Personal Chef at Home in Sintra

About our service in Sintra

The houses of Sintra vila, São Pedro de Penaferrim and Colares were built in another age, and the kitchen tends to sit a long way from the table — sometimes on another floor, linked by a corridor or a staircase. That forces a different way of thinking about service: the dishes have to survive the journey without going cold or losing their looks. So we prefer oven dishes and pot dishes that arrive hot and are served from the centre of the table, rather than delicate plating that does not last a corridor. The oven deserves attention of its own: many are old, heat unevenly and bear no relation to the number on the dial, so we always check before starting and adjust the times accordingly. The microclimate of the hills counts too. High humidity quickly ruins bread, cakes and anything fried left out in the open, and the cold of stone houses, even outside winter, slows proving and changes how doughs behave. We keep anything sensitive in a closed container from the moment it leaves the oven, and we order the courses so that nothing sits about waiting. A long weekend lunch is built that way: starters that can be ready, a main from the oven that comes out at the right hour, a pudding made in the morning and kept under cover. Where the house is only used at weekends, we also leave meals ready for the days that follow. The limitations are the usual ones and we state them beforehand. We have no kitchen of our own and we carry no cooked food: we work at the quinta or in the house, with the equipment that exists there, which is why we ask so much about it before settling the menu. We neither supply nor serve alcoholic drinks, as we hold no licence for it. And where there is a serious allergy at the table, we make clear that in a domestic kitchen we cannot guarantee the absence of cross-contamination.

What we do as a personal chef at home in Sintra:

Services Included

• Long weekend lunches at quintas and houses on the hillside
• Oven and pot dishes that reach distant tables still hot
• A check of the old oven beforehand and cooking times adjusted
• Meals left ready for the remaining days of the stay
• Kitchen and pantry handed back clean and in order

Areas We Serve

We work across the whole area: Sintra vila, São Pedro de Penaferrim, Estefânia, Portela de Sintra, Colares and Monte Santos.

Work Gallery