There is something about growing up in a house where producing and creating food is an integral and important part of your daily family life. And using those memories and skills to create a business, drawing on your food heritage to feed people is indeed a creative pursuit. Your Private Chef Catering & Events embodies this history, carrying on a family tradition of fine food, made and served with generosity and passion. From large gatherings to smaller ones, David and Ana bring the same care to their food, and have your catering needs covered.
Please tell us a little about David’s background as a chef?
David was born in Melbourne to Croatian parents. He spent much of his childhood cooking with his grandparents, helping them with homemade small goods produced for the family. It was in these early years that a love of food and fine produce emerged.
David began his work as a head chef in some of Melbourne’s greatest Italian restaurants developing a deep passion for Mediterranean cuisine. David then headed to the ski slope resorts as head chef before working on yachts in far north Queensland. Yet his greatest influence came from his 10 years spent as an international private yacht chef.
This decade allowed David to experience many interesting places around the world, try different cuisines and have the opportunity to work with some of the finest produce the world has to offer. As a result his culinary cuisine and cooking knowledge is very diverse.
David has had the opportunity to cook for many famous guests, the likes of Tiger Woods, Kylie Minogue, Keanu Reeves, The President of Kazakhstan, The Royal Family of Monaco, Princess Fergie, Carlos Slim, Bill Gates and many other respected business people from around the world.
His time in London saw David further enhance his Kosher event catering repertoires while working for London’s Number 1 Jewish caterer, Tony Page, as well fine hotels such as the Dorchester, Claridges and Mandarin Oriental.
Following 20 years of professional cooking under his belt David returned home to Melbourne, where he combined his high standards to train a team of private chefs who now deliver unforgettable food experiences in your dining room.
What is Ana’s role in the business?
Ana is a trained journalist, professional writer, former magazine editor and commercial copywriter. Ana’s career took her to specialise in tactical communications strategies, with a particular passion for working with clients in technical fields.
In 2007 Ana moved into the events arena, managing the marketing of various trade shows, film festivals and networking groups.
Ana set up Write Connection PR in 2008 as a strategic copywriting and marketing consultancy, connecting together the best writers and marketing strategists.
Also of Croatian heritage, food was the focal point of Ana’s childhood in Melbourne where she learnt to cook from a very young age and bargain at the Queen Vic Market.
When Ana met David he literally swept her off her corporate feet and took her yachting – when she worked abroad as his sous chef.
It was here that their working relationship was cemented and their individual strengths combined into one joined vision.
When they returned home to begin a family, they also began the family business – Your Private Chef.
Now Ana manages all client relations, bookings, events and marketing for this growing business which has gone from a team of two to over 30 staff since its inception in 2012.
Why catering as a profession – what led you to this decision?
Food and entertaining is our passion and what we love most is helping our clients to turn an idea through into a multi-dimensional event: great food, drinks, professional staff, styling & equipment all combine to make the experience flawless and easy. We love being able to make suggestions and troubleshoot potential hiccups they may come across. Catering and events is so diverse, never a dull moment and no two events are ever the same!
How would you describe your food style?
Mediterranean cuisine is definitely a passion and is at the heart of Your Private Chef. We love it for its simplicity, freshness, wholesome ingredients and natural herbs and spices. It’s just real food enjoyed by real people.
One of the basic tenets of Mediterranean cuisine is the enjoyment and pleasure of food. Food is a social event with full-bodied aromas and of course red wine is a feature!
Our menus have been inspired by the many cultures adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea. From Croatia, to Italy, Greece, Spain, North Africa and Turkey. These are regions we have studied for decades, travelled extensively through and spent many years living in. When you’re in the Mediterranean, your meals are savoured, to be consumed at leisure with family and friends.
We take this devotion to food to the next level with our VIP service.
Creating food is really a labour of love. What are you most passionate about in creating your food for weddings and events?
