Treats that will turn your staycation into a SENSATION

Holidaying in the UK? Here’s how you can add special treats, from a masseuse to a masterclass with a Bake Off contestant, that will turn your staycation into a SENSATION

• Order a three-course meal from £65 per head from One Fine Dine
• Pamper party? It’s just a call away thanks to Glo Pamper and its 600 therapists
• Invite one of TV’s Bake Off contestants to give you a masterclass on holiday 

One Fine Dine offers gourmet meals that can be sent by courier anywhere in the country

One Fine Dine has been cooking up a storm during the pandemic. Which means that its founder and CEO, Daniel Hulme, 40, should have a smile on his face. And he does.

‘Demand has gone through the roof and so we’ve been very fortunate,’ he says, as he carries various boxes of goodies into our rented house at Mawgan Porth on the North Cornwall coast.

Fortune favours the brave. Daniel’s main business was providing gourmet food for private jets (the Beckhams are clients) but with no one flying he was forced to diversify — and One Fine Dine is the result.

It works like this. You order your three-course lunch or dinner online, giving the address where you want the food to be delivered. Everything is then cooked in a central Surrey kitchen, where some 22 chefs prepare a feast before it’s despatched by special courier anywhere in the country.

The joy of it is that you can order individually. We were given a choice of three starters, three main courses and three desserts.

There are two ways to go about it. Either you follow the instructions and heat up the meal, or you request a chef to come and prepare everything for you. The latter option is more expensive but also more of an event, with the chef, wearing his whites, explaining the dishes, serving the food and clearing up everything afterwards.

‘People really appreciate sitting around a table with no one having to be stranded in the kitchen — and the instructions are simple, similar to what a flight attendant on a private jet would do,’ says Daniel.

We threw in some canapes, as well, and had a proper culinary knees-up. Everything tasted wonderfully fresh. My filet of beef was superb and the fancy Eton Mess was a triumph.

The whole experience worked out at around £120 a head. A considerable sum, but what a treat not having to lift a finger and savouring dishes of the highest calibre. I would recommend it for a special occasion — and a special occasion, surely, is getting together with friends and family this summer after being cooped up for so long.

My one surprise was that CEO Daniel turned up. Long way from Surrey. But, then, I got it. At 8am next morning I spotted him with his surfboard in the sea — and he seemed to be bubbling over with happiness.

Details: Three course meal from £65 per head. Private chef starts from £495 (one can cater for up to ten people). Visit onefinedine.com or call 020 3733 2303.

GLOWING ALL OVER

Holiday-home pampering is just a call away: Glo Pamper has more than 600 therapists stationed around the UK

‘Pamper parties’ or just some much-needed pampering is what Glo Pamper is all about. With more than 600 therapists around the country, nowhere is off-limits for this company that started 15 years ago.

‘Our prices are similar to those in a traditional salon but you’re in the privacy of your home or holiday let,’ says Charlotte Maxwell, one of Glo’s founders. Packages start at £150 for two hours and it’s up to you what treatments you have in that time. If you’re a big group, go for five hours, which gets you two therapists for £310. Therapists are tested for Covid and safety measurements are in place.

Details: Book via glo-pamper.co.uk or call 0207 096 0385. Packages start at £150 for two hours.

BAKE OFF BEANO

Enjoy a baking lesson from a Bake-Off star such as Howard Middleton

Invite one of TV’s Bake Off contestants (even a finalist) to give you a masterclass while on holiday. Bake With A Legend can work for up to 16 people at a cost of £850. The session lasts two hours and the baker will bring along all the ingredients.

All you have to do is choose in advance what you want to bake (and which contestant you want) and then get your pinny on. The company is not affiliated to the TV hit but your baker will regale you with stories from the show while your chocolate eclairs are rising in the oven.

Details: Two hour sessions cost £850. Visit bakewithalegend.com or call 020 8202 6766.

HELP! I NEED SOMEBODY

Ella Canby, a trained chef, set up Sugarella Cooks in 2015 and has expanded from catering to provide all kinds of domestic help (stock image)

How bored are you with doing the housework even when on holiday. You need a mother’s help, who will rush around with a hoover, do the dishes, take care of any ironing and even entertain little ones — all for about £150 a day. And perhaps a couple of nights of baby-sitting would come in handy. Ella Canby, a trained chef, set up Sugarella Cooks in 2015 and has expanded from catering to provide all kinds of domestic help.

Details: Chefs cost £250-£300 a day; other domestic staff £150. Visit sugarellacooks.co.uk or call 07432 319197.

SHAKE IT UP

Want someone to shake things up a little at your next house party? Give Bartender Hire Company a call

Bring in your own bartender for an evening of high spirits. They’ll hold a masterclass, providing everyone with cocktail shakers and oversee a competition. Or just get in the booze and ask your bartender to do the mixing.

Lewis Spindlove was a bartender in Bristol; his friends kept asking him to do some shaking at their parties, and that’s how the Bartender Hire Company began. What’s the most popular cocktail right now? ‘The porn star martini — which is vanilla vodka, passion fruit puree, passion fruit liqueur and vanilla sugar.’

Details: A cocktail class costs £40 a head. Visit thebartender.co.uk or call 01179 415825.

Source: Read Full Article