Trend to eat out at home

Dining in, with food cooked by boutique caterers, is a rising trend in WA as Perth's stratospheric restaurant prices force diners to try alternatives.

Small, specialist caterers such as Taste Budds Cooking Studio, The Bay Gourmet in Watermans Bay and Western suburbs stalwart Gary Rishworth Catering are experiencing more demand for at-home boutique dining.

Taste Budds owner and chef Sophie Budd said it was a growing trend.

"I get inquiries for home dinner parties and small special 'at home' events, more and more often," Ms Budd said. "If you want to celebrate something special or just have a nice dinner party, it's often cheaper and better to have a chef in your home and eat how you want but with restaurant quality. If you're into wine, you can buy your own or take something special from your cellar and enjoy top wines without the mark-ups."

Neisha Pirrit, of The Bay Gourmet, said whereas people might not have previously had a chef to cook for a dinner party, they did now.

"It's seen as quite a sophisticated thing to do," Mrs Pirrit said. "People have big homes these days, too, and they like to show them off."

Mrs Pirrit said bistro-style French food was fashionable: confit chicken, cured salmon and pork belly.

Mr Rishworth said a key reason catered dinners and small parties were popular was that people could drink top wine from their own cellars.

"They also get to choose the menu, have exactly what they want and personalise the occasion," he said. "There's a bit of status in having a well-known chef in your house, too."

Source: The West Australian, 18 July 2012