Duende Private Chef Tim Zekki
Wiveliscombe
(3)
Wiveliscombe
(3)
The finest ingredients and a passion for creativity.
Award winning private Chef Tim Zekki can cook at your home or your Somerset or Devon holiday accommodation. He’ll create either an al a carte menu or a fantastic tasting menu of 5 or 7 courses, customised to your tastes, with an optional wine flight.
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3 customer reviews
Chris
Tim was a pleasure to work with from start to finish. From designing the menu and the wines to accompany it through to the cooking and serving (and washing up. ...) the whole experience was both easy and thoroughly professional. The inspired seven-course tasting menu was perfectly executed and will live long in the memories of every one of the group of eight of us who had the pleasure of enjoying it. More...
Suzanne Douglas
Tim prepared a fabulous meal for my birthday dinner. He worked with us to create a delicious menu and all of the dishes were truly excellent. Tim was supported by his delightful team, who seamlessly hosted our table of 12 and the chef's table of teenagers in the kitchen, before clearing and leaving everything spotless. I cannot recommend Tim highly enough - and I have already asked him to come back and cook for our summer party. More...
Lynn Mant
Hi Tim, Just want to say a huge thank you for the wonderful dinner you designed & prepared for us on Saturday. It was absolutely delicious & everyone enjoyed it.
Our youngest son & his wife were so sorry to have missed such a special evening but hope that we’ll be able to do something similar next year for our golden wedding anniversary.
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What’s your signature dish?
I don’t have a specific signature dish as I’m always creating, but a recent favourite is something that took me to the semi finals of National Chef of the Year. I used my Cypriot background to influence the dish of a seftalia of venison, with loin of venison, forest fruits and a pancake made from Khorosan flour from Sussex. The dessert was a reinvented banoffi pie with miso custard.
How do you go about creating the perfect menu for your clients?
I discuss with clients find out about preferences and dietary needs. Then I create a seasonal menu, using the best ingredients I can source from our fanatsic west country produce.
What do you love most about your job?
Making people say ‘wow’. Surprising them with things they might not have experienced before. Making people happy, creating new dishes - I’m pretty obsessed with food.
What inspired you to start your own business?
I’ve been involved with food since I was a child in Cyprus, working in restaurants all my life, opening Duende was a natural progression.
Why should our clients choose you?
I’m trusted by BBC Masterchef food critic William Sitwell to chef for 70 guests in a cow shed for his Supper Club events, often on my own, other times working with the Michelin-starred chefs that he hosts.
Can you provide your services online or remotely? If so, please add details.
No, I’m a chef, so I have to be there! Maybe one day I’ll do cookery lessons online, but for now I’m in real life.
What changes have you made to keep your customers safe from Covid-19?
I have a pdf of guidelines I can send out to clients about Covid precautions when needed.
Private chef
At Duende, we are committed to making your private chef experience exceptional. Contact us today, and let's start planning an extraordinary culinary adventure together.
Dinner parties
Experience the flexibility of a la carte menus for your private event, offering seasonal dishes with top notch ingredients that can be tailored to suit your preferences.
One of the delights of having the restaurant come to your home with a private event is that you are in control of what will be on the menu. No more disappointing, ordinary restaurant menus when you book a private event. If you don’t like fish, ask Tim to leave it off the menu. Simple. If you love lamb, prefer pork, or can’t get enough steak, say so. It’s entirely up to you.
Tasting menus
Host a dinner party with the wow factor.
What is a tasting menu?
A tasting menu is like a story, or a song. It’s about provenance of ingredients, seasonality, balance, flavour, aroma, texture. The dishes must harmonise, be in the perfect order, and the flavours build throughout t to a crescendo.
It’s not just a random collection of small dishes showcasing the chef’s skills.
If you think of it as a ‘story’, it must make sense, have a resolution. That’s why it takes so much planning to get a tasting menu right.
As a tasting menu private event is designed for all guests to enjoy, it’s important to know allergies, dietary issues and strong preferences ahead of beginning to plan the tasting menu.
Chef Tim Zekki usually keeps the menu for a tasting menu secret until it is unveiled on the night.
Wine pairing
Experience the art of wine pairing with private chef Tim Zekki's exceptional wine flights. Indulge in a curated selection of exquisite wines, expertly chosen to complement each course of your 5 or 7-course tasting menu.
A wine pairing flight includes tasting notes from our wine expert and Reidel glasses specially designed to enhance the wines.
