La Belle Assiette

La Belle Assiette is an online private chef booking platform, headquartered in Paris, France, that enables its users to browse and book menus and chefs. The service is available in 6 countries and has over 700 registered chefs. Co-founders Stephen Leguillon and Giorgio Riccò are the chief executive officer (CEO) and chief operations officer (COO), respectively.

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 applied a similar model within the restaurant sector. Via the La Belle Assiette platform, users can browse menus and book a chef. The chef arrives with the necessary ingredients and equipment to prepare the meal and, afterwards, is responsible for clearing and cleaning.

Initially supported by a private business angel for a year, the start-up then received backing from Bpifrance in 2012. In October 2014, La Belle Assiette raised 1.3 million euros in funding from the 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.

Search
La Belle Assiette users search for menus prepared by available chefs by entering a postcode and the date of the booking. Results can be filtered by various criteria, such as price, event type, cuisine, occasion, cooking style, dietary restrictions, and seasonality.

Chef profiles
Each chef has a dedicated profile page with cooking photos.

Menus
Users can explore menus across price ranges from £39 to £89+. Costs decrease with more guests.

Concierge
For assistance or special needs, users can use the platform's concierge service, connecting them directly with a La Belle Assiette staff member.

Chef business tools
La Belle Assiette entices chefs to join by providing user exposure and tools/advice for billing and business practices.

International expansion
La Belle Assiette is present in France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

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 labor.

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.