The friendly answers,
before you book.

Booking is first-come, first-served. We take just 12 events a year, and the season runs May through December. Dates open a year ahead, and most are spoken for by March — so if you have a date in mind, the kindest thing to your own timeline is to reach out early.

A 50% deposit reserves your date and gets your planning underway. Until a deposit is in, the date stays open to other couples — so once you know NZR is your yes, we'll help you lock it in.

Every couple gets three 30-minute planning calls with our team — 1.5 hours of planning and design in all, at no charge — plenty to shape your menu and the flow of the evening. Any time beyond that is offered at an hourly rate, shared on your proposal.

Want us to plan and design the whole celebration? Full event planning and design is quoted on inquiry, and with it, your time together is open. Either way, the catering build — your menu and service picks — is always yours to shape: once you send an inquiry, we'll share our estimate calculator so you can build it yourself.

Ready for real numbers? Start an inquiry and we'll send a clear proposal — the experience that fits your celebration, its menu, the base price, and every add-on on its own line. Everything runs through HoneyBook, so all your details stay in one place. Proposals hold for 14 days, then expire.

About one week before your event, we'll do a final review together to confirm every detail and lock your catering build. Your guest count and menu are set roughly two weeks out, so this last check simply makes sure the day is exactly as you want it.

For our catered feasts — The Charro and The Asado — your base price carries the food, the chefs and captains, set-up and break-down, and hot delivery to the table. From there you add what you love — the bar, dessert, compostable Tabletop, florals, and more — each shown as its own clear line, so you always see exactly what you're choosing.

Our Private Chef and Retreat Chef stays work a little differently: those are priced per guest, per day for the chef and their cooking, and the groceries are billed separately at our cost — never marked up. We'll walk the full picture with you on your consultation.

A few things always appear on their own lines, so nothing is ever buried: travel to your venue, New Mexico gross-receipts tax, a small payment processing fee, wine and alcohol, and an automatic gratuity — figured on labor only — that goes straight to the team. Chefs, captains, and floor crew are fully taken care of — no separate tip-out to think about.

Payment runs through HoneyBook — all major debit and credit cards and ACH bank transfers. Each method carries its own small processing fee, shown as its own line. (We're not set up for cash or checks.)

Our menus are seasonal and farm-to-table, and they turn with the year. Each experience arrives with its own menu and its own list of add-ons, and we'll walk the full picture with you on your consultation.

Just tell us. Allergies, preferences, dietary needs — we build the menu around them wherever the kitchen can do it safely and well. You and your guests should feel completely at ease at the table.

Menus are set about two weeks before your event, and ingredients are gathered in the days just before, as the season allows. We hold to your menu wherever we can; now and then the season calls for a small swap, and we'll always let you know.

We're a private-chef company rather than a restaurant, so there's no dining room for individual tastings. In its place, we do a site visit — in person or over Zoom — to walk the food-service layout, the cook-tent spot, and the particulars of your day.

We bring the whole meal — appetizers, dinner, dessert, late-night bites, and service — as one continuous, food-safe operation. There's nothing to coordinate or hand off, and nothing falls through the cracks; it's all under one roof, ours.

We portion carefully to your guest count, so there's rarely much left. New Mexico's food-safety law means we can't send leftovers home — anything that remains is composted through our partnership with Reunity Resources, so it returns to the land rather than the landfill.

Standard service is three easy hours:

6 PM · Bar & appetizers
7 PM · Dinner
8 PM · Dessert
9 PM · Service winds down
10 PM · All packed up

Want the night to run longer? Late-night hours are a simple add-on — just let us know.

Everything is cooked on site as it's served — no chafing dishes, no sterno, no reheating. Buffets stay hot on child- and fire-safe induction warmers with cast-iron Lodge pans; plated courses come straight off the range, the griddle, or the wood-fired grill.

Because the food is cooked to the clock, dinner is at its very best when the evening keeps its rhythm. Our warm suggestion: schedule photos earlier in the day, and keep toasts to the bar-and-appetizer hour. That way every course reaches the table right when it should.

Our bar is our own in-house team, with a New Mexico state-licensed bartender, offered as an add-on — the complete setup, glassware, ice, and a sourced beverage selection whose cost is added to your invoice. Under standard hours the bar pours until 9 PM; late-night bar service is a simple add-on.

Every event is worked start to finish by our own team and trusted roster — chefs, captains, and floor crew who already know one another's rhythm. You're never the one managing vendors or chasing a timeline on your wedding day. That's our job, and we love it.

A complete Compostable Tabletop — our palm-leaf plates and platters, napkins for the table, bar, appetizer and dessert, and bamboo cutlery — is offered as an enhancement, quoted per guest. When you choose it, setup, service, and breakdown are all carried in that price.

It's gentler on land and water than outside rentals, and kinder to your budget too — rented china carries far heavier water and labor costs. Prefer rental china, or bringing your own? Easy — the line simply isn't charged.

Choose rental china and a plated, served dinner, and that Tabletop cost shifts to professional servers. They carry every course of the plated meal, pass hors d'oeuvres tableside, pour wine and water, serve the champagne toast, and cut and serve the cake.

Rentals are sourced through our rentals, and we coordinate the booking for you once your deposit is in. Our pricing already covers the labor of clearing, scraping, stacking, and prepping rentals for pickup, so that's one more thing off your plate.

Travel appears as a clear line by destination — Greater Santa Fe, the Taos Valley, the Rio Chama Valley, or the wider region — so the exact figure is right there on your proposal. Our kitchen and team are based in Taos, and travel is measured from there.

Offered in person or by Zoom — a walk through the food-service layout, the cook-tent location, and your event's particulars. Our team is well practiced with celebrations of up to 200 guests; just ask, and we'll talk it through.

We're happiest at venues with full-service kitchens, but deserts, backyards, parks, fields, and kitchen-free venues can almost always be accommodated with a little planning — see the outdoor-venue add-ons on the experiences page.

Hosting at a vacation rental or Airbnb? Wonderful — we just ask for written consent from the property owner, confirming they're happy to host the event and to have us cook and serve on site. Once that's in hand, we coordinate the details directly with them.

It's best to estimate a little conservatively at booking. You can always add guests later — we'll simply invoice the extra food, service, and gratuity. Counts can't come down after booking, since our ranchers' orders and the team's schedules are set in advance. Your final count is confirmed about two weeks out.

Weather is part of how we design your event — tenting or a covered fallback where the setting calls for it, coordinated directly with your venue. Outdoor structures come as an add-on, sourced and coordinated through our rentals, so you're never left arranging a backup on your own.

Field, backyard, or open mesa — we can bring the tents, structures, lighting, power, and full working setup, offered as an add-on, sourced and coordinated through our rentals. Our standard is a 20 ft × 20 ft wind- and rainproof tent with sides, lighting, power, a hot-water sink, and a dry floor, so the crew can cook beautifully anywhere.

Net Zero Ranch carries full General Liability and Automobile insurance, and every event is worked by our own licensed, food-safe team. It's one less thing for you — or your venue — to wonder about.

From the food to the bar to the flow of the night, it's all handled by our own crew and trusted roster — people who already know one another's rhythm. You get a single point of accountability, so the whole evening moves as one seamless piece.

We pour a great deal of care into your celebration, and our whole aim is to look after you beautifully. We ask just one thing in return — that our team be met with the same warmth and respect they extend to you.