Enjoy entertaining with none of the work with La Belle Assiette

La Belle Assiette is a food start-up that is revolutionising the dining industry by bringing tailored experiences to people’s homes. With a simple online booking process, people can choose a menu by a professional local chef and book online. The chef then takes care of the rest; buying ingredients, cooking, serving and cleaning up.

We live in a world where we constantly outsource.  People pay to have their kids minded, their houses cleaned, even their pets looked after.  So why not pay to have someone take all the stress out of entertaining at home?  I have to say, even though I love entertaining at home, one thing is sure- hosting a dinner party is hard work!

When I got the offer from La Belle Assiette, I really wasn’t sure what to expect- could I really just relax and let someone take over my kitchen?  Too right I could!

Chef, Angelo Guida arrived with his wife Claire and they quickly made themselves at home in my kitchen.  I had left out the good china but needed have bothered as they brought everything with them and I mean everything!  All I had to do was lay the table.  I can’t tell you how relieved I was to find that both Angelo and Claire were lovely.  I’m not sure that I could have coped with divas but they were the opposite, warm friendly and helpful.

As Angelo worked his magic in the kitchen, I greeted my guests with a welcome glass of Prosecco.  At this point in the evening, I normally get quite hassled, running between guests and kitchen and generally panicking.  This time couldn’t have been more different.  I was relaxed and able to enjoy the chat.

As we took our seats, Angelo served some home-made bread and our amuse-bouche, a green superfood shot with kale, lime mint and ginger.  This was served with apple and seeds, though it did take us a few minutes to work out how best to eat it!  The shot was fresh and delicious and really cleared the palette.

Next up was a starter of pork mille-feuille, fillet of port tack, brocolini, mozzarella and tomatoes compote.  This was so beautifully presented, almost too pretty to eat but we did manage.  Angelo topped each serving with some delicious jus.

Our main course was a tempting serving of smoked haddock fillet with smoked salmon, baby spinach, risotto, asparagus and lime coulis drops.  Quite delicious and would definitely shame anything that I would normally serve at a dinner party.

Although we were all quite full at this stage, no one refused when Angelo served his dessert of home-made chocolate brownie, creme angles, vanilla gelato and espresso affogato.  Divine!

Apparently this was Angelo’s first outing for La Belle Assiette but we certainly wouldn’t have known it.  He was confident without being arrogant, friendly and happy talk through each course.  He was a pleasure to work with and I would have no hesitation in recommending his services.

On behalf of myself and the 7 other guinea pigs- a huge thank you to La Belle Assiette, Angelo and Claire.  What a fabulous night we had.  Best of all, with Angelo looking after all the food and the clearing up, I could stay at the table, take charge of pouring and enjoy the craic!

If you want to check out La Belle Assiette, you can find out more here