‘Chef Service’ : Mark Newville: Has Menu Savvy, Will Travel

His friends have long known that Mark Newville throws a good party. His boat picnics on the Potomac River have become something of a tradition, and at least a few close friends have been the grateful recipients of the chef’s elaborate, multi-course rehearsal dinners as their wedding presents.

His at-home style of entertaining is no less original: Newville’s idea of a cozy company meal might be to throw a few logs on the fire--followed by a whole fish, perhaps, or pork loin roast, or lamb--and serve dinner before the hearth.

Combining his knack for hosting with his culinary talents, Newville turned his free-time fun into a full-time job last spring, when he launched Visiting Chefs.

The fledgling operation, basically a one-man show, is described by its founder as “a chef service.” Unlike a traditional caterer, Newville not only hand-selects all his meats, fish and produce, but prefers to cook in the homes of his clients--he even serves as the waiter for parties of 10 and less.

Although he prefers to cook for no more than 30 at a time, Newville can draw from a pool of free-lance waiters and chefs, including local Sicilian cuisine authority Mimmetta Lo Monte, for larger functions.

While he’s partial to maintaining personalized menus and small guest lists, Newville wouldn’t mind adding to his roster of chefs. In fact, the entrepreneur is just as interested in “promoting restaurants in a new way, not through wine dinners and tastings,” but by hiring out professional restaurant chefs for a couple of evenings a month.

Working in a private home, the would-be agent explains, offers chefs “a lot more direct feedback” than they might typically receive in a restaurant kitchen. Besides that, adds Newville, “it’s less taxing” than cooking for the dining public.

The Visiting Chef brings to the table equal parts business experience (Newville managed Restaurant Nora and served as the manager of marketing and sales for Glorious Cafe before it closed last February) and culinary expertise. In addition to studying at the Culinary Institute of America, he served as head chef at New York’s Lotos Club.