A sixtieth, a fortieth, a golden. Four to twenty around one table in the house you’ve booked — cooked and served by me, at your pace.
“I’ve honestly never eaten anything so amazing before, every course was perfection. … It felt like fine dining in our own home, but somehow even better!”
— TENA JONES, GOOGLE REVIEW
Which is harder than planning your own. You are the one who booked it, chased the replies, and will be quietly watching all evening to see whether she is enjoying herself.
A restaurant hands you a two-hour table. Half the group ends up at the far end where they can’t hear. Someone is on soda water because they are driving. The courses come at the kitchen’s pace, and at nine thirty you hand the room back whether the night has finished or not.
I cook it where you are staying, so the only thing you have to do on the night is sit down.
The one who will not eat fish. The grandchild who only wants pasta. The one whose night it actually is, and what she would order if she were being honest. I write the menu around that, and print it for the table with her name on it.
Three or four hours ahead, shopping done. By the time the first guests arrive the kitchen is under control and the house smells like something is happening. You are in the room, not checking on anything.
Plates cleared between courses, dishes done, bins out, surfaces wiped. I leave while people are still talking, and the house is as you found it.
Almost certainly. I have cooked five courses for sixteen out of a galley kitchen with two elements. I bring my own equipment, knives and serving ware. If something genuinely won’t work I will tell you when you send the address, not on the night.
You will see me when I introduce a course and when I clear it. The rest of the time I am in the kitchen and you are with your people. Most guests forget I am there, which is the point.
Per head, it lands close to a good Queenstown restaurant once you have added wine, taxis and the entrées nobody remembers. What you are actually buying is the room, the pace and the fact that nobody has to drive.
They usually do. Tell me up to a week out and I adjust the menu and the price. People get sick and flights move — if the date has to shift, the booking shifts with it.
We had such a great night celebrating my mum’s 60th birthday with Fabien in the kitchen. The most delicious food, presented perfectly — we couldn’t stop complimenting every dish.
We just finished the most glorious lunch for a surprise family celebration. Fabien is so knowledgeable, fun and warm, and made the whole experience really memorable. No problem catering for allergies, and my four year old loved it too.
Not marking anything in particular? That is private dining.
Start with the date and whose night it is. I usually reply the same day with a menu and a price, and the date is held while you decide.
I am one chef, so I only take one table a night. Milestone dates tend to go early.