| rev:text
| - OK - I don't know where to start. For the cliffs notes:
Absolutely perfect. From the first time I contacted all the way to the hugs goodbye when Chef Lisa left after preparing an amazing four course meal at our house.
Longer version:
I contacted Chef Lisa via text as I was at work when I first started reaching out to personal chefs to cook an anniversary dinner for the wife and I. She texted back in about an hour (she was working an event) and let me know she could definitely help and we should talk via phone that afternoon.
When I got on the phone with Chef I immediately casted aside the two other companies I had reached out to. First off, Chef Lisa does this herself. She is NOT a booking service like many of the others. So, you know you are getting consistency. Secondly, she was able to give me basic costs right away then we tailored a menu to both my tastes and budget. This was all a surprise for my wife. So, Chef asked all the right questions to make sure we we had all of our bases covered.
I got an email that night with a menu and pricing so we could lock everything in.
The day of Chef Lisa worked with me on timing. Then, I had the idea of having her text me when she got there so I could surprise the wife effectively. She did so and it went perfectly. My wife never knew!
Now on to the process and food.
She brings all the stuff she needs. I saw a lot of whole foods wrappers and so I trusted the quality of the ingredients. I know there are large wholesalers offering similar quality. But, we had dinner for two. The only thing needed from me were a few pots and pans, plates, utensils, and a stove. She comes in first and introduces herself, gets a lay of the land, then comes back with her supplies. Very professional to not come to the door holding all of these boxes of stuff!
She got a quick tour of my cabinets to find things, then started away. The menu was a surprise for my wife, too, so she kept that under wraps.
The food:
Here is what we had...
FIRST COURSE
Pan Seared Sea Scallops atop Pea Puree with Crispy Pancetta
SECOND COURSE
Bistro Salad with Baby Spinach, Arugula, Seasonal Berries, Candied Pecans
THIRD COURSE
Veal Picatta Asparagus Tip Risotto
DESSERT COURSE
Bananas Foster with Housemade Poundcake and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
Scallops:
Perfectly cooked. Seared. Not overdone but not chewy. Right where they needed to be. On the night of, Chef added corn to the pancetta. It was a perfect addition. The sweetness and additional crunch sat perfectly against the dense scallops and soft pea puree. This was 5 star stuff.
Salad:
Super tasty and a BIG portion. The berries were perfect. Super tart very fresh and very cold. The dressing was awesome and the cheese she used was all pasteurized since my wife is pregnant. Nice attention to detail! The candied nuts are homemade by Chef.
Veal:
OK - so here's where I got scared. It looked... weird. Well when she served it, she explained she doesn't bread veal. Reason being, you can't really enjoy it as much. It could be chicken at that point and you wouldn't know. Well, she was right. This was like eating a thin steak with a super beefy flavor. But you could cut it with a fork. The sauce was just right and thickened to the perfect consistency. This dish doesn't photo well. But man it was good. The portion was great too, we had quite a bit left over which Chef packed up for us and put in the fridge.
Desert:
Pound cake was homemade too. The portion was large! Nice ice cream and the bananas were perfectly crisp without being burned. The sauce was super tasty and not just sugary. My wife couldn't finish hers. The portions all night were generous.
The little things:
Bullet points here...
Chef was super nice and cordial and talkative when we talked to her. But, when the wife and I started talking to each other she immediately got silent. She just let us be. It was a romantic dinner after all.
The flexibility with scheduling and text messaging and whatnot was great.
Chef told us and showed us a video of her on food network winning a competition show. That was really cool!
She cleaned everything afterwards. I mean she literally wiped down my ENTIRE kitchen top to bottom. The dishes were run in the dishwasher and the trash was packed neatly for me to take out. (FYI to take it out you have to throw it over the car. So, she didn't do that for safety's sake)
Lastly, it seriously felt like we had a friend over. She is so hospitable and cordial, I felt like we had known her for years.
100% recommended. Perfect experience.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)