Chef Cristiano Besazza

Private Chef In St Kilda East

I am an Italian professional chef with 15 years of experience around the world between Europe, Russia and Australia.

I love to cook with local and seasonal products.

I specialize in Mediterranean, Italian and vegetable cuisine and I like to combine Australian tastes.

Finally I respect the environment by not using plastic or surrogate products.

For me, cooking is...

I can express totally myself and I can offer emotions to my guests. Cooking is all my time and my life.

I learned to cook at...

In one of the most Famous Italian culinary school. Moreover my parents have a restaurant and I did experience in a good/high levels restaurants.

A role model in the kitchen is...

My role model in the kitchen is Gualtiero Marchesi.

A cooking secret...

mix classic recipes with new processing techniques. And strong cleanliness.

My menus

JC PRIVATE CHEFS 2023

STARTER

Choose 1 dish

Spanner crab cocktail, avocado, fennel, seaweed and rice crisp (N.F. , D.F. and G.F.)

Marinated King Prawn, red pepper dressing, puffed grain salad, spring herbs (G.F, D.F, N.F.)

Japanese scallops. morcilla, roasted shallots, pea puree and corn shoots (G.F , N.F.)

Kingfish carpaccio, fennel, pistachio, raspberries and honey vinaigrette (G.F., N.F. and D.F.)

Beef tartare, pan brioche, hazelnut emulsion, fried capers, parsley

Ox Tongue, padron peppers, blueberries, prosecco (G.F. , N.F.)

Grilled asparagus, sabayon, quail eggs, salmon roe, nasturtium (VG, V. , N.F., and G.F.)

Twice baked two cheese souffle, smoked beetroot salad, rosemary(VG. , N.F.)

FIRST COURSE

Choose 1 dish

Canederli- bread gnocchi, with smoked speck, scamorza, cultured butter and sage (N.F, Option – V,)

Eggplant parmigiana, prosciutto cotto, buffalo mozzarella, basil pesto ( N.F, G.F Option V)

Caserecce with wild mushroom and snail ragu, hazelnut crumble (Option V, N.F, G.F, D.F)

Salted cod cannelloni with saffron puree, pumpkin chips (N.F Option V)

Paccheri with King prawns ragu & bisque, buffalo mozzarella (N.F, Option G.F, D.F, V)

Carnaroli risotto, saffron and braised veal shank (G.F, N.F)

Carnaroli risotto, candied lemons, capers, sage (G.F, N.F, V)

Carnaroli risotto, globe artichokes, prawns (G.F, N.F, option V)

MAIN COURSE

Choose 1 dish

Line caught Snapper, local mushrooms, chervil pesto (D.F, G.F Option N.F)

Rock flathead roulade, lemon beurre blanc, mussels, zucchini canolo (N.F, G.F)

Hasselback potato, Tuscan kale, black garlic emulsion, dill, baby onions (V, N.F, D.F, G.F)

Lamb rack, cacio e pepe sauce, spring greens (N.F, G.F)

Braised beef ribs, parsnip, radicchio, balsamic vinegar (N.F, G.F Option D.F)

Grass fed beef eye fillet, roasted shallots, yellow & green beans, café de paris (N.F, D.F)

BBQ half spatchcock, leeks, tomato gazpacho, fried capers (N.F, D.F, G.F)

Quail saltimbocca, San Daniele prosciutto, sage, white wine, grilled polenta (N.F, G.F)

Pork scotch fillet, witlof, liquorice (N.F, D.F. G.F)

DESSERT

Choose 1 dish

Rhum cappuccino’, Pepper chocolate cremoso, milk foam (N.F, G.F)

Chocolate terrine 70% with chocolate and almond sauce, chocolate sorbet (Option D.F, N.F)

Pistachio tiramisu, fresh strawberries, lemon balm

Almond flan, candied orange, nougat ice cream (G.F Option D.F)

Lemon sorbet, mint, pineapple, coconut mousse (V, D.F, N.F, G.F)

White chocolate & star anise semifreddo, pear jelly, ricotta (N.F, G.F)

A ramble in the country - vegetarian menù

STARTER

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Cherries tomatoes and EVOO focaccia with fresh ricotta, broad beans

FIRST COURSE

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Grilled baby sugarloaf cabbage and compressed red apple with roasted seed crumble, buttermilk sauce

Compressed ox heart tomato on thyme and bread sauce, buffalo mozzarella, peach carpaccio

MAIN COURSE

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Prosecco Carnaroli risotto with heirloom Dutch carrots, almond, mascarpone cheese

Deconstructed ratatouille (zucchini, tomato, eggplant and potato) with fresh tomatoes and oregano salsa, chives, garlic flowers

DESSERT

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Cappuccino panna cotta with creamy milk chocolate, coffee reduction, milk foam

From the wood to the sea - meat and seafood menù

STARTER

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Rosemary and turnip focaccia with black anchovy and fresh ricotta

FIRST COURSE

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King fish carpaccio with raspberry and shaved fennel, toasted pistachio, IPA beer vinaigrette

Carnaroli risotto with local farm sweet corn, Port Philip Bay Mussels, lime zest, pecorino

