10 Top Chefs Share Their Fresh Wedding Menu Ideas
Joshua Owens-Baigler
Angelina & Dai Chi
“For me, weddings are all about feasting, sharing and getting together, and there is no better way to start a wedding than a selection of generous antipasti to share. It keeps everyone happy and is a brilliant way of breaking the ice and getting people talking. We normally start with a combination of hot and cold. The cold options need to be colourful and arrive on the table as soon as guests are seated to set the tone of the evening. For this, we like to serve crudo dishes, like our hamachi with truffle soy and furikake. I'm sure everyone agrees, no get together is complete without fresh bread – the smell and the conviviality of it really gets an event off on the right foot. Hokkaido milk buns are our go-to, and a real crowd-pleaser. For a main course, we often serve kakuni pork belly with pickled dragon cucumber, mirabelle plum and yuzu relish. The pork is braised in advance and then finished on the fire to give it a smoky flavour, and the pickles and plums are at room temperature meaning we are able to serve the dish to the same quality no matter how many guests we are serving. For dessert, our black sesame panna cotta with chocolate namelaka is a firm favourite. And you have to make sure to have doughnuts for the afterparty. Ours are filled with matcha and cream.”
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Lucy Carr-Ellison
Wild by Tart
“We like to take a more relaxed approach when it comes to wedding dining. Both Jemima Jones – the other half of Wild by Tart – and I served sharing platters at our weddings instead of individually plated dishes, and this is how we like to cook for others’ weddings. An eclectic mix of colourful, seasonal sharing platters is the perfect celebratory feast for the big day. For us it is all about serving exceptionally good produce – the dishes may be simple, but the produce makes them sing. For starters we like to serve a beautiful bright seasonal vegetable dish, perhaps a zingy sea bass carpaccio with a crispy fried number or something creamy and decadent – this month we are serving burrata with figs, hazelnuts, basil, sumac and fig leaf oil. For mains we often go for a slow-cooked meat, full of flavour and falling off the bone with herby butterbeans and plenty of lemon. We might even go for a South American twist and have a spicy citrusy salsa drizzled over the top. For drinks it has to be a seasonal margarita – at the moment we are serving smoky blackberry and jalapeño margaritas.”
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ANDREW URWIN/STOCKSY UNITED
LEAH FLORES/STOCKSY UNITED
Julien Maisonneuve
Booking Office 1869
“Taking inspiration from my own wedding, I think a brilliant option is live stations from which guests can build their own food, with portions being smaller so guests can move around the venue, speak to lots of different people and not be limited to their own table. This makes it easier for the bride and groom – and a lot more personalised for their guests. Examples include a carved ice bar, with the couple's initials, serving amazing fresh blinis which can be topped with the likes of smoked salmon or caviar, oysters finished with a selection of sauces, or a Japanese station where sushi or sashimi can be prepared in front of guests. My favourite option would be a pastry table with an array of tarts, macaroons and a show-stopping croquembouche to break at the end instead of the traditional tiers cake. I'd pair this with champagne, which goes with everything. It’s all we served, along with fresh juice, at our own wedding in the Zimbabwean bush where we had a live fire station with a variety of local meats, paired with salads and vegetables.”
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Asimakis Chaniotis
Pied à Terre
“When it comes to weddings, a chef has to be careful with the menu, as it’s someone’s very special day and needs to be treated with the greatest respect. Sometimes speeches and ceremonies run over time so a starter that stays cold can be very useful to pick – think crab salads, oysters, tartares and ceviches. When it comes to the main course, something relatively easy on the big scale of things might be beef wellington, or poached trout with green beans and a dill emulsion. For pudding, I like a classic lemon tart, crème brûlée or chocolate fondant. To drink, a seasonal bellini or royale works brilliantly, as well as cocktails that can be premixed such as negronis and bloody marys – which are always guaranteed to start the party.”
