Cooked in your kitchen
Private chef in Chelmsford
Your table in Chelmsford, my kitchen for the night: a bespoke menu written for your table, cooked in your home — prep, service, and a spotless kitchen before I leave.
Around Chelmsford I’ve cooked a 40th in the city, a 30th-birthday barbecue in Writtle, a stag party at a rented house in Highwood and a hen do in Rettendon, for tables of five to sixteen.
Chelmsford is 16 miles by road from the kitchen in Rayleigh.
Photo: Chris Holifield, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped · Wikimedia Commons
Who is cooking
A private chef in Chelmsford, from a kitchen in Rayleigh
I’m Mike Sutton: 20 years in professional kitchens, nearly a decade running my own restaurant, trained under Gennaro Contaldo and Jamie Oliver. Tipsy Squirrel Events is what I did after I sold the restaurant — the same cooking, brought to your home instead.
The kitchen is in Rayleigh, 16 miles by road from Chelmsford, and I cook across Essex, London, the South East and East Anglia. Every menu is written from scratch for your table, with 43 sample menus from six regions of the world to start from, and every dietary in the room handled within the same courses — nobody gets a visibly different plate.
How it works
Tell me the date, the headcount, and the occasion — four fields or a WhatsApp message.
I write the menu around your table and every dietary in the room, and we refine it together.
On the night I arrive early, cook, serve, and leave your kitchen spotless.
The practical bits
From £75 per head, £449 minimum spend
Travel to Chelmsford is quoted with the menu, based on the distance from Rayleigh.
Ingredients, menu design, chef and service, equipment and a full clean-down included
Every dietary catered — nobody gets a visibly different plate
From recent tables
In their words
What guests said
“Chef Mike absolutely nailed it. Clean, balanced food with real attention to detail and proper respect for the ingredients. Everything tasted intentional and beautifully executed.”
“We hired Chef Mike for a hen do and he was amazing! The four-course meal was delicious, beautifully presented, and a real 11/10. He stayed professional and even handled a last-minute issue seamlessly.”
Questions from Chelmsford
Before you book a private chef in Chelmsford
How much is a private chef in Chelmsford?
From £75 per head with a £449 minimum spend — ingredients, menu design, the chef on the night, the equipment I bring and a full clean-down are all in that figure. Tell me the date, the headcount and the occasion and you will have the exact price the same day.
Do you charge travel to Chelmsford?
Travel to Chelmsford is quoted with the menu, based on the distance from Rayleigh, and shown as one line on your quote before you commit — nothing is added later.
How far in advance should I book?
Six to eight weeks for a Saturday in summer. Shorter notice is often possible, particularly midweek. Ask, because cancellations happen.
Can you cook in a holiday rental near Chelmsford?
Yes. Most hen do bookings are in rentals. Send a photo of the kitchen when you enquire and I will build the menu around what is actually there — I bring whatever is missing.
Planning a wedding? See wedding catering in Essex or all my wedding menus and prices.
Christmas? I cook Christmas Day at home and office Christmas parties from £39 a guest.