Duchy chef LTD, -, Truro (2026)

04/09/2026

To the one who always hosts…

This one is for the person who always says, “Come to mine.”

You know who you are.

Everyone else arrives with a bottle, sits down and starts catching up…

Meanwhile you’re in the kitchen.

You can hear everyone laughing in the other room while you’re checking the potatoes, finding serving spoons and wondering why on earth you offered to host again 😂

Having everyone over doesn’t have to mean spending half the evening cooking.

When you book me for a private dinner, your only job is to invite the people you want around the table and decide what you’re drinking.

I’ll arrive with the food, cook your dinner, serve each course, clear everything as we go and clean down the kitchen afterwards.

For once, you actually get to sit down too.

Be a guest at your own dinner.

Winter private dining is now available from £50pp.

https://duchychef.com/bookings/

03/09/2026

OUI CHEF!

It’s a good day at Duchy Chef HQ… the new rocher spoons have arrived!

And yes, I’m probably far more excited about this than any normal person should be 😂

Brand-new Oui Chef rocher spoons, finished in Duchy Chef blue and engraved with Duchy Chef. 💙

If you’re not a chef, you’re probably thinking… they’re just spoons.

If you ARE a chef… you know. You know.

A proper rocher spoon is an important bit of kit. It might not quite have the status of your favourite knife… but it’s definitely up there.

There’s something ridiculously satisfying about getting that perfect, smooth, one-spoon rocher on the plate — and now I get to do it with my own Duchy Chef spoons.

Some people get excited about new cars, watches or trainers.

Chefs get excited about personalised rocher spoons. 😂

New spoons. Happy Chef. 💙

PrivateChef CornwallChef ChefsOfInstagram ChefTools PrivateDinin

03/09/2026

A little update on the months ahead at Duchy Chef…

September and October are looking incredibly busy, with weddings, private dining and events taking me all over Cornwall. I’m very grateful to be heading into another couple of pretty much full months.

As we head further into autumn and towards winter, I thought it might be useful to put everything that’s coming up at Duchy Chef in one place.

From November through to March, there are a few different ways to book me:

The Winter Set Menu

I’ve created a seasonal set menu with a choice of starters, mains and desserts, giving you a slightly different way to enjoy the Duchy Chef private dining experience over the winter months.

Prices start from just £50 per person, with a £400 minimum spend Monday–Thursday and £500 minimum spend Friday–Sunday.

Perfect for birthdays, family gatherings, celebrations, a weekend away in Cornwall…or simply getting a group of friends around the table and letting somebody else do the cooking!

Festive Private Dining

For selected dates over the Christmas period, there’s also a dedicated Festive Menu, with seasonal dishes and a few more Christmassy touches.

Ideal for getting family or friends together and enjoying Christmas dinner without somebody disappearing into the kitchen for half the day.

Christmas Canapés & Champagne

Something a little different for Christmas parties, work get-togethers and larger house parties.

Four varieties of canapés and champagne from £25 per person, with a minimum spend of £500, provided there are suitable kitchen/prep facilities at the venue.

Bespoke Private Dining

And my usual private dining service continues throughout the winter too.

If you’d rather not choose from a set menu, I can create a bespoke menu around you and your guests, taking into account the occasion, what you enjoy eating and any dietary requirements.

So whether it’s the Winter Set Menu, Festive Private Dining, Christmas Canapés & Champagne or a completely bespoke dinner, there are plenty of ways to get Duchy Chef around your table over the coming months.

September and October are pretty much spoken for, but November through to March is now booking, with some great dates still available.

I’ll pop the enquiry link below…just send me your date, location and number of guests and we can go from there.

https://duchychef.com/bookings/

02/09/2026

160 Google reviews and every single one of them is five stars.

I’m really proud of that.

When you’re booking someone to come into your home, holiday property or cater an important event, I know reviews can play a big part in deciding who you trust to do it.

So to everyone who has taken five minutes after I’ve cooked for you to leave a Google review…thank you.

I know life’s busy and it’s very easy to think “I’ll do that later” and forget, so I genuinely appreciate every person who takes the time to share their experience.

I work hard to keep that five-star standard, whether I’m cooking dinner for a small family gathering or catering a much bigger event, and hopefully the reviews reflect that.

160 reviews. 160 five stars. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Pretty chuffed with that. Thank you.

02/09/2026

A little booking update from me…

Yesterday I had several calls and messages from people hoping to book me for dates in September and October and unfortunately I’ve had to say no simply because I don’t have any more capacity.

I genuinely hate turning work away, particularly when someone has already decided they’d like me to cook for them, so I just wanted to reiterate something I say quite often…

If you know you’d like to book me, please get in touch as early as you can.

It isn’t a sales tactic and there’s absolutely no pressure to have your menu or all the finer details decided straight away. If you have a date in mind, we can have an initial conversation and, if everything feels right, a save-the-date deposit can secure it. The menu and details can all follow nearer the time.

Unless we’re already in conversation about a September or October booking, I’m afraid both months are now fully booked and if we are in discussion this will really need to be nailed down and payment in full made.

My diary already has bookings in it as far ahead as 2028, which still feels slightly surreal to say! So whether it’s a wedding, celebration, holiday in Cornwall or simply a date you already know is important to you, please don’t feel it’s ever too early to ask.

I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who chooses to have me cook for them. Being in a position where my diary fills this far in advance is something I never take for granted.

Thank you, as always, for keeping this little business of mine so busy.

01/09/2026

The winter menu has been finalised and I’m particularly pleased pleased to be offering the Lamb 2 Ways.

Rolled stuffed lamb belly, pulled shoulder hotpot, fondant potato, creamed spinach, cauliflower cheese purée and lamb belly jus.

