Business
20 February, 2025
French chef plates up
FRENCH-born and trained chef Marie Benoit is offering Port Douglas locals a rare opportunity to enjoy a professionally prepared French meal in their own home.
Ms Benoit hails from Burgundy where she said there is “a very wide choice of gastronomy and good wines”.
“Already in France I was thinking about being a ‘chef at home’ and now I’m thinking about it again because we are in a very quiet period here in Port Douglas,” she said.
“And with the bad weather it’s very complicated (to go out for a meal), so I jumped at the chance to let people enjoy it and allow them to eat like in à restaurant, but at home and at a lower cost.
“If a family, a couple or other person located in Port Douglas needs a private chef for breakfast, dinner or lunch or a meal with friends, I offer my services as a chef at home.
“If it starts to work well, then I will expand across Australia because I still have a good part of it to discover.
“I will extend my visa for one more year and once Australia is finished, I plan to go to Japan.”
Ms Benoit, who has been in Australia for the past seven months, commenced her gastronomic journey at a young age.
“I studied cooking at only 14-years-old,” she said.
She then pursued the art professionally and then “very quickly climbed the ladder, chef de parti then head chef and manager chef at only 23-years-old.”
Ms Benoit has been in Australia for the past seven months and Port Douglas for just over one month.
“I came here because I had heard a lot of good things about this place. I love Port Douglas, everything is close by, it’s very tropical but at the same time a very holiday village,” she said.
If you’re interested in a genuine French meal in the comfort of your own home, you can contact Ms Benoit through Facebook.
