Have you ever fancied sitting at home with a glass of wine with friends, whilst someone sweats over a hot stove, cooking up a feast for you all and then does all the dishes too, so you don’t have to lift a finger? Well apart from topping up your guests wine and aeroplaning said feast into one’s mouth.
If you didn’t know that was a thing, aeroplaning your own food or having someone cook up a three course meal for you and your guests in your own home, well they now are. Both of them. And I had the pleasure of relinquishing my place behind the cooker in my own home to a guest chef, courtesy of La Belle Assiette. They provide private dinning experiences not just in Cardiff but throughout Europe.
I recently welcomed chef Stephen Gallagher into my home to cook for me and my family. Speaking to Stephen, he’s worked at a few well known hotel resorts in South Wales area such as the Vale Hotel and more recently The Celtic Manor. Along with running his own pub and restaurant with a friend, it sounded like he’d had bags of experience in the kitchen.
That meant I could relax and just concentrate on pairing the food with drink and making sure everyone kept topped up, starting with a glass of Prossecco topped with a dash of Condessa Elderflower Gin Liqueur.
The Food
This being Stephens first private chef event with La Belle Assiette, he had a couple of example menu’s on his profile on their website, but he was more than willing to offer something bespoke if they didn’t take my fancy.
Not making things easy on myself to work with him to satisfy what was probably the most fussy bunch of eaters, we managed to wittle the menu down to the same mains and desserts for everyone. I’m not usually the one with the fussy label attached to me when it comes to food, but I was the one who didn’t want the starter as documented many times throughout my blog I just can’t take to salmon.
Instead of me ruining what sounded like chef’s signature starter dish and for those who really did like salmon, he kindly offered to do an alternative starter for some of us too.
I absolutely love carbing up on bread before a meal and is one of my favourite parts of a meal, slathered thick with salty butter. I meant to pop into Pettigrew Bakery for a loaf of sourdough, the afternoon of the meal, as it didn’t mention anything about bread on the menu. I was too busy buying some new glasses and booze though unfortunately.
Luckily for us, Stephen came prepared with a bounty of bread big enough to put Jesus to shame, which was well received, by none more than me.
Annoyed with myself, as the sound of the salmon dish sounded bloody lovely, but I just couldn’t. The three that ate the salmon concurred too. Us salmon dodgers were treated to a tandoori chicken, a whole breast I must add, with mint raita. Portion size would of filled two people to be fair, of lightly spiced chicken morsels and a cooling mint drizzle.
For mains, I was amazed I got everyone to agree on one dish, but then it was duck. Again the portion size of the breast was very generous and cooked perfectly pink for me. This came with oodles of a rich, meaty blackberry jus, that added a lovely fruity kick to balance out the natural fattiness of the duck.
We were presented with not only a duck breast, but a very impressive duck leg croquet, loaded with tender shreds of duck in a super crunchy crust. A sweet carrot puree and a velvety garlic mash.
I know I was in my own home, but I was entertaining guests so licking the plate was sadly out of the question. I did however, happily finish off my mums duck. She really enjoyed the dish, she’s just not a big eater and had already consumed a whole breast of chicken for the starters.
For the duck I paired this with either an Argentinian Malbec or Oloroso Sherry, depending on the guests preference. I opted for the Malbec.
The third and final course, cooked and prepared by the chef was a Chai tea panna cotta, Earl Grey syrup, brioche toast and orange gel. Not having any prior exposure of what chef could knock up in the kitchen, I wasn’t entirely sure the both tea’s would work with each other.
I wouldn’t normally have had much experience of tea until recently, when I was tasked with pairing an Indian food tasting menu with gin for Cardiff Gin Club. I spent a few weeks experimented with Indian spices, gins and a playing around with a range of different tea syrups.
I wasn’t sure if the highly perfumed Early Grey tea would work with the spiciness of the Chai tea but the orange gel brought together the bergamot in the Earl Grey with the cinnamon and cardamom of the chai. The panna cotta had a decent wobble to it too.
Keeping in with the tea theme, I paired this dish with an Indian Inspired Jindea Darjeeling Tea Gin and tonic, with a twist of lemon.
The Verdict
This was my very first experience of having a private chef cook for me and my family in my home, so I really wasn’t sure what to expect. I was a little nervous too if I’ll be honest, that I’d invited everyone around and had no idea what the quality of the food was going to be like.
I really didn’t have anything to worry about though, as Stephen was very professional throughout the whole process. From putting the menu together, arriving early to make sure everything was prepped on time and the final output of the food to a very high standard.
It really was excellent restaurant standard food, without the hassle of leaving your own home. This would make an ideal choice for a dinner date with friends if you struggle with child care, spoiling family members with accessibility issues, who find it hard to leave the home or because why bloody not.
Why go to the trouble of dressing up, travelling to a venue, only to have them tell you what you can and can’t have, even though it’s you handing over your hard earned cash.
Why not design the night or special occasion, exactly how you want it. From the guests, the drinks, the venue and the bespoke menu, to suit everyone.
The only thing I was annoyed about, was that everyone was so stuffed after the food, nobody touched my cheeseboard that I spent about 30 quid on in M & S earlier in the day.
The experience was provided complimentary by La Belle Assiette but we really couldn’t fault the experience. I would recommend it to anyone who has thought about having a private chef, but not quite sure or to anyone who didn’t know you could have it done, for the same price of eating out at a restaurant if not cheaper.
Contact Details
La Belle Assiette Private Dinning
Chef: Stephen Gallagher
Web: labelleassiette.co.uk
Tel: 020 3318 5003