Private Chef in the Essence kitchen

Words: Pattie Pegler Images: Dorothy McLennan

The Essence office kitchen is heavily coffee focused. But this afternoon it smells fantastic. It’s been taken over by a real-life chef in a pinstripe apron whisking away, with the calm confidence of someone who knows exactly what they're doing.

And Andrew Frith of Oui Chef sure does. With 25 years’ experience as an executive chef and a resumé that includes Michelin starred restaurants and superyachts – well, let's just say the Essence team are pretty excited about this taster session. We linger around the kitchen sipping wine, peering at dishes and chatting to Andrew. It must be annoying but he doesn’t skip a beat, taking freshly baked seed crackers from the oven; whisking the ‘beurre rosé’ in the frying pan; delicately slicing the cornichons and answering our completely unrelated questions about how to cook croissants. 

We gave Andrew a list of our dietary restrictions. Someone is gluten free, someone is allergic to soy, someone else is not good with dairy. This is no problem for him. He focuses on seasonal, local ingredients and shops on the day creating amazing dishes from what is available at the market and taking any special requirements or allergies into account. All the fish and seafood he cooks for us is sourced from the North Canterbury Seafood Market.

Our first dish is buckwheat blinis with cornichons, smoked salmon, fresh lime and acidulated cream (whipped cream with a squeeze of something sour in it – you can use lime or lemon juice or even vinegar – we’re learning as well as eating here). A dairy free option is freshly baked seed crackers from sesame, chia and flaxseed topped with a subtly sweet combination of slow cooked beetroot and carrots.  Did you know that slow cooked beetroot and carrots began its lift as a vegan Bolognaise?  Everything is beautifully presented and soon flying off the serving board, only for Dorothy to call a halt to the eating so she can photograph the dishes. 

Next up is a dish of prawns and scallops seared in the beurre rosé sauce. It’s basically reduced wine with aromatics and butter Andrew tells us. How can something so simple taste so good? Dorothy hurries to take photographs before the food disappears. The prawns are superb, the scallops melt in your mouth and several of us try to spoon any leftover beurre rose into our mouths with our forks. Don’t judge us – it was too good to waste. 

As the sun goes down and wine glasses are refilled Andrew appears with the final plate. Bite-sized, handmade dark chocolates with a hint of lemongrass oil. They’re chocolatey and creamy and delicious. 

Not only was the food amazing, but Andrew has taught us some things along the way – sharing his expertise and knowledge and leaving us free to drink wine, chat and ask questions. This has got to be the perfect way to do dinner parties. 

Andrew Frith of Oui Chef provides a private chef service specialising in creating exquisite dinner party events and experiences in your own home or venue. He is based in North Canterbury. 

For further information visit www.ouichef.co.nz.