cociana
The Classical Chef

Stock, reduction, a spoon that coats

The Classical Chef

€700 to €1,800 per dinner

French technique in a private house: a proper stock made that morning, a sauce that coats the spoon, a soufflé that rises on time.

The classical profile is the backbone of private dining in France and the most reliable choice for a formal dinner anywhere. The cooking is built on stock and timing rather than on equipment, which suits borrowed kitchens: a chef with a stock pot, a sieve and four hours can produce a sauce no amount of technology replaces.

It is also the profile that handles ceremony. A whole bird carved at the sideboard, a pithivier opened in front of the table, a soufflé that arrives at the exact minute: these are theatre that requires no equipment beyond skill, and they suit townhouse banquets and wine dinners better than a nine course tasting menu does.

Rates run 700 to 1,800 euros for a dinner, plus a commis. The one requirement hosts underestimate is burner time: a classical menu occupies your hob from early afternoon, so the kitchen is not available for anything else, including the coffee.

Skills

What the job actually demands

  • Stock and reduction work from scratch in a borrowed kitchen
  • Carving and serving whole birds and joints at the table
  • Soufflés and hot desserts timed to a service plan
  • Butter, cream and acid in the right proportion, which is the whole art

Watch out

The warning sign

Sauces made from a concentrate. Ask what time the stock goes on; the answer is either the morning or a shrug.

Trial

How to audition one

Ask for a lunch of three courses with one sauce. Technique is audible in a sauce within one spoonful.

Ask these five questions

Before you book

  1. What time do you start the stock?
  2. Which dish will you carve in front of the guests?
  3. How do you time a soufflé with a table of twelve?
  4. What does your cheese course look like?
  5. Which two burners do you need and for how long?

Questions hosts ask

Is classical cooking old fashioned?

The technique is not, the presentation can be. A good classical chef serves sauces and whole joints with a modern lightness and fewer garnishes.

What does the kitchen need to provide?

Time on the burners above all, a reliable oven, and fridge space for stock. Equipment matters less than in any other profile.

Formats

Where this profile fits

Townhouse BanquetFormat Formal service, domestic building

Townhouse Banquet

Twenty to forty guests, silver service or plated, in a building never designed for it.

18 to 40 people · €160 to €300 per guest

Read on Tasting Menu for EightFormat Restaurant precision, private room

Tasting Menu for Eight

Eight to nine courses, a brigade of three, wine paired by the glass.

6 to 12 people · €220 to €420 per guest

Read on Corporate DinnerFormat Discretion, timing, dietary certainty

Corporate Dinner

Twelve to forty guests, a purpose, a clock and a dietary list that must be right.

10 to 40 people · €120 to €260 per guest

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Menus

What they cook

The Truffle TableMenu One ingredient, six ways, six weeks a year

The Truffle Table

White truffle from late October to December, black from December to March.

White: late October to December. Black: December to March · €150 to €400 per guest

Read on The Game Season DinnerMenu Autumn, iron, sweetness

The Game Season Dinner

From October to January: grouse, partridge, venison, hare.

October to January · €80 to €160 per guest

Read on The Cheese FinaleMenu Three cheeses, not thirty

The Cheese Finale

The course that costs almost nothing to get right and is almost always got wrong: three cheeses at perfect ripeness, bread, one sweet element and a wine that suits them..

All year · €12 to €40 per guest

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Markets

Where to find them

ParisMarket Where catering is a trade with its own word

Paris

France gave the trade its vocabulary, and the Parisian traiteur still behaves like a restaurant that happens to travel.

Guide price €195 per guest · 4 formats

Read on LondonMarket Townhouses, mews kitchens and a trade that never sleeps

London

No city hires out a kitchen brigade faster.

Guide price €215 per guest · 6 formats

Read on St. MoritzMarket Full board for fourteen, at altitude, for seven days

St. Moritz

The Alps do not sell dinners, they sell weeks.

Guide price €245 per guest · 3 formats

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