Whether you’re celebrating with friends and family, colleagues or clients, trust our proven capabilities to transform any occasion into a special occasion. From weddings and anniversaries, to product launches and grand openings, to holiday parties and intimate gatherings, we host the finest events in Long Beach and Southern California. With a complete palette of services, we will expertly handle every aspect of your event. Allowing you and your guests to relax, enjoy and celebrate.

 

This attention to detail has earned Moondance Catering recognition by the Southern California Restaurant Writers Association and Los Angeles Magazine. As well as a long list of satisfied clients. We invite you to join them.

 

Who Makes the Moon Shine?

 

Syndi Croad

Today the owner of a successful full-service event planning and catering management company, Syndi began her training in food-service at a very early age. As a young girl in Northern California, Syndi grew up in the kitchen of a family-owned restaurant where her mother, Kay Morgan, prepared delectable meals as the gourmet chef. There, she developed her life-long passion for fine food served with a generous helping of old-fashioned hospitality.

 

This early training served her well as she joined the staff of fine restaurants around the world, delivering her special brand of flawless service and poised etiquette. She continues to strive for outstanding service excellence as the owner of Moondance Catering, recognized by the Southern California Restaurant Writers Association and Los Angeles Magazine.

 

Complementing Syndi’s background in culinary crafts and impeccable service is her exceptional attention to detail. Syndi honed her organizational, marketing and customer-relations strengths at such prestigious companies as Cisco Systems, Bank of America and Mary Kay Cosmetics. Syndi calls on these strengths to successfully plan coordinate and execute some of Southern California’s most elaborate event productions. Under her leadership, Moondance Catering has attracted a growing clientele list that includes many of the most recognized names in the political, corporate and entertainment world.

Syndi’s love for fine food and service is rivaled only by her love for her family. When not busy planning flawless events, Syndi enjoys reading, traveling, and is actively involved in service to her church. She finds the rewards of family and spirituality as fulfilling as the rewards of her successful career.

 

Syndi is a current board member for the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce Women’s Business Council and President-Elect for 2008, a current board member for the DLBA (Downtown Long Beach Associates) and active member of the Long Beach City Visitor’s Bureau, NACE (National Association of Catering Executives) and ISES (International Special Events Society).

 

Lauro Aguila
Executive Chef

For Moondance Executive Chef Lauro Aguila, cuisine is more than a passion. It’s in his blood. A third-generation chef, Lauro began his culinary career over 25 years ago as an apprentice chef at Hilton’s three-star restaurant in Pasadena. Displaying his gift for epicurean creations early on, he quickly moved up the ranks to become second in charge.

 

Since then, he has continued to absorb every possible morsel of knowledge about cooking — a process he considers life-long. The setting for his education: some of the finest restaurants in Southern California’s leisure, hotel and entertainment industries, including La Canada Country Club, Cancun, Red Lion Hotel, Walelands, Castaways, Warner Brothers Studios, Los Coyotes Country Club, Belmont Village, Holiday Inn and Lake Arrowhead Resort.

For these establishments, Lauro planned guest-pleasing menus and specials, supervised crews in the front and back of the house, catered premier Hollywood events with guest lists exceeding 2,000, and created new recipes to rave reviews.

 

While sharpening his skills in the kitchen, Lauro learned from some of the best chefs of the traditional school. From them, Lauro developed his appreciation of classic fare. Blending the traditional with the contemporary, Lauro offers a fresh interpretation of timeless favorites. He believes excellent food should also be accessible. It’s this philosophy that has made Moondance Catering menus enormously popular with clients and their guests.

 

As Moondance’s Executive Chef, Lauro considers his role a collaborative one. Listening carefully to the ideas and preferences of the client, he develops and implements menus that reflect the client’s unique vision. Under Lauro’s direction, the Moondance kitchen has brought many clients’ dreams to delectable reality, creating the culinary centerpiece for Southern California’s most unforgettable events.