Helen Gurnett, Professional Chef

Hello, I’m Helen and I am passionate about creating delicious, stylish food 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, following a career change from management consulting.

I combine the organisational and planning skills from my consulting career with communication and literary skills gained from my Masters in English Literature and my food knowledge from culinary training to work as a freelance Private Chef, Recipe Developer and Food Stylist.

As a Private Chef, I create stylish, restaurant quality food for dinners, canapé parties and events in London, Buckinghamshire and the Home Counties. I trained in Gourmet Modern British and French cookery and I enjoy cooking Italian and Mediterranean food too. I work collectively with other Leiths trained chefs for larger engagments.

I am passionate both about food quality and sustainability. I work to find local, ethical food producers to source ingredients from. Where possible, I use British and in-season ingredients and can accomodate 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 am experienced in Recipe Development and work with businesses and chefs to develop new recipes, recipe test and edits 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 a Food Stylist. I am experienced in the whole process from shot planning, to food preparation and on set cooking and styling and 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 travel, especially to the Mediterranean, when I can to 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 Buckinghamshire, England and I have two teenage children.