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À Table!
7 Arlington Road, Richmond, Surrey TW10 7BZ (89409910/www.atable.info) Richmond tube/rail.
Open phone enquiries 9am-5pm Mo-Fri. No credit cards.
Martina Lessing is a professional event caterer based in south-west London who also leads cookery courses with the aim of giving students
the confidence to entertain dinner guests. The inexpensive classes (£28 each, with discounts for multi-booking) are limited to six to
eight people and cover subjects such as fish, and Italian classics. Lessing also runs sessions especially for men.
Time Out
Eating & Drinking 2007
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Top of the Table!
The catering company taking Richmond’s culinary scene by storm!
Austrian-born Martina Lessing has brought European flair to parties in Richmond with her catering business. After moving to London, she established
À Table! in 1998 as an independent catering company. À Table! has since become the choice supplier for a variety of events in South-West London.
“I was surprised how fast word of mouth travels,” admits Martina. “Even very high profile events which my company catered for recently, such as
the 2006 Photo Awards in Kew Gardens or the German TV’s Christmas party came to me through personal recommendations only.” So what is her secret?
“I treat each customer individually,” says Martina. “Whether they’re a local charity planning a new year’s reception, a company organising a drinks
party for valued clients on a weekday evening or a young couple in married bliss such as at a recent 70 person wedding in Oxford – each of them
deserves a tailor-made event.”
As we go through the sheer endless variety of canapés, petit fours and other finger food which À Table! offers, Martina reveals another of her
secrets: “Only the freshest produce will do.” To source these quality ingredients she has established long-standing partnerships with local
businesses, often educating them to her needs. Mouth-watering miniature baked potatoes or hamburgers on a skewer, delicate quails’ eggs in a
pastry shell – everything is created from locally sourced food. You can also learn how to make them at À Table!’s own cooking seminars.
Is there a trend to catering? “Companies are very aware of the image effect a catered event has,” says Martina. “And they are often surprised
by how reasonable the costs are.” And once you have seen the charming young waitresses milling among the guests with their platters of delicacies
you know why many local companies will never go back to the sad platters of soggy sandwich triangles bought at the local supermarket which used
to be passed off as food at their seminars, parties and events.
Amaretto Mousse in a shot glass anybody?
The Richmond Magazine
October 2007
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À Table!
7 Arlington Road, Richmond, Surrey TW10 7BZ (89409910/www.atable.info) Richmond tube/rail.
Open phone enquiries 9am-5pm Mo-Fri. No credit cards.
With everything prepared in advance, Austrian-born chef Martina Lessing believes, you are free to relax with your dinner guests. This is the guiding
principle of her cooking ‘seminars’, which tend to be based on three-course menus (seasonal or regional), or topics such as starters, vegetable side
dishes and sushi. Morning or evening classes (90 minutes) followed by a meal cost £28, with a discount if you book more than three sessions.
Time Out
Eating & Drinking 2006
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À Table!
7 Arlington Road, Richmond, Surrey TW10 7BZ (89409910) Richmond tube/rail.
Phone enquiries 9am-5pm Mo-Fri. No credit cards.
Self taught Austrian chef Martina Lessing teaches small groups in her own kitchen once a week during the day and/or evening. Daytime classes cover
themes such as starters, soups, finger food, desserts and vegetarian food. In the evening, she teaches how to cook a seasonal three-course French,
Italian, Austrian, Thai or English dinner party menu. Classes cost £ 25 (£ 20 if you book for three or more) and are aimed at beginners.
Time Out
Eating & Drinking 2005
* * * * *
In the Kitchen with Martina Lessing
Finger food to Fusion food
by Anja Hagge
Austrian-born Martina Lessing has turned her hobby into her profession. Everything started 13 years ago with a rainy summer in the Austrian Lake Region,
the Salzkammergut: “My friends and I were running out of ideas what to do in the bad weather. So, since I always liked to entertain and already then was
an excellent cook we hit upon the idea that I would show them how to create a meal for several guests without fuss.” That first cooking seminar soon
turned into a weekly get-together where “the group met to exchange recipes and try out new ideas”.
When a family move to London was on the cards 6 years ago, Martina Lessing knew that the tradition had to be continued. First only friends were invited
to join in the newly renovated kitchen in her house in Richmond but soon the little project turned into professionally organised cooking seminars.
“The English can learn much from the Austrians as concerns food” says Martina Lessing. “The Austrians simply have this ingrained love of home-made food.
The difference is already visible in the supermarkets when you see the amount of ready-made food on the shelves here.”
In the meantime Martina Lessing has successfully completed a diploma course in catering and is providing the food for parties and dinners. NDR, the
German television chain, was so taken with her catering that the date for the Christmas Party was moved to accommodate Martina’s overflowing professional
diary. A new addition to her offering for some time now is “Book-a-Cook”, where Martina will cook for private parties for 8 to 12 guests in the hosts home
and even make sure that the kitchen is cleaned up by the time she leaves.
The cooking seminars which are held in the mornings or evenings at Martina’s home cover such subjects as 3 or 4 course lunches or dinners, special themes
(such as “Fish”, “Vegetarian” or “Soups” and “Puddings”) and specialty cuisine such as Finger Food or Austrian Home cooking. “The emphasis is on light
cuisine such as Asian or Fusion Food. A key element is also the choice of ingredients and the easy preparation of the various elements of the recipes”.
Every course starts with a good cup of coffee before everybody turns to cooking and fun for one and a half hours. At the end everybody joins in eating
up the joint creation.
The Seminars which cost 25 Pounds, are attended by a lively mix of English, Germans and other nationalities. “Sometimes translating words like “Knödel”
into English is a real challenge” Martina adds with a charming smile.
Further information available on www.atable.info, by emailing Martina on martina@atable.info
or at Martina directly under (020) 8940 9910
Schmidt
London's Only German Magazine, October 2004
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