Private event buffet on Llanogrande villa terrace

Medellín event catering since 2019

Private Event and Luxury Catering in Medellín

Medellin Elite Catering cooks for private events in Medellín homes, rented villas and countryside fincas, from a six-person dinner in a Laureles apartment to a 150-guest party in Llanogrande. Our bilingual coordinators plan every detail in English or Spanish, and our own production kitchen prepares the food on the day it is served.

The hosts who hire us are residents throwing a party at home, families pulling relatives together from abroad, and visiting groups who rented a house for a long weekend. Executives and public figures come to us too, when a meal has to arrive on a jet, a boat or behind a closed door.

We have cooked for Medellín hosts since 2019, and much of that work has taken place in someone's living room, garden or pool deck. That history shows in the small things: knowing which towers want a guest list at the portería, how long a finca road takes in the rain, and how to leave a kitchen cleaner than we found it.

  • Itemized quotes available
  • Bilingual English and Spanish coordinators

Plan your event

Catering for Private Events at Home, Villas and Fincas

Private event catering means we bring the food, staff and serving equipment to a place that is not a venue: your apartment, a rented penthouse, a villa or a finca. Most private events we cater have 15 to 80 guests, though private chef dinners start at 2 guests and finca parties can run well past 100.

Penthouses and rooftops in El Poblado, houses in the Envigado and Sabaneta hills, and villas around Llanogrande are the settings we see most. Each one has its own logistics, from booking a service elevator in a tower to the drive up the Las Palmas road toward the airport plateau.

Discretion is part of the job in a private home. Our staff never photograph the house or the guests, the address stays between the host and the coordinator, and a confidentiality agreement is signed whenever the host asks for one.

Catering trays ready in rented apartment kitchen

Private Events We Cater

We group private events into four families, because each asks for a different kind of food, staffing and equipment. Every page below explains the menus, logistics and staffing for that event type.

Dinner Parties and Family Gatherings

A seated dinner at home is the most personal event we cook, and our dinner party catering covers plated menus, family-style sharing platters and tasting menus for 6 to 30 guests. A cook works in your kitchen and a server clears every course, so the host stays at the table.

Reunions, Sunday lunches and relatives flying in from Miami or Madrid fall under our family gathering catering, built on generous Colombian cooking such as sancocho, frijoles, lechona and arroz con leche. House parties, birthdays and villa weekends with a bar and passed food sit under private party catering.

Pool, Garden and Outdoor Parties

Daytime events outdoors need menus that hold up in the sun and a plan for Medellín's afternoon showers. Garden party catering brings ceviches, salads and fruit juice bars to lawns and terraces, while pool party catering swaps every glass for shatterproof cups and keeps the food handheld.

Larger open-air events at fincas and haciendas, where there may be no kitchen, no grid power and an unpaved road, belong to outdoor event catering. That page covers tents, generators, water tanks and our barrel smoker for asado al barril.

Picnics, Tailgates and High Tea

Smaller, more relaxed formats fill this group. Picnic catering packs baskets and styled setups for gardens and parks, and tailgate catering feeds fans before Atlético Nacional and DIM matches or through an NFL Sunday.

For birthdays, bridal showers and clubs that prefer cups and saucers, high tea catering serves a three-tier afternoon tea or a Colombian algo with pandebono and hot chocolate.

Yacht, Private Jet and VIP Service

Some private clients need food somewhere a normal caterer cannot reach. Our yacht, private jet and VIP catering prepares meal trays for flights out of Olaya Herrera and José María Córdova, cooler-packed menus for boats on the Guatapé reservoir, and discreet staffed service for executives and public figures.

Hosting in a Rented Villa or Apartment

A rented villa or apartment works well for a catered event, as long as you check three things before booking: the rental contract, the building rules and the kitchen. Most problems we find on arrival could have been solved with one message to the owner a week earlier.

Start with the contract. Many short-term rental listings ban parties or cap the number of visitors, and some deposit clauses let the owner keep money for noise complaints, extra cleaning or damage, so get the event approved in writing.

In apartment towers, the building comes next. Under Ley 675 of 2001, the horizontal property law, the administración sets the rules for the salón social, pool and terraces, and the portería often needs a guest list and the plate number of our van.

Then look at the kitchen, or send us photos of it:

  • Burners: how many there are, and whether the stove runs on natural gas or electricity.
  • Oven: many apartments have a small one or none, so we plan around our insulated Cambro carriers.
  • Fridge space: we bring coolers, but room for drinks and ice still helps.
  • Sink: a working sink with hot water close to where we plate.
  • Access: a service elevator booking, parking for a van and the walk from the street to the kitchen.

Where the kitchen is minimal, we cook at our production kitchen and finish on site, holding hot food above 60 °C and cold food below 5 °C. A villa with a full kitchen lets us cook more on the spot, which suits grilled fish, risottos and anything that should go straight from pan to plate.

Drop-Off or Full-Service Private Catering?

Choose drop-off when you have a small group and are happy to serve yourselves; choose full service when you want to host rather than work. The difference is staff: with drop-off we deliver ready trays and leave, while full service brings cooks, servers and, if you like, a bartender for 5 hours.

Drop-offFull service
Guest countAny sizeFrom 15 guests
Staff on siteNone; the driver sets the trays downCooks and servers, bartender optional
TablewareCompostable packaging and serving utensilsPlates, flatware, glassware, chafing dishes
CleanupYoursWe clear, pack and remove the trash
Lead time48 hours2 weeks
Best forGame nights, small family lunches, relaxed villa weekendsDinner parties, birthdays, pool parties, VIP events

Our catering delivery page explains drop-off orders in detail, including delivery times for each zone. For the staffed version with bartenders and passed canapés, our private party catering page has the menus and ratios.

If you are torn between the two, send the guest count, menu idea and address through the quote request page and we can quote both side by side. The gap between them depends on the menu, the number of staff and the hours of service.

Questions and answers

Private Event Questions

Can you cater in an Airbnb or rented villa?

Yes, we cater in Airbnb apartments and rented villas regularly, provided the owner allows events and the building approves the use of any shared areas. We need a working sink, about 2 m of clear counter or table for plating and a parking spot for our van. If the rental kitchen is basic, we cook at our production kitchen and finish the food on site.

Do you sign confidentiality agreements for VIP events?

Yes, we sign the host's confidentiality agreement before we receive the guest list or the address. Only the coordinator and the assigned team learn who the client is, nobody photographs the home or the guests, and the event never appears in our marketing.

Reserve your date

Plan Your Private Event in Medellín

Send us the date, the address or area, your guest count and the kind of party you have in mind, and we will reply with an itemized quote within 24 hours. You can also write to info@medellincatering.com.

  • Itemized quotes available
  • Menus, staff, tableware, setup and cleanup in one quote
  • Food-handler certified team and labeled allergens on every tray
Monday to Saturday
8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Sunday
Closed (events still run)