!
I think we almost ordered perfectly. The only fault was too much, but you supplied us
with plenty of take home containers. The fruit was great. It was all
eaten up. I thought we had too much pasta but I learned that the last of
it was eaten by one family on their way back home to SLO. Everybody loved
the fresh peas, artichokes and tomatoes. The hamburgers were extra
ordinary. We were not sure what made them special, they were just
yummy. The ribs were meaty and cooked with a great smoky bbq taste.
We brought the sauce home and barbecued chicken with it the other night.
The salsa was just how my husband likes it. Hot and lots of it. It
may have been too spicy for the others. I have never frozen salsa before
and hope it stays crispy. I'm sure we will be thinking of you through the
holidays. Everybody was digging into the corn. One mother reached to
snap some in half for her little children and they were too hot to handle!
All the food came hot and ready to eat. The brownies disappeared as soon
as the tray was opened up. Very moist and chewy.
Your catering made our event very special. It turned an ordinary day at the
beach to a very special day.
Thank you.
Kathy Ellam
Scientific EMC
My surfing club (Big Stick Surfing Association) hosts an annual charity fundraising contest. The
event, now in its twelfth year, includes a banquet for roughly 150
guests from all over California. As Event Coordinator, I am responsible for arranging this dinner and have
now had considerable experience with caterers and restaurant food services.
For this year’s event, based on her experience catering large groups, we chose Janis’ Holy SmokesBBQ
for our food service and were
extremely pleased with her in all respects. Here are some specifics that I think could be relevant to your advertised positions:
Food Preparation.
The dinner was outstanding,
including BBQ pork, chicken, and for vegetarians BBQ portabella mushrooms, as well as delicious side dishes of
pasta and cole slaw salad. The BBQ’d food was cooked perfectly and served on time with all elements
of the service correctly coordinated. The presentation was ‘detail oriented’, e.g. linen-table cloths,
attractive silverware, chaffing dishes, flowers,servers, etc.
Planning.
Janis arrived on time and
prepared for planning meetings. On the day of the event, Janis arrived at the banquet site with her helpers six hours before service, carefully anticipating the time needed to cook and setup the service.
Business.
It was a pleasure to work with Janis from start to finish. She is at the same time affable
and business-like. Janis worked closely with our group making suggestions and also taking our
suggestions to tailor the dinner to the guests and the hall. Once we had a plan, she presented a
professional written contract.
I was particularly impressed with her willingness to do more
than was required in the original contract. A week before the dinner, we realized we didn’t have
staff to arrange a soft-drink service. Janis’ cheerfully offered to do this and folded the drink service
seamlessly into the other preparations. Finally, I observed that she managed her three helpers effectively,
switching them in a timely way from cooking to setup, serving, and cleanup duties. The latter left the hall
kitchen immaculate.
In closing, I can say that Janis is an extremely well organized,
excellent cook capable of arranging delicious meals for large numbers of guests. The best
recommendation I can give is that we hope to engage her for our 2013 event.
Sincerely,
Gary B. Silberstein
Event Coordinator ‘Logjam! 2012’
Top qualities: Great Results, Good Value, On Time
“Janis Cota,
a.k.a. Holy Smokes Country BBQ & Catering has catered for my company more
than once and each time has done a fabulous / tasty job at a reasonable cost. In
fact she way over delivers for the $. I highly recommend you try her food and
company for your next event. Perry Rankin” August 6,
2011
Janis and her assistant were a joy to work with. They are
the friendliest, most personable bbq’ers I’ve ever met. Both managed a barbecue
for about 55 people all by themselves. On the day of our event, this 2 woman
show had everything set up, prepared and ready for us. They came at 6 in the
morning with their grill and barbecued for us until 4pm at golden gate park.
Needless to say our event was perfectly executed because of them.
Food was delicious. Potato salad was excellent,
brisket was tender, chicken was juicy, ribs were yum and the bbq sauce was
finger lickin’ good.
Everyone was very happy and I received a lot of
compliments on how great the food was and how fun this event was. I highly
recommend Holy Smokes BBQ.
PS: They even brought bubbles for the little kids, very
nice surprise.
Thanks,
Elaine Chow
Education Coordinator
Executive Assistant to the
Chief
Department of Medicine
University of California, San Francisco
“Janis Cota,
a.k.a. Holy Smokes Country BBQ & Catering has catered for my company more
than once and each time has done a fabulous / tasty job at a reasonable cost. In
fact she way over delivers for the $. I highly recommend you try her food and
company for your next event. Perry Rankin” August 6,
2011
Janis and her assistant were a joy to work with. They are
the friendliest, most personable bbq’ers I’ve ever met. Both managed a barbecue
for about 55 people all by themselves. On the day of our event, this 2 woman
show had everything set up, prepared and ready for us. They came at 6 in the
morning with their grill and barbecued for us until 4pm at golden gate park.
Needless to say our event was perfectly executed because of them.
Food was delicious. Potato salad was excellent,
brisket was tender, chicken was juicy, ribs were yum and the bbq sauce was
finger lickin’ good.
Everyone was very happy and I received a lot of
compliments on how great the food was and how fun this event was. I highly
recommend Holy Smokes BBQ.
PS: They even brought bubbles for the little kids, very
nice surprise.
Thanks,
Elaine Chow
Education Coordinator
Executive Assistant to the
Chief
Department of Medicine
University of California, San Francisco