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Chantelle Nicholson
Apricity
“For the post-reception/celebration snacks, my go-to would be kimchi toasties. We used to serve them at All's Well, my pop-up during the pandemic. I’d suggest a plant-based version with cashew butter, and ones with slow-cooked lamb belly and cheese. These toasties are the perfect mid-party snack, when everyone needs a bit of extra energy to keep their dancing going. And – as they are a handheld snack – they can be eaten on the dancefloor. They're crunchy, spicy, rich and delicious and are perfectly paired with a crisp lager or a classic gin and tonic.”
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Ben Boeynaems
The Colony Grill Room at The Beaumont
“For a wedding menu, I would start with something light and fresh such as a dish we currently have on The Colony's à la carte menu: marinated Isle of Wight tomatoes, finished with a 36-month parmesan custard and a tomato consommé infused with jasmine. For the main course, I would serve dry-aged Hereford fillet of beef wellington with truffled mushroom mousse and herb pancake, all encrusted in homemade puff pastry. To finish, I would go for a real showstopper: a bitter chocolate soufflé finished with fresh raspberry sauce and vanilla ice-cream. In terms of drinks, I would have a Gusbourne Blanc de Blancs to start, as it is an exceptional example of British sparkling wine and the floral notes would be perfect with the tomatoes. To pair with the main course, it would have to be a burgundy – perhaps a Gevrey-Chambertin – and for the soufflé a glass of Pedro Ximénez sherry.”
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Ben Tish
Cubitt House Group
“For an autumn/winter wedding menu, I’d serve a pumpkin and pecorino risotto in roasted hollowed-out little pumpkins with sage and lemon. The pumpkins look impressive and keep the rice warm for ages – something needed while guests are chatting away. I’d then do crispy porchettas for the table, served sliced on rustic wooden boards, with roasted spiced quince, crispy pink fir potatoes and a wintery bitter leaf salad with mustard dressing, all laid around the tables for a family style service. To follow, I’d go for huge vintage bowls filled with tiramisu. For drinks I’d start with a plum and rosemary bellini, followed by a couple of Sicilian reds, then a chilled grappa at the end to get the guests going for the evening activities.”
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MELISA MILIS PHOTOGRAPHY/ STOCKSY UNITED
CAMERON WHITMAN/STOCKSY UNITED
Iain Davy Smith
No. Fifty Cheyne
“For a wedding at this time of year, I'd suggest the following: roast Orkney scallops with cèpe and bacon jam ragout, butternut squash and parmesan to start; followed by salt-baked fillet of wild sea bass with leek hearts, baby heritage beetroot and white wine chive sauce with pickled cucumber; or a grilled côte de bœuf, with rosemary french fries, broccolini, padron peppers and béarnaise sauce. The mains are perfect for sharing and are best served using silver service – the forgotten classic in many restaurants. I would serve the beef with big bold reds such as Château Moulin de la Rose, while the fish would pair fantastically with a cold, crisp chablis.”
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James Jay
Sur-Mer at The Suffolk
“I love a sharing feast at a wedding and dishes where people can get involved. You could cook a lovely bit of beef for each group and then surprise someone at each table with an apron and a carving knife. A joint like a fillet or chateaubriand will be easy to carve, and I’d serve it with crispy pommes anna and a charred vegetable salad. Or you could do lobsters on a wood grill so people can watch the action as they sip on plenty of white burgundy ahead of sitting down at the table to eat.”
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Masha Rener
Lina Stores
“As an Italian, I grew up with big meals consisting of five courses: antipasto, primo, secondo, contorno (side) and dolce. But antipasti is where my heart lies – they’re fun and adaptable, and they’re great for weddings and big celebrations as they can be savoured while standing, holding a prosecco or negroni in one hand and a finger-sized bite in the other. Other times they can take the form of one big platter, a ‘tagliere’ topped with lots of different options and that’s fun too. My favourites are the arancini filled with creamy gorgonzola; crunchy fried artichokes accompanied by aioli mayo; and aubergine polpette. These are very easy to eat while standing, waiting to be seated for dinner – and they’re obviously delicious too!”
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