Cooked in your kitchen
Private chef in Essex
One chef, one kitchen in Rayleigh, and a county of dining tables: a bespoke menu written for your table and cooked in your own home anywhere in Essex — prep, service, and a spotless kitchen before I leave.
Over 250 events so far, most of them in Essex: a 40th in Chelmsford, a hen do in a rented house in Rettendon, Christmas dinners in Leigh-on-Sea, a 30th-birthday barbecue in Writtle, anniversaries in Brentwood and Billericay, and a long run of Saturday tables in Southend, Rayleigh and Hockley — for five to thirty guests.
Nowhere in Essex is more than about an hour from the kitchen in Rayleigh; most tables are under thirty minutes.
Who is cooking
A private chef for the whole of Essex, 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, in the middle of the county, and I cook across all of Essex — the Thames estuary towns, the Chelmsford and Brentwood belt, the Colchester side and the villages between — as well as 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 anywhere in Essex 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 across Essex
Before you book a private chef in Essex
How much is a private chef in Essex?
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 within Essex?
Travel 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. For most of Essex it is a small line; the far north of the county and the coast past Colchester cost a little more.
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 or Airbnb in Essex?
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.
Which parts of Essex do you cover?
All of it. The pages below cover the towns I cook in most — Rayleigh, Southend, Leigh-on-Sea, Hockley, Benfleet, Basildon, Wickford, Chelmsford, Brentwood, Billericay, Colchester, Maldon, Saffron Walden, Bishop's Stortford and Loughton — but if your village is not listed, send the postcode: Writtle, Rettendon, Highwood, Danbury and Burnham have all had a chef in the kitchen.
Do you also cook in London?
Yes. Essex first, then London, the South East, Suffolk and Norfolk. London dinners are quoted the same way, with travel shown on the quote; see the corporate Christmas page for office parties in London and Essex.
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.