A celebrity in the kitchen

FASTER than you can say, “Do you deliver?” catered dinner parties have become a phenomenon in Los Angeles. That great Greek deli down the hill or the local restaurant on the corner can often do wonders -- and leave you, gracious host, free to party on hassle-free. But hard times in the restaurant business have forced a twist that would have been astonishing just a few years ago.

If you can afford it, some of the biggest culinary stars in the city will cook for you. Personally. Right now the roster of chefs-for-hire includes Tim Goodell of Aubergine, Josie Le Balch of Josie’s, Celestino Drago of Drago’s, Joe Miller of Joe’s, Makoto Tanaka of Mako, Jean Francois Meteigner of La Cachette, Bill Bracken of Belvedere and Michael’s chefs du cuisine, Christine Banta or Olivier Rousselle.

The high caliber of the chefs willing to cater small parties -- and, in some cases, the relatively low rates they are charging -- represents an enormous change in attitude. Once catering was beneath them. Now it’s often a matter of survival.

In recent weeks, two of L.A.’s most promising young chefs left the restaurant business entirely to begin catering. Brooke Williamson, ready to strike out on her own, left Zax in Brentwood to start Company for Dinner. And Ben Ford shuttered Chadwick in Beverly Hills for lack of business and began Chadwick Catering. With new jobs scarce or unappealing, these chefs are building new careers cooking for charity dinners, private parties and even intimate cocktail gatherings.

Meanwhile, those in the restaurant business see their tables sitting empty and start looking for other sources of income. From her Santa Monica restaurant, Josie’s chef Le Balch will prepare a complete dinner, or part of it, via her new Take Josie Home party pickup menu. Her salmon and leek or wild mushroom quiches sell for $27 a pie, and a party’s worth of hors d’oeuvres go for $24 to $34 a dozen. La Cachette’s Meteigner is selling bottles of dressings and emulsions and has created take-out picnic baskets filled with appetizers, entrees and desserts that he’ll deliver. In Tustin, Zov’s chef Zov Karamardian has developed a $395 takeout holiday dinner that will serve a multicourse menu for 12.

In many cases, even if a restaurant doesn’t have a takeout menu, catering department or banquet facility, they’re still eager to cook for private parties.

“A lot of people don’t know that if you call a fine-dining restaurant that doesn’t happen to list a to-go menu, you can still get the menu to go,” said Jannis Swerman, director of communications for Wolfgang Puck. (Incidentally, Swerman said, Puck will appear at private parties his company is catering, “if he is available.”)

With little advance notice, many can prepare additional portions of their regular menu items, pack them in portable containers, and even throw in a few chafing dishes.

Only a few, such as Joe’s in Venice, are so strict about quality that they won’t sell food that will be cooked and eaten without the restaurant’s direct oversight.

Personal service

Neighborhood spots, such as Marouch on the outskirts of Hollywood, has been catering its Lebanese specialties for nearly 20 years, said owner Serge Brady, who provides a lot of personal service. On Sunday, he helped Simon Kahn and Rene Lapointe load their vegetarian wedding feast into their car -- 20 minutes before their ceremony at the nearby Self Realization Fellowship Hollywood Temple. Another couple from the church suggested the restaurant, which is so nearby the food stays warm in transit.

Across town at Taix, Echo Park’s French food institution offers several banquet menus for pickup, said catering manager Retta Etchegaray. For a minimum of 25 people at $15.95 per person starting price, Taix chef Loic Besnou can turn out luncheon salads, a la carte dinners or complete lunch or dinner buffets featuring French specialties. For simpler celebrations, the restaurant offers appetizer trays of smoked salmon, chicken liver mousse or even mini beef Wellingtons.

Though Pink’s on Melrose owners Richard and Gloria Pink don’t advertise their catering services, they will set up their steam tables for a minimum order of 500 hot dogs.

Though restaurants provide many of the same special-event services as caterers, often for a comparable cost, restaurant catering offers the advantage of familiarity.

“If you are poking around for a caterer and you don’t use one that often, it’s really easy to go to the restaurant and try the food,” Swerman said. “Almost any restaurant you go to, even if it’s a little brassiere in your neighborhood or a fine-dining establishment, could be available for catering.”

While dining at his favorite neighborhood restaurant, Ristorante Rumari, Laguna Beach interior designer John Wooden thought to hire the chef for his annual pre-Thanksgiving family get-together.

“We’ve used caterers in the past,” Wooden said. “We were eating at Rumari a couple of weeks ago and we thought it would be more interesting.” He selected some menu favorites and developed other dishes with chef Vince Crivello. For $160 per person, which Wooden said was about the same price as a caterer, he and his friends were served wine and a five-course meal, including tuna tartare, pappardelle in cream sauce, sauteed shrimp and salmon, and bananas flambe with a brandy butter orange sauce.

“It was worth the money because we didn’t have to think about keeping the wine glasses full,” Wooden said. “It was like being in a restaurant.”

