La Belle Assiette

History

La Belle Assiette was founded in 2012 in Paris, France, by entrepreneurs Stephen Leguillon and Giorgio Riccò after they met at ESCP Europe. After witnessing the success of platforms such as Airbnb and Uber, the founders saw an opportunity for a similar model within the restaurant sector. Via the La Belle Assiette platform, users can browse menus and book a desired chef. The chef then arrives at the customer’s home with all the necessary ingredients and equipment to prepare the meal. Afterwards, the chef clears the table and cleans the kitchen.

Initially supported by a private business angel for a year, the startup then received backing from Bpifrance in 2012. In October 2014, La Belle Assiette raised 1.3 million euros in funding from US and European business angels, bringing the total funding to 1.7 million euros. This allowed La Belle Assiette to open an office in London and pursue European expansion.

Search

La Belle Assiette users search for menus prepared by locally available chefs by entering a postcode and the date of the booking. Results can be filtered by price, type of event (romantic, with friends etc.), cuisine (French, Italian etc.), occasion (Easter, Christmas etc.), cooking style (traditional, fusion etc.), dietary restrictions, and seasonality.

Chef profiles

Each chef has their own profile page featuring their menus, a brief biography, and customer reviews. Chefs can upload photos of their cooking to their gallery.

Menus

Users can browse menus by price, ranging from £35-45 (Temptation), £55-65 (Prestige), to £90+ (Signature). Prices are listed per person, with the cost decreasing the more guests there are.

Concierge

If a user needs help choosing a chef or has special requirements they can use the concierge service on the platform to deal directly with a La Belle Assiette member of staff. This allows users to organise events such as cooking classes, cocktail parties, buffets, and catering for holiday homes.

Chef validation

La Belle Assiette aims to offer a quality private chef service, with new chefs undergoing a jury validation dinner. If a chef passes the dinner they receive a “Validated by the Jury” badge on their profile.

Chef business tools

La Belle Assiette attracts chefs to register with the service by not only offering promotion among users, but also by offering tools and advice for private chefs regarding billing and business practices. In a 2014 interview with the Daily Mail, Stephen Leguillon said:

“La Belle Assiette looks after all the business side, so we look after customer service, booking, billing, all the logistics of looking after the chef on the business side so the chef can just focus on cooking and being with the client.”

Philosophy

La Belle Assiette wants to make booking a private chef as easy as possible, offering an alternative to ordering a takeaway. The possibility to book a chef only 24 hours in advance means that last minute, casual dinners can be catered for. La Belle Assiette is part of the “hometainment” trend, whereby more people are choosing to entertain at home rather than at a restaurant. La Belle Assiette aims to be a thought leader in this sector, offering guidance about entertaining at home on their blog.

International expansion

La Belle Assiette is present in France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, and the United Kingdom, with plans to expand further in Europe during 2015.

Business model

La Belle Assiette receives 12% of the total cost of a booking, with the rest going to the chef to cover supplies and labour.

Reception

2012 - Won the Best E-commerce Innovation award from FEVAD and Journal du Net.

2013 - Awarded first place at the Grand Prix "Push Forward" Pitch Contest 2013, organised by FullSix Group and L'Express Ventures.