I am writing to thank the Canadian Personal Chef Alliance for the exquisite dining experience that we and our guests enjoyed on Tuesday May 5, 2009 with Chef Courtney.

Negotiating a four-course menu with four fastidious guests must have been a challenge in itself.  We had one pesca-vegetarian, one meat eater, one cholesterol intolerant person and another who disliked certain popular vegetables.  For example, Chef Courtney’s initial suggestions included “Paupiettes of Sole stuffed with shrimps and spinach.”  This sounded delicious to our pesce-vegetarian except for the shrimp, which she will not eat; another guest approved of everything except the spinach.  Chef Courtney improvised by suggesting a fresh-salmon mousse stuffing which was greatly appreciated by all of us.

Another special request came from me.  I asked Chef Courtney if he could delay preparation of the dinner until 5:30 p.m., so that I could learn first-hand how an expert chef conducts himself in an ordinary kitchen.  Chef Courtney kindly obliged me, preparing most of the meal from scratch before my eyes – even the canapés.  It was a unique privilege for me to watch a master at work.  Throughout the preparation, he calmly and generously shared his knowledge and experience, even sharing the recipes of the few things that had to be prepared in advance.

Another inconvenience for Chef Courtney was that we had chosen our friends’
house as the venue, to accommodate their new-born baby, and therefore had little information about existing kitchen equipment. He took all such complications and special requests in his stride, providing all of the dishes and cookware for the meal.

Instead of providing only one set of hors-d’oeuvres, he provided and prepared one dozen of three different items. The poached spicy Cajun shrimp with a cool chunky tomato dip was a huge hit with our meat-eaters.  Everyone loved the taste of his pretty tortilla wraps with avocado cheddar cheese and tomato and his baby red tomatoes stuffed with delicious curried tuna dip.

Chef Courtney presented each course as a separate event, adding a certain drama to the evening.

The appetizer was a delectable medley of several colourful lettuces and cabbages with a balsamic mint dressing, adorned with quaint homemade crispy breads stuffed with feta, apples and grapes.

The entree featured the above-mentioned Paupiettes of sole stuffed with fresh salmon mousse.  These were attractively served over molded cakes of mixed wild and Basmati rice, shredded seasonal vegetables encircled with a fresh-tasting and colourful lemon dressing.

The peach cobbler dessert was a delicious finale to a great meal.  Whereas pie crusts generally serve as a way-station on one’s way to the fruit, the crust on Courtney’s peach cobbler would have served as a delicious dessert in itself.

It was a separate education to note how quickly and efficiently a master-chef can clean up a kitchen after a complicated meal.

In summary, we are most grateful to Chef Courtney and the Canadian Personal Chef’s Alliance for the extraordinary four-course meal graciously and expertly provided to us.  It was perfect in every way.  It would be very impressive if all of the chefs in the Alliance could meet Chef Courtney Smith’s high standards of creativity, expertise and grace under pressure.

With sincere thanks from us and our two guests,

Linda H. and Robert W.