Though chefs have long offered their in-home catering services for privileged clients or donated them for charity auctions, restaurant-based chefs have more incentive to expand their catering business.

“Catering is known, especially if you have the facility to order large amounts of food, as pure income,” said Williamson, who occasionally was hired out at $300 to $400 a night from Zax to cook for regular customers. “You don’t have to pay the busboy and a server because the client is paying for all of it,” she said. “Generally, you make the same thing for everybody, so you have no waste. You can completely anticipate your costs.”

Now that she’s running Company for Dinner, her catering company with her partner and former Zax sous chef, Nick Roberts, Williamson doesn’t charge extra for an appearance.

Other top L.A. chefs do, though. For $500, you can hire either Joe Miller of Joe’s or Tim Goodell of Aubergine and Whist. For an extra $150, Makoto Tanaka of Mako will appear at your dinner party.

Michael’s charges a flat $50-an-hour rate for Christine Banta or Olivier Rousselle. Like personal trainers and personal shoppers, individual attention doesn’t come cheap.

Hiring anyone to cook and serve in your home is still more expensive than eating the same food in a restaurant. The cost of prep cooks, waiters, chef assistants, customized menus and rentals can make an in-home meal 10% to 50% more expensive.

An elegant, chef-prepped four- or five-course meal of say, appetizers, soup or salad, grilled meat and dessert, may cost from $65 and up just for food. Once the service charges for labor and wait staff are added, top-quality meals catered in the home often cost $100 per person and up, not counting wine or liquor.

Hosts of in-home parties can save money by providing their own wine. However, don’t think you’re getting out of a tip. Most restaurants substitute a 15% to 18% service fee to cover the staff’s labor and lost tips. Typically, one waiter, at $125 to $150 an hour, is adequate for a party of four to 10 people. And yes, that’s a lot of chopped liver.

Bringing a restaurant experience to a home brings a measure of certainty and, when done well, cachet to a home dinner party.

If the chef is coming to your kitchen, however, don’t worry if you don’t have a proper eight-burner stove, double oven and spacious refrigerator. Most restaurants, whether they have a special events staff or not, will assess your kitchen’s capabilities beforehand, said Patricia Seifert, general manager of Mako in Beverly Hills. Depending on the menu, she can rent a stove, a wok, add a barbeque grill or set up a temporary kitchen in your garage.

The at-home dinner party trend is growing in popularity, said Carl Schuster, president of Wolfgang Puck Catering and Events. “About a quarter of our business in L.A. is in the form of small, in-home parties.”

The at-home party trend has grown along with the size of residential kitchens.

“People have these amazing kitchens with the best quality stoves and china and they don’t cook,” said Williamson.

No matter the size -- or status -- of the party, most generate a precious form of advertising -- word-of-mouth referrals.

“It is a way to get people interested in your restaurant,” said Drago.

Culinary extravaganzas

Judi Kaufman, a professional recipe tester and home economist, recently hired Meteigner to cook a multicourse meal for four at her Beverly Hills home. “The idea of ordering in -- in the most elegant way -- means that you don’t have to worry about impressing your guests about the work that you do,” she said. “And that means you can concentrate on conversation.”

“And there’s something kind of romantic about having a chef at your house,” Kaufman said. “It’s like a celebrity is in your house.”

It’s true, celebrity chefs can turn evenings into culinary extravaganzas, where guests learn about the special ingredients and preparation of the meal. For instance, Drago recently created a five-course, $550-per-person, white-truffle dinner for a client who wanted to pair the food with wines from the Piedmont region of Italy.

“I do a presentation about the truffle -- how to shave it, cook it, clean it,” he said. “It’s like a little cooking class.”

And, this being L.A., a little conspicuous consumption can go a long way.

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Home cooking

How much does it cost to have a restaurant cater your party? Here are menus for three different parties, from three different restaurants. All are for groups of eight.

cocktail party

Marouch, 4905 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles (323) 662-9325.

The menu: A buffet of traditional Middle Eastern finger foods, including hummus, tabbouleh, falafel, stuffed grape leaves, cold cuts and salami, salads, vegetables and pickles.

Your part: Pick up, heat up, set up and clean up.

Total with tax: $108

reheat-and-eat feast

Josie’s, 2424 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica (310) 581-9888.

The menu: A four-course new American-style dinner from the Take Josie Home menu.

Appetizers of miniature pot pies and smoked salmon cream on endive. Salad of baked pear, endive and watercress. Pork loin stuffed with dried apricots and prunes, with roasted autumn vegetables. Upside-down pear ginger spice cake.

Your part: The same takeout routine.

Total with tax: $280

chef in the kitchen

La Cachette, 10506 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles (310) 470-4992.

The menu: A four-course French menu made in your kitchen by chef Jean Francois Meteigner and a prep cook, and served by a waiter.

Assorted hors d’oeuvres. Roasted lobster with celery root puree. Seared beef tenderloin with sauteed foie gras and black truffle brandy sauce. Thin apple tart with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream.

Your part: Open the door, and let the party begin.

Total, including service fees: $1,030