#chefsargie

Busy week just managing to keep onto of it all, definitely not complaining business is way above my expectations, I just need to make sure I do not take on to much work. 

I had 3 events this week Friday, Saturday and Sunday so when all the events are bunched up at the end of the week the majority of the start of the week is spent planning and also making sure I am on top of everything for the coming 2-3 weeks. Private Chefing is very different to working in a commercial kitchen that is serving food everyday, ordering is very sporadic along with making dishes so life at work can be very different every day.

Starting with Friday this week it was for a surprise 40th Birthday in St Ives for a lovely family that runs a wholesale company. I have spoken to them for around 15 - 20yrs years but do not know them by face, so as I walked in and spoke to a lady I did not know her face but I knew it was Sylvia from accounts by her voice! It was a great night, they wanted something completely different -

Confit duck Tacos

Fillet steak, asparagus jus

Chicken curry, naan bread, chips

Sticky Toffee pudding, vanilla ice cream

Saturday was in Crediton for 11 guests a 70th Birthday day, once again it was something slightly different. They started with canapés rather than the usual starters then into a main course finished off with pud, it was a great night no stress which is always a bonus.

Sunday was spent in Holsworthy another 70th Birthday for a local family and once again it was something completely different. A hot buffet with a mix of salads served to 50 guests. 

A decent steady week various bookings and enquiries for all sorts of events, each week that goes by and I think yeah its been good but it just seems to get better and better. Spoken to a client from Germany this week and he has lived in Germany nearly his whole life but his Mum is English the crazy part is that he knows Bude well, lived in Launceston (maybe a little bit unfortunate living there) and was Christened at Poundstock just outside Bude, it is a very small world ! I did cook for a group around 3-4yrs back down Cornwall and they were telling me that the following day they were going to a place just outside Bude called Poundstock and going to visit friends in a house Dolberry. Which to most people won't seem odd but Dolberry is where I lived when I was younger! Crazy

So I had an event on the Friday for a great bunch of regulars 7 courses -

Canapes

Lobster Bisque

Ravioli filled with sweet potato, goats cheese and a wild garlic and roasted walnut sauce

Seared Scallops, hogs pudding, cauliflower

Monkfish, leeks, bacon, pickled mushrooms

Devon Vension, celeriac, potato rosti

Dark Chocolate mousse, honeycomb, dark fruits

Another great event for Aidan and his family and friends. 

Monkfish, leeks, bacon, pickled mushrooms(not the best pic)

Saturday was for a 90th birthday and wow if I could look like this chap does when I am 60 I will be over the moon! The house was in Dorchester so was a fair old jant over a 4 hr round trip! But was well worth it, 11 guests and a great time was had by all, in a really lovely house. Anyone that knows me will know my geography is absolutely horrendous so I have never really got any idea where I am going its either down Cornwall or out of Cornwall!! This week I had an enquiry to go to the Cotswolds now I know this is up country end of I know nothing more! It is lucky I can cook ! But that is another thing someone said to me recently that really rubbed me up the wrong way that I am lucky, Oh I am really lucky working 16hr days with only 2 weeks off a year missing out on everything oh yeah really lucky. This is not luck its called getting your head down grafting no stop and when you feel like you can't go on you push harder and deeper until you drop. You have to believe and want something so badly that it hurts and that is why I am not working like a lunatic anymore cause I have put the hours in to get to this point. But then again I suppose if others want to call this luck what does it matter really.

I started the week by taking off Monday and Tuesday well when I say I took them off I wasn't checking emails all the time just a few times a day and also did my blog on the Monday apart from that I had some time off. I actually walked to the beach and sat reading a book for an hr in the blazing February sunshine, I know crazy right. Sounds ridiculous but if I get 2 days or more off and do not do any work or limited work it feels like a mini holiday! Unless I am in another country or drunk (but I do not like the feeling of the next day so that isn't often) I just can not completely switch off. Even if I am abroad for a holiday it usually takes 5-6 days before I completely relax then I am like a toddler for the remainder of the time. Its like in Bude in the busy periods you get people walking up the road without a clue in the world that there is a vehicle driving towards them. I like to think I am not that bad but I am like a dopy baby giraffe all over the shop! Wednesday was quite a relaxed day I helped a mate move from Tintagel to Bude, and just for comedy effect while driving on 3 separate occasions 3 big arsed wasps (now I know it isn't wasp season but they looked like big arsed wasps) flew from the back of the van through into the front! Now I am not to bothered about wasps usually but when they are that large buzzing around your face while driving I am not a fan! Also my mate got stung by a load of them when younger so he really wasn't keen. Being the thoughtful mate on the third occasion I sat crying with laughter as my mate tried to persuade this wasp out the van! Anyone that knows me well will know that I love to laugh its a great medicine but sometimes I do laugh at inappropriate times. Like the time around 13yrs ago when my Grandad died we had to travel up country for the funeral and me and my sister (older and always will be ha ha ha ha ha) spent the whole of the 12 hr round trip laughing it was quite a remarkable day a day that I will always remember in a positive way. I find the most normal but stupid things hilarious, I enjoy watching peoples behaviour and how they are in certain situations. At dinner parties no matter what the size of the group you get the same characters funny, quiet, obnoxious(rarely), happy, stressed, uncomfortable. I find it interesting how evenings play out and maybe after drinks people change maybe towards me or the rest of the party. Conversations I tend not to listen to unless you hear a certain word which makes my ears prick up but I do enjoy watching how guests behave. 