For me, this is what winter cooking is all about. Good produce, proper cooking and flavours that work together.

I’ve never been one for putting something on a plate just because I can. Every element needs to earn its place and, ultimately, the produce should be allowed to do the talking.

Rich, comforting and a proper winter main.

It’s one of the dishes on my new Winter Menu, available 1st November – 10th December and 4th January – 8th March, with private dining 3 courses from £50 per person.

Dates are limited and filling fast, complete the booking enquiry form with as much information as you have.

https://duchychef.com/bookings/

01/09/2026

A busy day out and about today, running errands and getting everything ready for this weekend’s wedding…including collecting the meat for one of the menus.

This one has a particularly lovely story behind it, as the meat has been supplied by the family themselves, from their own livestock.

That’s one of the things I really enjoy about being a private chef…there doesn’t have to be a set formula. I can work around each family, their preferences and what’s important to them, creating something that feels personal to the occasion.

For this wedding, that means taking something the family has produced themselves and incorporating it into the food I’ll be cooking for their guests, which makes it that little bit more special.

They’re fairly local to me too, which made today’s collection nice and easy.

I’m keeping exactly where I’ve been today to myself out of respect for the family’s privacy…so unfortunately you’re stuck with a car selfie instead 😂

Now back to the prep…plenty to get ready for a very busy wedding weekend!

01/09/2026

September means one thing…wedding season!

And this year, it’s a busy one.

I’ve got a wedding every weekend throughout September and one of the things I love about weddings is that no two are ever the same.

Different venues. Different numbers. Different vibes. And very different menus and styles of service.

That’s part of the fun of it.

Behind the scenes, it also means plenty of planning, prep and organisation…because wedding catering is definitely not a one-man job.

I’m incredibly lucky to have a great team of chefs and waitresses around me who are prepped and ready for a very busy month ahead. 🙌🏼

There’s something pretty special about being trusted with the food on one of the biggest days of someone’s life, and this September I get to do it every single weekend.

Four weekends. Four very different weddings.

Let’s go, September!!

01/09/2026

A little reintroduction…

I’ve had quite a few new followers join the page over the last few days, so firstly, thank you and welcome!

For those who don’t know me, I’m Craig, the chef behind Duchy Chef Cornwall.

I’ve spent 30 years working in professional kitchens, with a career that’s taken me from London restaurants and hotels to 3 AA Rosette kitchens, before eventually making Cornwall home. Along the way, I also had the opportunity to compete on MasterChef: The Professionals in 2019…definitely an experience I won’t forget!

These days, rather than you coming to the restaurant, I bring the restaurant to you.

Duchy Chef offers private dining in your own home, holiday property or chosen venue across Cornwall. That can be anything from an intimate dinner or family celebration to birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and larger events.

When it comes to my food, I tend to describe what I do as finer dining rather than fine dining.

For me, it starts with really good ingredients — seasonal, locally sourced wherever possible and particularly the incredible meat, fish and seafood we have available here in Cornwall. If an ingredient is good enough to speak for itself, I don’t believe in messing around with it just for the sake of it.

But I do love taking familiar flavours and elevating them or giving them my own spin.

So strawberries might become macerated strawberries with other elements built around them. Fish and chips can become a canapé with battered fish, pea purée, tartare emulsion, malt vinegar salt and a chip espuma. It’s still food you recognise and flavours you know…just approached a little differently.

And ultimately, the food has to suit the people I’m cooking for.

I don’t have one set style that I impose on every booking. Some guests want something relaxed and generous, others want a beautifully presented multi-course dinner, while another booking might call for canapés, sharing dishes or something completely bespoke. My job is to understand the occasion and the people around the table and create something that works for them.

That’s probably one of the reasons I still enjoy doing this after 30 years. No two bookings are ever quite the same.

And as much as I love the cooking, the people are a huge part of it too. I’ve cooked for families who now book me whenever they return to Cornwall, been trusted with some pretty important celebrations and milestones, and had plenty of younger guests wander into the kitchen wanting to know what I’m doing, ask questions or simply have a laugh with the chef.

So if you’ve recently found the page, welcome and thank you for following along.

And to everyone who’s been here for a while, booked me, recommended Duchy Chef, left a review or simply liked and shared a post…thank you. It genuinely makes a difference to a small business.

There’ll be plenty more food, new dishes, weddings, private dinners and behind-the-scenes moments coming up.

And if you’d like me to cook for you, get in touch.

Craig
Duchy Chef Cornwall

31/08/2026

Back home after a really lovely evening cooking for the Ashcroft family in Padstow.

Tonight’s menu started with rattler rarebit tarts and Padron peppers, followed by a brand-new canapé I’ve been working on…my take on fish & chips.

Three crisp cooked potato discs, topped with pea purée, tartare emulsion and Doom Bar battered cod, finished with malt vinegar-flavoured salt. A lot of little elements go into one bite, but I was pleased with how it came together and most importantly, the family loved it. Definitely one I think we’ll be seeing more of!

From there we had cured and torched mackerel with dashi kohlrabi, smoked apple and sesame, followed by steak & lobster for the adults, with rigatoni and meatballs as an alternative for the children and lemon posset curd with raspberry, rosewater meringue, ginger crumb and red vein sorrel to finish.

I had so much fun with everyone tonight, especially Jemima, Mary and Guy. I always enjoy it when the children get involved, have a chat and take an interest in what I’m doing it makes the evening that bit more memorable.

And to arrive home to such a lovely message from the family already was the perfect end to the night. It genuinely means a lot when guests take the time to send a message afterwards or leave feedback.

Thank you for having me cook for you all…I hope I get the chance to cook for you again in the future.

Duchy chef LTD

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31/08/2026

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