Catering questions, answered straight.

We are halal · zabiha-sourced, not certified — and we say so plainly. Proteins come from zabiha suppliers with documentation available on request, no alcohol is used at any stage of a halal-marked preparation, and prep lines are kept fully separated. A full Mediterranean program can run halal end-to-end without substitutions.

Yes — it's one of our favorite briefs. Bring the handwritten card or talk us through it; the chef will test it, change nothing without your permission, and serve it faithfully to your guests.

For drop-off and buffet service, yes — leftovers are yours, and we'll leave food-safe packaging for them. For plated and staffed events, our captains follow safe holding-time rules, so what can be packed will be; anything past a safe window is removed for your protection.

No — halal-marked preparations use no alcohol at any stage, including deglazing and desserts.

Yes, and often does — the full Mediterranean program runs halal end-to-end without substitutions.

No — and we say so plainly. Carthage Kitchen is zabiha-sourced, not halal-certified. Our proteins come from certified zabiha suppliers we name, hand-slaughtered to halal practice, with documentation available on request — but we do not hold a certificate from a certifying body, and we will not imply we do. Certification is a goal we are working toward; honesty about where we are today is the whole point of how we source.

Halal proteins are prepared on dedicated prep lines with separate utensils, with no cross-contact with non-halal proteins, and no alcohol is used in any halal-marked preparation — including marinades and deglazing. The separation is a briefed kitchen procedure, and every dish is labeled at service so what you are told matches what is on the plate.

Absolutely — that is the point. A zabiha-sourced menu is simply chef-led food that happens to be sourced with care; nothing about it asks a guest to compromise on flavor. We default whole events to zabiha-sourced precisely so a mixed room shares one menu, with no one steered to a separate table.

Yes — across every occasion. Weddings, corporate lunches and dinners, and institutional boxed-meal programs all run zabiha-sourced by default, with the same tastings, staffing, and logistics as any event we cater. Halal is not a separate, smaller offering here; it is how the kitchen runs.

A printed sourcing sheet that names our zabiha suppliers travels with your order, and we provide supplier documentation on request before you book. Per-dish labels at service tell every guest what they are eating, and for institutional clients we include the sourcing and allergen sheets your procurement team needs.

Every menu is zabiha-sourced by default — Mediterranean, BBQ, Persian, Mexican, Indian, Armenian, and the rest. Halal is the standing posture of the kitchen, not a single menu you have to ask for. Where a dish needs a note (a wine-based sauce on a non-halal-marked item, say), it is labeled; the default is always zabiha.

No — vegan dishes use dedicated prep surfaces and oil. Shared-equipment risks are flagged per dish on the allergen sheet.

Yes — full-vegan weddings and galas get the same tasting and the same architecture as any other engagement.

Yes — dedicated prep zone, separate fryer oil, and sealed individually plated service for celiac-flagged guests on request.

Soy sauce, spice blends, and fryer cross-contact — all tracked on our allergen sheets down to the brand level.

Two to four weeks is comfortable for most events; weddings and large galas are best booked one to three months out so we can lock the date and build the menu unhurried. Smaller drop-off and boxed-meal orders often turn around inside a week, and short-notice production or corporate runs are sometimes possible within 72 hours — call us and we'll tell you honestly what the date allows.

Yes — a deposit confirms the date and covers menu development and sourcing; the balance is due before the event. Established corporate, government, and institutional accounts can be set up on itemized net-30 invoicing instead. The exact split is spelled out on your proposal, with no surprise line items on the day.

We cater across Greater Los Angeles and Orange County — from the Westside and Downtown LA through the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys, and south into Irvine, Anaheim, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, and Santa Ana. For events outside that radius, ask; we travel for the right brief and will quote any added logistics up front.

Yes — every wedding engagement includes a tasting at our Melrose atelier with the chef at the table. Menus are corrected in pencil, then signed in ink.