That might sound like a tricky compromise to arrive at but since most things involve an element of compromise at the moment we seem able to tick all of those boxes. Obviously the enforced closure of the hospitality scene has left huge numbers of restaurateurs scrambling to reinvent themselves into something sustainable, even if only for the short term, but spare a thought for the event caterers hit just as hard. With gatherings off the table at the moment, there’re all manner of celebrations postponed that would have sustained the events industry throughout the summer months leaving yet more scope for reinvention. On a rather sombre side note, another impact of the lack of gatherings is the building up of a large number of families (including this one) collectively unable to mark the loss of loved ones. I do wonder if that will put a rather grim new revenue stream at the feet of the catering industry in 2021 as the desire to mark those losses can finally come to fruition.

Back in the here and now, event caterer Hog & Apple have been taking advantage of their familiarity with quality mass catering to explore at-home offerings that include Sunday roast, which I was treated to last weekend. Contactless delivery was of course the standard, and so common now that it’s hardly worth mentioning, as the day’s selection of foil containers arrived. The accompanying instructions were clear and easy to follow while promising to get the food from container to plate in an improbably brief 15 minutes, which turned out to be a promise delivered on after getting the oven up to temperature.

Sirloin of beef came cooked to rare which allows you to take it further as your preference demands. I was more than happy with that, so it only needed a quick warm through at the end of the time spent by the vegetables in the oven alongside Yorkshire puds that just needed a brief heating.

This was, without exaggeration, one of the best Sunday roasts I’ve yet been lucky enough to encounter, with rich and unctuous gravy going beyond the call of duty to backdrop a range of superbly prepared vegetables and meat. The delightfully rare meat showed plenty of quality and the roots were clearly lovingly prepared, though there was a bit of divergence with the potato that might be unexpected. Rather than conventional roasties, the potato element was sliced, pressed and roasted. Roasties don’t always reheat as perfectly as one would hope so this worked ably as a substitute that caught a bit of colour on its top to make sure the crispy shell of a roast potato wasn’t absent. Also present and correct were cauliflower cheese, well risen Yorkshire Puddings, sticky red cabbage and braised savoy cabbage with bacon to make sure your plate groaned under the weight of this bounty. The final flourish was celeriac puree similar to one I enjoyed at Sticky Walnut over in Chester a year or so ago. Being one of my favourite veg, this was always going to encourage more affection for this lunch. One other thing worthy of note, there were plentiful leftovers even after what you see on these plates and there’s also the option to add on dessert.

So does it turn out that one’s own home is the perfect place to enjoy Sunday lunch when the experience is shorn of all the attendant chopping and washing? That’s an even more subjective answer than usual at the moment as we find our circumstances and options shifting on a weekly basis. Like so many of you, I’d happily break a finger (oh, just me?) for a lazy Sunday afternoon full of a Sunday roast in front of an open fire in a pub with the Sunday papers. But in the absence of that, you can still enjoy a top quality roast in your own home with fingers remaining unbroken.

Disclaimer: No charge was made for this meal, opinions are impartial.

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Admittedly, not all of these issues have easy solutions (specifically our cats), but if you want to guarantee the food hits the mark, you could always hire a private chef! We were contacted recently by La Belle Assiette who suggested they send round a chef to cook for us and see what we thought. The chef in question was Yves Quemerais who is now based in Harrogate after spending 25 years cooking in his native France. With training from Alain Ducasse and having cooked for luminaries such as Richard Branson we were fairly confident he’d be able to pull off something pretty special for our group of eight.

A potential stumbling point when booking someone to come and cook in your own home is a lack of facilities, so a quick conversation in advance helped make sure that Yves was able to construct a menu that could be prepared in an average domestic kitchen.

As the evening arrived, Yves also did at exactly the time agreed and set about getting everything prepared. Our guests arrived over the next hour or so to friendly warnings not to eat too many of the root veg crisps I’d left out in an attempt at hospitality. After shepherding the group through to the dining table the amuse bouche arrived exactly on schedule. Scallop had been finely diced and perfectly seasoned before the cubes were sat on a delightful watercress veloute. I wasn’t totally convinced by the crockery here – a small bowl balanced on a second small ceramic – but this does neatly highlight another advantage of the service: Yves brings all the crockery for the service, so there’s no mountain of washing up left to tackle! I’ll take that over a style of bowl I’m not 100% on board with any day.

The starter was a cylinder formed of vertical vegetable slices, each exactly the same width, containing a mixture of Whitby crab and celeriac alongside a mildly tandoori flavoured king prawn. Even if I had somehow hidden Yves’ presence, there’s no way my guests would have believed I could have replicated the delicate care and attention lavished on this plate.

Moving onto the main course, with appetites whetted at the prospect of pan fried partridge breast, our expectations were met with ease. The meat was joined on the plate by a stuffed tomato, carefully sliced and layered potato and an incredibly densely flavoured sauce. The only thing that struck me as slightly jarring on the plate was the placement of the (delicious) parsnip that I can only describe as needlessly erect.

Dessert was the real show stopper of the evening. Plates were distributed that appeared to feature a large, extremely shiny, Christmas bauble along with a jug of caramel sauce. Upon pouring the hot caramel over the bauble, the two melted together to fall to the sides of the plate and reveal a Chantilly centre. Now full of superb food we were left to our own devices while Yves retired to the kitchen and set about clearing down, even going as far as filling our dishwasher and leaving the room cleaner than it had been provided to him.

Our guests all said how much they had enjoyed the evening and that this had been a unique experience. As a host, I found the event stress free and well-organised and Yves was extremely personable to have in my house. Yves’s menus currently start at £59 a head and other La Belle Assiette menus are available from just £39 a head which, while more than an average restaurant meal, I felt represented good value for the convenience, quality and theatricality of the evening.

Disclaimer: We were asked to review the experience and offered it on a complimentary basis. All opinions remain impartial.

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