Helen Gurnett, Professional Chef

Hello, I’m Helen and I am passionate about creating delicious, stylish food with service which exceeds the expectations of my clients on every occasion. I successfully completed my three term professional chef diploma at Leiths School of Food and Wine (now Leiths Educations), following a career in consulting.

As a Private Chef, I create stylish, restaurant quality food for canapé parties, dinners and events in London, Buckinghamshire and its surrounding areas.

I spent a number of very happy years as a child living in and travelling around California. This experience created a lasting impression and I now use my culinary training to create food inspired by the Golden State.

As one of the five mediterranean climates in the world, some of this cuisine overlaps with what we in the UK are familiar with. For example, French and Italian traditions are strongly represented. One of the things that is different about Californian food is the addition of Asian and Mexican cultures, which bring fresh and vibrant dishes to the table.

I am passionate both about food quality and sustainability and try to honour the Californian farm to table principles. Making British and European swaps for far flung ingredients where I can. I also work to find local, ethical food producers to source ingredients from. Where possible, I use British and in-season ingredients and I’m happy to work with clients to accommodate food allergies and intolerances.

My local suppliers include:

Peterley Manor Farm, Phil Bowditch Fish & Meat, Chiltern Venison, Nettlebed Creamery, Marlow Cheese Company, Bucks Fish, Chiltern Lamb, Laceys Family Farm

I offer cooking lessons for beginners and foodie enthusiasts, to improve confidence in the kitchen, help clients create crowd pleasing dinner party dishes and learn new skills to widen their cooking repetoire.

Cooking Lessons are offered 1:1 or for small groups in the comfort of your own kitchen. You can choose from one of the lessons on my cooking lessons page or have me design something specific just for you

I am experienced in Recipe Development and work with businesses and chefs to develop new recipes, recipe test and edit recipes. I have worked for a range of businesses, from food apps to herb companies, to create delicious new recipes their customers love. I also work with other chefs to help with recipe editing and recipe testing during their development process.

Finally, I enjoy working with other Chefs and Production Teams as an assistant Food Stylist. I am experienced in the whole process from shot planning, to food preparation and on set cooking and assisting with styling and I am used to working under pressure to get stunning results.

A collection of tried and tested Free Recipes can also be found on the website which range from light bites to more sophisticated supper favourites. I try to have a focus on fresh, seasonal products and nutritious ingredients, with more indulgent treats thrown in.

For me, cooking is a really creative process and I love to explore, learn and bring back inspirational food from new people and places.

I hope this website helps you find the inspiration to bring delicious food into your life - both for yourself and the people you love.

I am married, live in South Buckinghamshire and I have two mostly grown up children.