We would say that our food is real, first and foremost. Our passionate chefs care about creating food that is a joy to eat. But it is very important to us that your staff fit into your scenery, helping you create the perfect ambiance for your function.
Weddings need to have every last detail perfect. There is so much work that goes into creating an unforgettable experience on all ends and we really enjoy working with our brides and grooms to help them achieve a beautiful event.
We are most passionate about fresh flavours and the best ingredients to suit all budgets. That’s really important to us, which is why we have so many different styles and menus to choose from.
How do ensure that your dishes remain current and modern? Do you change the menu regularly?
We have so much variety on our menus and we definitely give things a good spring clean pretty much all year round. We do a big review annually and then seasonally we change things up a little.
The great thing about having so many dining styles on offer is that there is always something new to try at Your Private Chef. So if you tried a fine dining three-course sit-down, last time, maybe this time you may like substantial canapé with roving bowl food.
What drives you to create the perfect dish? What do you use as inspiration in creating new dishes?
We look at emerging ideas and trends across global culinary leaders for some inspiration and we are very blessed to have some amazing suppliers and produce to work with here in Melbourne. We are always getting calls from local suppliers, from boutique beekeepers to pomegranate growers and olive oil purveyors. Sometimes inspiration comes from one of these amazing new ingredients.
Please describe the different kinds of menus you offer?
We have 4 dining styles to choose from to suit your theme, personality and budget…
Fine dining sit-down three-course
The perfect choice if fine dining is your preference. We hand-select only the best ingredients to meet even the most discerning Melbourne palettes! Choose from a wide variety of entrées, mains and desserts to suit your wedding style. 3 Course Menu
Canapé menu at a glance
Your Private Chef Signature Cocktail Party Package” provides a combination of cold canapés that will delight every guest, as well as smouldering hot dishes and the perfect bowl food! This is perfect for the modern bride and groom. Cocktail Menu
Family-style shared dining
A beautiful shared meal experience, family-style dining is all about choice and connecting over the shared platters beautifully presented on your table or on a buffet. This is an economical, intimate and engaging way to dine.. Shared Dining Menu
Gourmet BBQ
Perfect for a wedding in the great outdoors, our barbecue catering packages are definite crowd pleasers and with fantastic variety allowing for optimum flexibility in menu selection and budget. BBQ Menu
Are tastings available to the bridal couple?
Actually the whole family can come in if they like! Tasting sessions are a great way to ensure you feel confident about cuisine quality and the presentation of your menu.
Your Private Chef offers a Peace of Mind Tasting session at our Prahran Kitchen for only $44 per person. Best of all, the bride and groom’s amount is actually credited against their final bill when they book their event. Tastings are only available for bookings of 50 people and above.
We run tasting sessions on a Wednesday by appointment only.
What do you offer in terms of event styling and equipment? Can you also describe your role in the co-ordination of these on the day?
This side of the business started as simply as providing tableware and because I love all things stylish and gorgeous I started to look at how we could make life easier for our clients by offering more services in-house. I know how time poor we all are and being able to go to one supplier for your food, drinks, staff, equipment and styling just struck me as a great weight off our client’s shoulders. I especially love the beautiful floral centrepieces we do.
Are you able to cater to dietary requirements?
Yes, we sure can. In fact it is really important to talk about guests requirements at the start of our discussions so we can really help you shape your menu to suit. We understand fully the requirements of Kosher, although we don’t have a Kosher kitchen. Likewise we cater for a variety of intolerances from Celiac to Lactose and Fructose intolerance. It is important to know what your guests are limited to so we can make sure they are safe and comfortable.
Are you able to cater for backyard weddings as well as large events at large venues?
The great thing about engaging an independent caterer is that we go anywhere for our clients. Whether it’s a regional wedding in the great outdoors, a private home or a grand venue in one of the many unique estates and spaces around Melbourne we can go anywhere our couples would like us to.
