• Facebook
  • Instagram
Herbs and a Lemon 0404 334 132 Email
Chef by the Sea
  • About
  • Services
  • Retreats
  • Contact
  • Menu Menu

About Clare

Clare

Food is my first love. Eating, buying, photographing, reading and writing about food. This love was formed early on, like at lunches cooked every Sunday by my Grandma. Sometimes I was allowed to pick mint which grew just behind the greenhouse for mint sauce to go with roast lamb. Other times I was given the then seemingly huge wooden spoon to stir the bread sauce which went with roast chicken. Also in the garden with my Grandpa, where I helped him dig up potatoes and pick beans, berries, tomatoes and apples. And on family day trips with wonderful picnics and stops at favourite places for peppery pasties, crumbly flapjacks and sky high knickerbocker glories.

Fast forward to university, where I started cooking in earnest. I always made big pots crammed full of wholesome ingredients; soups, pasta sauces, curries and froze them into student size portions. I loved to shop at Roots Fruits and Flowers in Glasgow’s West End, choosing market fresh produce from the burgeoning wooden shelves. And I seized any opportunity to cook for my friends, dinner parties if you will, around student kitchen tables with odd cutlery and dodgy bottles of rose.

Upon graduating, I spent three winters cooking in ski chalets in the French Alps while in the summer I would prepare the freshest game and seafood catering for families in Scotland. At one home near the Isle of Skye, I remember de-bearding mussels collected from the Loch just outside the kitchen window. When it came to cooking the mussels though, the electricity, which was powered by water went off, because leaves were covering the screen protecting the power wheel. I had to finish cooking them on a gas camping ring by candlelight!

When I arrived in Australia in 2005, I was keen to formalise my time as a freelance cook. I gained my chef’s qualification whilst working at the stunning Pilu at Freshwater, and learnt many lessons about kitchen hierarchy and Italian food along the way. Fulfilling the need to branch out independently, in 2008 I opened my own cafe, Jammy Cow, which I successfully ran for five years, inventing the hippie roll and perfecting passionfruit cakes. In 2012 I started Chef by the sea, a boutique catering service on Sydney’s Northern Beaches which allows me to prepare more creative and inspiring food. Chef by the sea is a culmination of everything I have learnt and is what I love to do. To cook for others.

Clare’s Philosophy

In her own words Clare explains the drive behind Chef by the sea. I love to create and cooking is very much a creative pursuit. To be able to start with a set of materials and end up with a complete dish is something that I find very fulfilling. I also enjoy the nuances that come with cooking, the fact that by altering the quantity of an element in a recipe, increasing or lowering the cooking temperature, a dish can turn out very differently to a previous effort, sometimes for the better, sometimes not. It’s a constant learning process.

“My cooking is relaxed, casual and family centred. I believe food should be served in abundance around a table, or on a simple picnic rug, with family and friends, where people help themselves to what’s on offer. Food seems to have the wonderful ability to set an inviting scene and bring people together, through the common act of eating as well as the conversation that it can incite. More than that though, eating; smelling, tasting, crunching, slurping, savouring, brings joy at the same time as it nourishes and sustains. That is a wonderful combination.

My overriding belief is that food should be made with real ingredients. Sea salt, pasture raised eggs, extra virgin olive oil, sourdough bread, farmers market fruit and vegetables, artisanal cheeses, sustainable seafood, great quality chocolate, well raised meat, local honey, fresh herbs. That, time, patience and love.”

Food

  • Cocktail
  • Banquet
  • Elegantly Plated
  • Paella
  • Weddings
  • Cakes

Instagram

I just sent out this month’s newsletter. It’s I just sent out this month’s newsletter. It’s been haunting me at night, the story on repeat, playing in my brain. So I had to set it free. It’s essentially a pesto recipe. Using in season limes. But it’s also a lot more. 

If you read it and enjoyed it, I’d love to know. If you read it and thought it silly, I don’t mind knowing that either. And if you’re curious, I’ll post it in my blog soon, to which there’s a link in my bio. 

