EYE on food & drink Your very own chef
Have you ever hosted a dinner party and found yourself spending more time in the kitchen than with your special guests? Now you can call upon your very own Private Chef. Mike Firth reports
EET Dronfield’s Charlie Ratcliffe. He’s a highly talented chef with flair, imagination and a wealth of experience from working in many of Derbyshire’s award-winning fine dining establishments. One thing he doesn’t have, however, is a restaurant. Instead, Charlie chooses to take his expertise, menus and The Private Chef business into people’s homes, offering a dining experience to remember for couples, groups of food-loving friends and families with something to celebrate. Preparing and presenting food in this manner means Charlie is able to serve a level of personalised service which you would never find in a traditional restaurant. Including initial menu discussions and the selection of quality, fresh ingredients sourced from local suppliers, Charlie and his colleagues strive to ensure an exciting gastronomic experience in the comfort of your own home. Wife Helen and I joined friends Glyn and Cathy Madden at their Dronfield home to sample The Private Chef experience... and we still delight in talking about it a couple of weeks later.
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As soon as we had confirmed the dining experience date with The Private Chef, we were asked if we had any special requirements and if also there were any ingredients we didn’t want to see on our plates. Next, we realised just how special our meal might prove to be when we read through a suggested four-course menu which was emailed to us. Arriving at Glyn and Cathy’s home one Saturday evening, Charlie was already at work familiarising himself with their kitchen and unpacking his pots and pans and our waitress for the evening, Mica Joynes, had set the dining table with gleaming cutlery and glassware. Charlie, who runs the business with wife Ellen, told me: “We’ve never had a problem yet with a kitchen, although it was a steep learning curve on one occasion when I was shown an Aga.
“Mostly we are invited into local private houses but as word has spread, we have worked as far afield as Grantham, Harrogate and Huddersfield. Every menu has been different so far and when I’m at work in the kitchen sometimes people like to watch to see how their food is prepared. I don’t mind that.” We chose to chat away in Glyn and Cathy’s lounge, enjoying a glass or two of wine as wonderful smells began to drift in from the kitchen. Waitress Mica invited us to the dining table where we opened our sealed menus and selected warm shallot and thyme and malted bread rolls to accompany our first course. From then onwards, the dining experience was a sheer delight, with every ingredient being perfectly cooked and beautifully presented. No-one left a single morsel to return to the kitchen throughout the whole evening. The main course of pork fillet was outstanding. Locally-sourced from the Moss Valley, everything accompanying it on our platters was also tremendous and Charlie’s home-made black pudding was the most delicious I had ever tasted. If you glance at the images on the facing page, I can assure you everything tasted every bit as good as it looks. We thought our delicious English Summer Trifle was the perfect way to round off the meal but them Mica appeared with additional sweety creations which left us all licking our lips. Then, of course, joy of joy, no washing up as Charlie and Mica tidied everything away and thoroughly cleaned up before leaving. Commented Glyn: “It was an absolutely beautiful meal and we thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.”
Glyn is served by Mica
Charlie explained to me that, after previous careers in pensions and as a lorry driver, a colleague persuaded him to develop his love of cookery.
“My friend ordered a peppered steak and, when it was served, I told him how it should really have been cooked,” recalled Charlie, of Holmley Lane. “He asked me why I wasn’t a chef and I didn’t have an answer for him.”
Going on to train at Sheffield College for four years, Charlie then worked at many of the award-winning restaurants in Derbyshire, ranging from Two Rosettes to Michelin-Starred, as well as training under a Masterchef of Great Britain. Now he combines his The Private Chef business with teaching stints at New College, Nottingham. In addition to fine dining, the business also offers Afternoon Teas and Picnic Hampers. • The Private Chef Company, 01246 291939.
www.the-private.chef-company.co.uk
52 dronfield EYE
The Private Chef, Charlie Ratcliffe
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