MAIN COURSE

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Roasted salt bush lamb shoulder marinated in coffee rub with eggplant puree, baked Japanese pumpkin, broad beans

Pan roasted duck breast on carrots puree, toasted hazelnuts, sautéed baby spinach, roasted red grapes

DESSERT

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Green apple crumble with vanilla crème anglaise, marsala raising gel, poached rhubarb

The hunter - Meat menù

STARTER

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Oregano and sweet potato focaccia with mortadella mousse and homemade pickles

FIRST COURSE

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Handmade ‘strozzapreti’ pasta with duck leg ragu, English spinach, celery heart leaves

Crispy skin pork belly with sunflower seed pesto, carrot chutney

MAIN COURSE

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Slow ‘twice cooked’ beef ribs in aged balsamic vinegar with grilled radicchio leaves, olive oil potatoes puree

Roasted jumbo quail stuffed with wild mushrooms and pork neck on chickpeas panisse, braised black kale

DESSERT

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70% dark chocolate and almond terrine with chocolate sauce and chocolate gelato

Trip to Venice - Seafood Menu

STARTER

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Saltbush and potatoes focaccia with red snapper mousse, capers salad

FIRST COURSE

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Blue Swimmer Crab souffle on marinated saffron egg yolk, “coral” tuile, pink pepper

Squid ink ‘Carnaroli’ risotto with calamari and Crystal Bay Prawns, baby peas, lime zest

MAIN COURSE

Choose 1 dish

Pan fried hapuka fillet (or market fish) on lemon flavored puree with tarragon zucchini salad, zucchini cannolo

Barramundi ‘Al cartoccio’ baked with silver beet, black anchovy, lemon and white wine

DESSERT

Choose 1 dish

Deconstructed tiramisu’, mascarpone and chocolate mousse, coffee sauce and biscotto

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Chef Cristiano's reviews

4.95

•

17 services

Thanks so much for providing an amazing stress free, enjoyable, tasty and wonderful meal! Well worth it!!

Chef Cristiano Besazza was the chef for my husband’s and my 40th wedding anniversary. We wanted a memorable event for this important day. Delicious 4-course meal including scallops, gnocchi, beef cheek and chocolate terrine, cooked in our own home and an attentive chef certainly delivered in spades. He even washed dishes and left the kitchen spotless. Chef Cristiano and Take a Chef are highly recommended by us.

From the time Josh arrived he engaged with me and my guests. Although working in an open plan kitchen dining area there was no interruption by noise during the prep serve and clean process. Loved the fact Josh paced each course to suit us and checked in prior. The food was superb. Thanks Josh and Cristiano for making my birthday dinner a memorable evening. Highly recommend. Nickie

We invited Cristiano to prepare a beautiful experience for my mum's 60th Italian themed birthday. The food was exquisite, beautifully presented and we all loved hearing about the backstory to the dishes we were eating. Cristiano and his waitress Veronica were the perfect mix of engaging, fun and professional. They were both respectful of our home and better yet, left our kitchen cleaner than what it was when they arrived! We will definitely be getting Cristiano back for our next dinner party, I couldn't recommend the experience more highly.

Chef Cristiano and Josh were absolutely amazing! They were very friendly and engaging, and the food was so tasty, with beautiful flavours, variety and presentation. Their work made my night so easy and my guests were very impressed! Chef Cristiano was very professional, and he was organised, and paid attention to detail, such as menus on table, bread, and providing crockery or cutlery if we needed this. They left the kitchen in a better state than it was at the start of the night. Would highly recommend, and will be booking them again for future dates. Thank you so much!

We recently enjoyed a fabulous belated birthday dinner, with sensational food by Cristiano Besazzo. He brought his chef skills to our home and managed to turn our dining room into an elegant, first class restaurant, amazing both us, and our guests. He was friendly, professional, had an expansive culinary knowledge, and nothing was too much trouble. He arrived with everything needed to create a sumptuous feast, and left our kitchen spotless afterwards, including handwashing our silver cutlery. All the courses were amazing, but my favourite dish was Sugarloaf cabbage with apple, buttermilk and seeds. Yummo! Thanks so much Cristiano for giving us an unforgettable dining experience.

Chef Cristiano was very professional and made the dining experience so enjoyable.I would highly recommend Chef Cristiano for very important and delicate events ,he knows his food and presentation was perfect???????? Thanks for the great experience!

Exception experience. To say this was the best food I've ever tasted wouldn't be enough praise. The Chef had (literally) intimate knowledge of each piece of food that he was serving and was kind enough to share that with us. He was so polite and I doubt we'll be lucky enough to have a menu like this again. So much flavour and each course tasted completely different. We look forward to having him again.

Cristiano and Josh were incredible, we had a wonderful evening for my wife's birthday. They arrived on time, and the dishes were absolutely superb. Everyone was blown away with the quality and presentation of the food. Cristiano and Josh also did a great job keeping the kitchen spotless. We had 15 guests, including a couple of kids meals and gluten free dishes. It was a super memorable event. My first time hiring a chef for home and I would definitely use them again.

What an excellent day we will be doing this again!

Beautiful experience! One I would do again & recommend