#pesto #storiesofinstagram
THIS is the feeling you want when cooking. Connect THIS is the feeling you want when cooking. Connection. Laughter. Fun. And that’s what a chef by the sea cooking therapy weekend is all about. Click the link in my bio to find out more

#cookingtherapy #cookingretreat #cookingweekend #laughter #fun #connection #food #foodie #eat #happy #wellbeing #cooking #learning #relax
Sound on and tap along • Feel nourished. Empower Sound on and tap along
•
Feel nourished. Empowered. Inspired. Relaxed. Feel joy. Learn. Connect. Unwind. In a lush green setting a stone’s throw from the ocean. 90 minutes from Sydney. A million miles from care. This is a chef by the sea retreat. This is a cooking therapy weekend
•
Head to the link in my bio to find out the date of the next one. Coming soon. Places limited to eight
Yes. There’s a massive grin on my face. And a do Yes. There’s a massive grin on my face. And a double rainbow in the sky. But I would be lying if I said that run was easy. Joyous. Or fun! Ok, maybe the bit by the ocean was fun. But it was mostly 15km of plain hurt. And with six weeks until my HM race, I’m wondering whether to quit. Make my first race a bit later in the year. But fuck it. There’s never a perfect time. And there will be food trucks when I finish, whether I sprint, walk or hobble across the end line. So I’ll keep smiling and trying and looking for the rainbows 🌈 

#hertrails #trailrunning #novice
Skools out. Ziva and coffee at the skate park to g Skools out. Ziva and coffee at the skate park to get the day going. 

What’s a ziva. A highly addictive Israeli sesame topped, cheese filled pastry, with briny green olive hits. I can’t get enough @queenester_falafel 

#morning #coffee #ziva
Crisp skinned. Charcoal cooked. Chicken thighs. Ro Crisp skinned. Charcoal cooked. Chicken thighs. Roasted garlic. White bean puree. Caper. Lemon. Parsley. Brown butter. Silky. Smoky. Salty. Sassy. Sunday supper. Comfort food heaven. From Always Add Lemon by @daniellemariealvarez 

#sundayroast #sunday #dinner #dinnerideas #chicken #weekend #cooking
Chocolate cake. Four layers. Rich. Moist. Not too Chocolate cake. Four layers. Rich. Moist. Not too sweet. Italian meringue buttercream. Made with local honey. A nod to the native adornments. And some rather fabulous feather boa like chrysanthemums for this 21st birthday cake. 

#cake #birthdaycake #instabake #celebration #party #catering #caterer #northernbeaches #privatechef #natives #honey #italianmeringuebuttercream
My happy place. Cooking. Creating. Connecting. T My happy place. Cooking. Creating. Connecting. 

This entree’s an oldie but a goodie. Tiger prawns (or coconut poached chicken for the non shellfish eaters) with fennel, rocket, cherry tomatoes and nam jim. 

What’s nam jim. It’s a firey sweet and sour Thai dressing, that marries all the flavours together with a little bit of sass. This is my recipe. 

Whizz, or pound the followling~
2 cloves garlic
1-2 long red chillis
Bunch coriander roots. 

When you have a smooth paste add a big tablespoon of caster sugar, the juice of two limes and 30ml fish sauce. Check for seasoning. Is it sweet enough, salty enough, sour enough, hot enough? Adjust then enjoy. 

#thai #thaifood #entree #catering #privatechef #northernbeaches
#dinnerparty #celebration #birthday
Pork hocks. Deep fried until crisp. Then gently si Pork hocks. Deep fried until crisp. Then gently simmered in master stock for five hours. The meat shredded and pressed into a tray. The skin layered on top. Weighted overnight and cut into 200g portions. Once again deep fried and served with Thai basil, mint, coriander, beansprout and cucumber salad doused with no less than three dressings, adding heat and sourness and sweetness. Well. Basically sealing the deal for an absolute flavour bomb. 

#chinchin #friends #dinner #pork #foodie

Tell us about your next party

  • 0404 334 132

  • 75 Hilltop Road
    Avalon, NSW 2107

For tips, tricks and inspiration:
  • chefbythesea

  • chefbythesea

  • MM slash DD slash YYYY
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Copyright © Chef by the Sea » Website by AusWebDesign
Scroll to top

Recipes for Easy Entertaining

Get three of Chef by the Sea’s most popular recipes delivered straight to your inbox

Consent
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.