Nova Catering + Events

The Nova Catering team is amazing. The owner Chris Barbier is super on top of everything, very accommodating, and extremely generous. We had our office lunch catered from Nova and they provided a wide selection of incredibly delicious food including salmon on green beans, chicken, petit fours, seasonal fruits, cucumber salad, rice, couscous with cranberries & slivered almonds, and asparagus topped with pickled onions. My favorite was definitely the wide variety of sandwiches including chicken pesto, grilled veggies & hummus, salmon arugula, tomato mozzarella basil & olive oil, turkey bacon, and roast beef (chicken pesto was by far the best!). The presentation and delivery of the food is definitely business class.
Your normal catering would consist of trays of messy aluminum pans, but Nova actually provides higher grade boxes that make the food look professional. I usually could care less about the packaging and looks of the food as long as it’s delicious, but I was thoroughly impressed here. Would absolutely cater from here for upscale events. The only thing that I wish were better would be the petit fours — there were too many fruity /​tart treats, and I think everyone in the office would’ve preferred more chocolate /​coffee /​vanilla-​flavored ones, but can’t complain because everything else was absolutely delicious!

I’ve hired NOVA for several events in the city — an extremely professional, hardworking, good-​looking waitstaff and they offer a variety of delicious and fun food options.
They will work with you on your menu to fit any budget, and really open to any kind of event execution. FULLY recommend these guys.

This is a review of the catering service, not the café. Chris and his staff catered our wedding last year and we were very happy with the result. The tasting meal we did was probably one of the best meals I’ve had, and it translated well into the wedding meal. One of our worries was the cake, which we gave to Chris instead of hiring a separate baker. It came out fantastic – not only beautiful and delicious, but also exactly what we asked for. Our family members still talk about ‘those little hors d’oeuvres’ and the great service, and many said it’s some of the best food they have had at a wedding.

I woud not recommend this company if you are looking for upscale catering. Everything-​service, food, menu– was so-​so. Presentation was the worst, even with mismatched dishes!

This company did a fantastic job with our recent art gallery opening. They told us the 3 staff people would arrive one hour prior to our event, and they arrived exactly on time. In addition, Chris Barbier, the Catering Director I had dealt with for the weeks leading up to the event stopped by for 15 minutes to make sure everything was being done correctly. He was super friendly and really made sure the details were in order.
The staff were friendly, professional, dressed appropriately, and willing to accommodate any requests. All of our drinks and hors d’oeuvres were passed throughout the evening and nobody was left wanting. In fact, many guests (and potential clients) mentioned during the party that they were impressed with the catering. The quality of the food was very good, each item was delicious. Also, presentation of the food was excellent. Hors d’ouevres came around on sleek slate boards and sweets came out on white square platters with grass in the middle — everyone loved that!
Great job by Chris, and the staff Adrian, Scoop, and Lauren! I will certainly call on them for future catering needs!

I hired them to cater my work holiday party. Prior to the event I had to call and email several times before receiving a response.
The food at the party was mediocre and although I understand we didn’t have a large budget the apps and stationary dishes were executed poorly.
Based on my experience I would almost think I had used an entirely different caterer than the other people here… I hope I wasn’t tricked by a person who is trading on the original Nova name.

All I have to say about this place was the amazing service… that man had the patience to deal with me and my indecisive, sometimes cheap friends.
I’d definitely go back next time I’m down there.
They’ve a mean chocolate shake.

Nicely made with love and expertise. I would recommend to anyone for takeout or a quick bite. Very nice.

Nova Catering has been a wonderful addition to Hells Kitchen. Whether it’s there insanely fresh and tasty pastry;s and muffins or there wonderful salads and sanwiches the food here is top rate. The prices are more than reasonable and I’m proud to say I’ve become quite the regular.

I recently used Nova Catering for a big benefit concert for Road Recovery (
) held at the Nokia Theatre in Times Square. There were some rockstar headliners such as Slash, Perry Farrell and Tom Morello. I was researching caterers who would provide delicious food for a good price, great service and who were close to the venue. I took a chance on Nova Catering, I had not heard about them except through Unilocal,but they offered a price I couldn’t turn down. It was one of the best decisions I had made for that event. Chris Babier heads Nova Catering and does a fantastic job. There were some pretty big changes being made up until the day before the event and Chris rolled with the punches. The day of the event I was busy and stressed with other tasks and it was very reassuring to know that I could depend on him and his crew. The food and presentation were great. Chris provided his services for a good price since this was a non-​profit event. One of his crew, even volunteered his time to help out.
I had an excellent experience with Nova Catering and recommend them for small to large events.

Inspired by Rob’s review, I decided to pop in for a sandwich the other day and all I can say is looks can be deceiving. I pass this place constantly (it’s around the corner from my apartment) and I was always confused. It says it’s a catering company, yet there seems to be a café and few sparse seats, kind of a salad bar — unclear.
Turns out the thing to do is just get something to go — which I did, a delicious, fresh, flavorful cobb salad wrap. They’ve got a full array of sandwiches, pastries, salads and smoothies. All freshly made and delicious. Clearly the space is not prepossessing, but I suppose that’s because it’s about being more their catering kitchen than a place to sit for lunch. Fortunately, though, everything travels well — and I’m sure I’ll be back to try it all.

Nova (not too far from Ars Nova, actually) is a new café in a changing section of 10^th avenue in Hell’s Kitchen. And they are still working things out as they are (and have been for a while) a catering and events company too (I have no experience with them for that but the website has lots of info…). Chef Chris Barbieri has been running this company since the late 90’s, and in November, 2007 they opened up the little café that I am very happy to have near by.
I like the coffee, but know I do not drink lots of coffee, so at this point in my life probably not an expert on that.
I like oatmeal. And I like a variety of textures, so their big bowl of steel cut oats with fruit and nuts and honey I say, ‘Yes!’ to. The soups are super tasty too and usually they have a variety, though I have not tried the chili, yet. Great sandwiches (very nice turkey and cranberry) and salads (beets, mmmm) and not a bad place to hang out and read the paper.
I like Nova. Prices are not outrageous and at this point though the service is not speedy as the guys are better chefs than counter staff at times, they are learning.
I suppose if you all read this and show up often, it might get crowded as there are only about 8 2-​tops in the place. But if we take turns and sometimes take it to go – we all should be happy.
I understand that they should get the website updated with more info and are doing delivery. So stay tuned and swing by Nova.