We’ve done lawn bowl weddings, town hall weddings, paddock weddings, art gallery weddings, and roof top CBD weddings…
We have a list of venues we can also recommend both indoors and outdoors.
It’s also important to consider the amenities onsite and how much equipment will need to be brought in. We can bring in a whole kitchen set up. We just need to chat about the boring bits like power, water and shelter. There’s lot’s of little details we run through to leave no stone unturned.
A favorite menu for the coming winter months?
I love a shared platter menu and I think weddings work so well in this interactive format. My favourite is our banquet menu, which starts with a grazing platter of Mediterranean style Antipasto, followed by main grazing platters with a choice of 2 delicious proteins such as the Slow-roasted boned leg of lamb with basil, lemon, oregano & garlic or Twice cooked duck breast in lemon toffee glaze.
This is paired with an array of six simply amazing sides such as roasted root vegetables with fresh herbs, and Chef’s crisp leaf salad with avocado, cherry tomato, balsamic dressing.
Dessert is a selection of mini cupcakes, tarts and petit fours to share.
Five tips on choosing the perfect wedding menu?
I always like to think about the guest’s needs and likes first in my discussion with the bride and groom. That is usually the biggest concern for a couple, that their guests are happy and fulfilled by the food on offer.
The things to consider would be cultural expectations and the duration of your event.
If you are asking guests to travel a long way and wait for food until evening time, they would be quite hungry after a ceremony and drinks session. We always recommend either canapés after ceremony or a lovely grazing station. This is important if the wedding has a break between the ceremony and reception but guests are in a location where they can’t simply go and buy a snack or pop into home.
If you have the kind of family that is used to seeing large amounts of food then canapé is a bad choice. I would recommend a sea of glorious food on display in a buffet, banquet or gourmet BBQ format.
If your family is more modern in dining style and open to a stand up wedding, then choose canapé and make the focus more on a party atmosphere. This doesn’t have to mean guests are hungry or the focus is just on drinks. We have several substantial stand up menus that will really leave guests satisfied.
If you would like to keep to tradition of fine dining, then 3 courses is a beautiful choice. And we have a number of modern choices to spice up the table.
Then we need to think about the time of year, what guests would like to be eating based on weather and seasonal produce and of course the limitations of your location. If you are in a paddock with no power supply then BBQ is the only option, as an example.
The long hours must be taxing. How do you balance your work and your personal life, so that one or the other doesn’t suffer?
With great difficulty! Being a married couple in a business together it is really important to have set defined roles and responsibilities. David manages the kitchen and I manage the office and function team. We don’t step on each other’s toes because we each have our role and are in charge of that area.
Having a business is like having a baby. It takes a lot of work in the early years and it doesn’t start to give back until a little later. It can also get into trouble without your supervision. Hospitality is especially taxing but it is an industry that you either love deeply or you wouldn’t be in it.
Building a business is a sacrifice that all entrepreneurs go through at the beginning and ultimately when the foundation is built in those early years you can then go on to build strong and steady upwards from there. I’m lucky to have the kids in and out of the office a lot so they are growing up emerged in this crazy business life and I’m sure we’ll have them washing dishes in no time!
Are you able to share a new food discovery of the last 12 months?
Well I don’t know how new it is but I only discovered it last year and with winter coming I love Matcha Latte’s (Japanese Green Tea) and Coconut Chai Teas. Mmmmmm
A favorite restaurant in Australia or abroad?
We love Italian food – mega obsessed actually. Sagra, on Glenferrie Rd, Malvern, is a family favourite for a special night out. And if we want pizza (another obsession) we go to a new place in our hood, Cucina & Co on New St in Brighton. Very trendy right now so the wait is quite long but worth it!
Thank you David and Ana for sharing your story. A passion for good food and making sure that your wedding food needs are beautifully catered for – that’s amore! To find out more about Your Private Chef Catering & Events visit the website.
Images by Anton Jadrijevic
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