Benjamin Tur, Private Chef: Bringing the Restaurant to You
After working in Saint-Tropez and Val-d’Isère and opening the kitchen at Le Pavillon de la Source, Benjamin Tur left restaurant kitchens behind to cook in his clients’ homes. His food is Mediterranean, bold and generous. You can enjoy it course by course at the table, gathered around a plancha, or by the glowing embers.
Benjamin Tur left restaurant kitchens to bring his Mediterranean cooking into his clients’ homes. · Trotters TV
## An appreciation for good ingredients, learned early
Benjamin Tur never went to culinary school. He learned by watching, tasting and trying again. In his family, meat and market produce were topics of conversation long before recipes entered the picture. His grandmother was a butcher, and his parents worked in the food trade. An appreciation for good ingredients was something he inherited.
He started out front of house, waiting tables at several restaurants. There, he learned something rarely taught in the kitchen: how to read a table and anticipate what guests might want before they ask. That instinct has stayed with him. It may also explain why he feels so at home cooking in other people’s homes.
The seasons that shaped him
Then came the seasonal jobs: summers in Saint-Tropez and winters in Val-d’Isère. Guests had high expectations, and the pace left little room for error. He progressed quickly, refined his technique and worked alongside people who still matter to him today.
Next came Le Pavillon de la Source. He took charge of the kitchen from opening day, and it was there that his style took shape: convivial Mediterranean cooking built around a Josper, an enclosed cast-iron charcoal oven that sears meat and fish at very high temperatures. The inside stays juicy, while the crust takes on that unmistakable charcoal flavour.
Why he became a private chef
After a few years, he felt ready for something different. “I felt the need to take on a new challenge,” he says simply. Working as a private chef lets him bring together the two sides of his career: cooking and looking after guests.
The fixed menu and the rush of back-to-back services gave way to evenings planned with the people hosting them. He has more room to create, and his clients have a chef cooking just for them, a few steps from the table.
Plated courses or cooking over the coals
For dinner for two or a gathering of around twenty, he serves a multi-course fine dining menu, plated individually. For larger groups, he often switches to generous sharing dishes and a more relaxed service.
Cooking on the plancha happens right in front of the guests. The fire pit is where the best cuts come into their own. One menu features Montbéliarde rib steak, PGI duck breast from southwestern France, Uruguayan Angus picanha, king prawns and squid with garlic and parsley. To start, there are homemade panisse, the Provençal chickpea fritters, and courgette fritters. Then the paella arrives in a large pan in the middle of the table.
The rest is decided together: ceviche, tartare, linguine with clams, risotto, fritto misto, tapas, spit-roasted lamb or a Greek or Italian buffet. For festive occasions, he might even serve Marseille-style *pieds paquets*, a traditional dish of sheep’s trotters and stuffed tripe, followed by honey-roasted quince.
A simple approach: start with the season
What’s at the market sets the menu. He looks for balance across the courses and variety in the flavours, with plenty to go around. His guiding principle is simple: let the ingredients take centre stage.
Prices depend on the menu, the number of guests, the location and the style of service. After an initial conversation, Benjamin Tur puts together a proposal tailored to the occasion and budget.
Get in touch
- Instagram: @benjamin_ttur
- Email: [benjamintur.bt@gmail.com](mailto:benjamintur.bt@gmail.com)
- Quotes available on request
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