As for real work this week I had a 7 course dinner party for 4 guests. Now this was a unique dinner party as it was where I grew up so this was very weird to be driving around roads that I use to ride my bike on. I didn't really feel any older than when I was last there 25yrs back. I wondered what my younger self would think of me today. Maybe a tinge of disappointment but I think that is just the standards from what I except of myself are sometimes to high. But all I ever wanted to be was the best chef I could be from about the age of 11 and I suppose I have achieved that so maybe I should not be so hard on myself.

It was a great meal with some amazing comments so another experience complete!

Living and working in Cornwall has always been the same for me quiet in the winter months and absolute carnage in school holidays. You always know summer is approaching but when it hits it really takes you by surprise and sometimes takes some keeping up with. 

With the Chef service I am breaking records all over the place, each month we are increasing our dinner party numbers and have already smashed our overall record from last year with 4 months left of the year. I couldn't be happier with the way it is progressing. But there is always room to improve and get better  never sit back to long and think about how well you have done or you will become complacent. Its been a good year and a great summer so far, now move on. 

I started the week delivering ready meals to a house on the Barrington Court estate  -

Then onto cooking for the same family I cooked for twice last week at Trusham Exeter.

Tuesday was cooking for 8 in Portwrinkle nr Looe in another stunning house. I have had a lot of people tell me over the years that I am lucky to have what I have and I just say it is bollocks (sorry for the language). I have spent my whole life cooking because that is what I want to do and what I love so I have created my own luck. So getting to cook in these stunning houses is nothing more than what is deserved, everyone can create there own luck you just have to want it. 

Wednesday was celebrating a 70th birthday in a lovely old manor house called Parnacott house nr Holsworthy. A great night was had by all! 

I was genuinely humbled after the blog I posted last week I had people direct message me thank me for posting. Obviously I am very grateful that people took the time to message and comment like etc but I am unsure how I feel about the reaction why is it such a difficult subject to talk about? Because I didn't see it as a big deal posting it. I know I was putting myself out there in the world of social media and talking frank about a difficult subject and I was nervous but it was very easy to talk about really. 

Thank you for the lovely comments but it needs more of the same people need to talk, now I know from talking to my dad that its not that easy when the darkness falls, help is the last thing you will ask for but I think if you can learn your triggers beforehand it would help to avoid the edge of the pit and stop you from falling in. I don't bloody know the answers but from watching people I know fall and rise again this is what has helped them.

I have had a very interesting week I went to London to see the Smashing Pumpkins a lifes ambition achieved what a amazing night on Tuesday. Then back to Cornwall by 3 o clock for an hr and 45min drive to Gorran Haven to cook for a family of 6. Felt fine had a great evening guests were more than happy with the experience I delivered but felt exhausted when I got home.

Up early on Wednesday morning for a local dinner party in Camelford guests from Netherlands and Mexico that lived in Germany. I had an absolute blast I learn so much from guests that I cook when they are from different countries. I learnt this week that when a man comes of age at 50 in the Netherlands they get bought an Abraham, it is a heavy almond based cake like thing but it looks like a man it has religious links but as we all know my memory isn't great!

Then on Friday I thought ideal a few days to take it easy then at 10.30 in the morning I had a call from someone asking if I could cook for them and 11 friends that night, lunch and dinner Saturday and lunch Sunday as there was a mix up with their chef. Well I couldn't turn down a challenge also in Cornwall it is a long hard winter so you never know how much business will come in, this winter was great but that is unusual.

