The morning starts early for a chalet chef as prep for breakfast starts at 7am. As a chef in a luxury chalet my job is to make sure the guests have what they need. This could mean anything from a dozen hard boiled eggs with beetroot and onions, to fresh fruit salad and smoothies depending on the guest’s nationality and dietary requirements.
The ski pistes that I can see out of the kitchen window are the same pasture that the local cows graze on, the same cows that produce the breakfast yoghurts! Breakfast is whenever the guests want it but generally not too late in the morning as they all want to get out and ski.
The next thing to think about is afternoon tea. I prepare fresh cakes and savoury treats for the guests in the morning and they are left out for the hungry skiiers on their return. Forget all the old tales of cakes not rising, it’s true water takes longer to boil but I have never had a cake fail due to altitude anything is possible at resort level.
Once afternoon tea is ready I can make some orders for the next day, our suppliers deliver fruit and veg, seafood and meat just about every day so we can usually get hold of the lobster or caviar if it is requested!
I usually get some prep done for the evening canapé’s and meal before I clean down the kitchen and leave the chalet around about 11.30 am. Then its home to the apartment, grab my ski stuff and get up on the hill for a few hours.
Back at the chalet for 5pm ready to prep the evening meal while the hosts set the mood in the chalet, fire lit, table sparkling and we are ready for service by 8pm. This is the most rewarding part of the day when the whole team are working together and the guests forget we are even there.
So much of the job is giving the guests what they want I have served burgers, shucked oysters, roasted suckling pigs and created ski themed birthday cakes, all in a day’s work as a chalet chef.
"I have served burgers, shucked oysters, roasted suckling pigs and created ski themed birthday cakes"
Bramble Ski operates catered and self-catered luxury chalets in the exclusive resorts of Verbier and St. Anton