La Belle Assiette - book a private chef to cook dinner for you.

Do you love entertaining and serving great food to friends but don't like all the hassle of shopping, cooking and washing up afterwards. 

Well we have a solution for you, say hello to La Belle Assiette, the easy book private chef service where  a talented professional chef comes to your home and serves dinner to your party. 

The chef does all the shopping, preparation, cooking and washing up for you in your home (or holiday home), all you need provide is a kitchen and the drinks for your guests. Nothing could be easier. Leaving you free to relax and enjoy the company of your guests and enjoy great food without any stress.

How it works

• Your chef buys the finest ingredients
• They cook in your kitchen
• They serve each dish
• They clean up before they leave

Menus start at around £39 per head and can be tailored in discussion with your chef, so catering for special dietary requirements is not a problem. All the chefs you can book have been validated by diners so you are assured of a high quality experience.

La Belle Assiette was founded in 2013 by two friends, Stephen and Giorgio. Paris is where it all started. Parisians love to entertain at home, so sending chefs into their kitchens was a no-brainer. Four years on, they are proud to have become Europe's leading chef service.

Despite the very French name , La Belle Assiette has been overwhelmingly accepted in the UK. Our chefs are welcomed into people's homes and trusted to deliver, time and again. 

We were lucky enough to experience chef Michael Thomas for our dinner party recently, a talented chef with over 17 years experience of fine dining and high quality catering reasonably local to our home. We had agreed the menu by telephone a couple of weeks earlier after Michael suggested a number of delicious sounding seasonal menu's and also discussed my requirements for a gluten free meal. All was no problem and a creative fresh flavoured menu was created.

Starter 

Gin cured salmon served with a celeriac slaw, pickled cucumber and avocado cream. Finished with pea shoots, smoked rapeseed oil and fresh dill.

Main

Trio of pork:  pan fried pork fillet, braised pig cheeks and pressed pork belly. Served with fondant potato, celeriac puree and jus, finished with a broadbean pesto.

Dessert

Lemon and elderflower cheesecake served with lemon curd, meringue, fresh berries and elderflower jelly.

We can thoroughly recommend the La Belle Assiette service and especially Michael Thomas our chef, the evening went without a hitch and our guests thoroughly enjoyed their evening and the food was amazing.

The La Belle Assiette service is great for a special occasion or that special meal whilst away on your holidays at your holiday home.

The validation dinner service was provided on a complementary  basis to enable a review of the chef and the La Belle Assiette Service to be undertaken, all thoughts, opinions and views are our own. We were not expected to give a positive review of the service.

August 2014 - Anson Bolton -The Millstone Inn, Mellor.

                               

This month our featured foodie is Anson Bolton, talented chef patron of The Millstone Inn at Mellor, a delightful village inn and restaurant with a reputation for amazing local food and a warm "Lancashire" welcome. Anson's style in traditonal "British fare" served with flair and attention to detail. 

The Inn is set in a small village on the edge of stunning Lancashire countryside, were you can enjoy great food, Thwaites beer (brewed locally) and  luxury country house style accommodations.

                         

                                  

On to the crucial questions, I love this bit where we found out more about the person behind the food.

• What is your favourite cookery or food book or publication ?

When I first started in a kitchen I was brought a copy of the Readers Digest Cookery year in the 80’s, whilst it’s not “on trend” it’s a great guide to what’s seasonal and what you should be using and when. Another culinary bible is the Practical Cookery a must for any student chef. Its fascinating to see how things have changed, in the 1st editions there were no healthy eating or allergy concerns, the latest edition has calorie counts, allergens awareness and even a DVD! How times have changed. Nigel Slater is also a good read with simplistic seasonal dishes.

• What sentence sums up Lancashire Food to you ?

It’s just proper food done well, forget all this with a twist stuff, Mushy peas are mushy peas if they’re done right you can’t go wrong same can be said about all our other traditional dishes (said in me poshest Bolton accent!!!)

• If you weren't doing what you do now, what would you like to be ?

I've always thought I’d love to be a postman, just me and a sack of post no worries but my wife tells me I'm not a morning person and I'm not keen on walking so I might have to rethink that one!

• Which piece of kit could you not do without ?

Not so much a piece of Kit but I'm really fortunate to have a loyal and hard-working brigade of chefs who are great to work with, talented, grafters and we understand each other’s humour (just)

• Who would join you at your ultimate dinner party and why?

My Grandfather was a caterer and founded Percivals Outside Caterers in Bolton before the war, although he died long before I was born he sounds a fascinating chap. He was also a local councillor and a staunch socialist so it would be nice to have Margaret Thatcher at the table as well to spice things up, then that Dimbleby bloke, the Question Time presenter to put them in their place. Then for the entertainment I’d have Peter Kay doing an American Trilogy duet with Elvis Presley

• What advice would you give to your younger self ?

I'm not a good listener! I tend to think of something and jump straight in so maybe it’s think things through and listen to those in the know.

• Describe your style in three words 

Fresh, Honest and consistent

• What was your latest foodie gadget purchase ?

I'm not really a gadget man….We have all the usual Thermomixer and trendy ovens but you can’t really beat a set of sharp knives. 

• What is your greatest achievement to date ?

I was selected to be part of the crew on the P and O’s Oriana 20 years ago. It’s was a great experience flying over on a private jet to see the ship being built, meeting the Queen at the naming ceremony and lots of corporate lunches. Stressful but worth it. 

• What is the worst mistake you have made ?

Not so much a kitchen night mare but I once manage to lose the Grooms trousers on the morning of his wedding…..long story of mistaken identity in which I gave the trousers to another guest who then set off south to go home! It was my ultimate Fawlty Towers moment. 

• Tell us a secret about yourself ? may be something we wouldn't expect !

As a teenager I was a fanatical Pigeon racer with trophies to prove it.

FATJAX chutneys and relishes

I have been really lucky to be given the opportunity to review some great local products from FATJAX Chutneys, who are literally a couple of miles down the road from me. Creating artisan cheeky chutneys, vinegars and  ravishing relishes produced by chefs in small batches to capture freshness of flavour. FATJAX chutneys also make addition to savoury dishes where you are looking to add that extra dimension of flavour, check out the  post for Courgettsakka.

So here goes, my delish samples (proper full sized jars mind you so I could have a good taste and share with friends too ),and its true what the say "The difference is in the taste".

Mediterranean Vegetable - A delightful vegetable chopped chutney, bit like ratatouille only nicer. I could see this being served as an alternative to a salsa or alongside fish, I think its would also make a great combo with tuna fish and mayo grilled as a toasty.

Onion and fennel seed - The outright favourite of everyone who has tried the chutneys, lovely with cheese of course and cooked meats too. A new flavour to the FATJAX stable and from the feedback I'll be giving hopefully a permanent addition to the range , its the contrasting aniseedy hum which combines superbly with the sweet onions that everyone loved.

Sweet Red Onion and  chilli - an ideal partner to meats, cold or hot with a little bit of a kick ( don't worry not too much). My brother loves it on a bacon butty ! Also I think this would be delicious stirred into a chilli to provide extra flavour depth.

Bengali Pineapple - apparently FATJAX best seller by a mile, think mango chutney but fresher and pineapply (of course), delicious with curries and poppadoms, I can see this in filo pastry with shredded cooked chicken a little creme fraiche, hey presto chicken korma parcels  !

The chutneys are available direct from FATJAX via their website or at one of the many local food markets they attend or in a number of carefully selected local food emporiums.

Thanks to the wonderful Synergy Monochrome for the great photography for this post