So after a few phone calls the menu was arranged 2 courses Friday, an early start Saturday and worked straight through until 11 o clock that night serving a 2 course lunch and a gourmet dinner. Early start again Sunday serving delicious Roast Beef followed by Pavlova perfect hangover food for the guests that partied hard the night before. Like the good old days having to make meringues again!

Well that was one helliver (as we say in Cornwall) week, it was one last push to get to the end of summer I can feel it is taking its toll on me the manufacturing business was sold 2 months ago and I have not really stopped and looked back. I never try to look back but I feel I need to and try to enjoy what has happened in the previous 11yrs. It will happen in time I am sure it is good to reflect. Anyway Monday and Tuesday were spent cooking for couples in different locations. I have cooked for quite a few couples this year and they are always really interesting as it is very personal getting someone in to cook for you when it is just the 2 of you. I am always very conscious of this even more so than other parties so whatever impact it has on me I make them feel at ease as long as it does not effect the food and the whole experience. 

Wednesday was a local event for a party on holiday celebrating a 70th birthday, I turn up and the oven was not working properly the knob had broken. I get asked a lot what do I do if there is a problem with equipment and my reply is the same I don't worry about circumstances which are out of your control you just get on and do your job. The guests were worried that it would affect me I was not worried as there was another oven and even if there wasn't it doesn't matter. I stress so much about the food, turning up on time, how I look, these are all within my control and they can effect the experience. Nothing else matters other than those guests at that moment, nothing, and if the oven is not working you get on with it and do your job.

Thursday was in Polperro again cooking for the same group as last week -

Scallops, hogs pudding, beurre noisette

Monkifish, curried cream

Honey and vanilla Panna cotta

Great night, again some amazing feedback, a group said this week its not just the food that is incredible its the whole experience. This is exactly what I want people to have something to talk about when they get back home. I have had a crap experience with customer service so much over the years and you think how do these companies survive, but on the other hand if they were to prioritise customer service imagine how successful they would be. My clients are the most important part of my business, no one else, you look after them they look after you and will keep coming back, so if you have a business and you are dealing with the public direct but it isn't maybe going as well as you would like take a step back and focus back in on your customers. 

Saturday was spent in probably one of the most stunning houses I have cooked in, called Worden house in Dartmouth. 2 kitchens, indoor and outdoor pool, cinema room, sauna you name it it is there! 18 guests all food and watered a 4hr round trip more than worth while!

Its been a very weird week in one way or another, life is what you make of it and sometimes you have to make tough decisions and then sometimes you have to make horrendously tough decisions. 

September has always been a decent month for the Private Chef business the groups I cook for are predominantly people with no kids so they are different clientele totally different compared to the previous 6 - 8 weeks. 

On Thursday I was in Gorran Haven cooking for a 70th birthday it was again in a stunning setting, a great night was had by all. I always try my best to arrive on time provide a service that I would like and leave the kitchen in a better state than when we arrived and in between cook a tasty plate of grub.

Saturday I was in Padstow for a surprise birthday I love these events as the unsuspecting person has not got a clue and when you see there face it is a picture and you can be there to make the evening as perfect as possible for them.

The bespoke menu was as follows -

Salt and pepper squid, crab beignets, whitebait, chilli king prawns and a couple of baked brie with crusty bread.

Lamb rump, cauliflower and thyme jus 

Sticky toffee pudding, salted caramel ice cream

or

Bakewell tart, clotted cream 

Sunday evening was spent cooking for a lovely family in Portreath I know I say it time and time again but I really do get to meet some absolutely lovely people and this week has been no exception. Also I do not post many pictures of food as I always forget to take any in the moment !

Started the working with some relief cheffing for a mate that is struggling to get hold of decent kitchen staff. There always seems to be a huge shortage of chefs that are any good or even a decent cook. I am unsure if it is the same in all industries but some youngsters seem to come along wanting what they see on tv but are not willing to put the hrs in to get to that point and subsequently fall well short. In any job you need to put the hrs in to get anywhere in life. Now with social media people only ever post lovely happy pictures which just gives the wrong image to people that are easy influenced and life is just not like it. I know I am going off in a slightly different direction but it is all linked people want the high life in the pictures but with out all the work. Anyway its great to be back in the proper working kitchen I woke up 3 the next morning until 5 just thinking about what I could do to help the kitchen, it is like a drug!

I had a personal wedding to attend to on Thursday which was great because if I had the other business as well there would be no way I was going. Over the past 21 years I have missed out a lot on social events and have never been bothered at all as it is part of being a chef but it was great to attend for once. 

On Friday I had a load of meals to deliver to Barrington Court an amazing national trust area in Illminster again another amazing place that I have had the pleasure of driving to.