Nisreen, Principal, Cannes
“I’m thrilled to recommend Chef John, who spent a month cooking at our family villa in Cannes.
John is incredibly organized and always on time, which really helped keep things running smoothly. He handled all meals end-to-end and made everything very easy for us and our household staff. He always had a variety of menu ideas for us to choose from, but was also always willing to tackle any new requests we threw his way. His desserts were especially popular among the family.
We’d absolutely love to have John back with us in the future and highly recommend him to anyone who needs a fantastic chef.”
Alessandro, Principal, The Hamptons Principle/Drumlanrig Castle
“My family and I had the privilege of having John Penman as our private chef in our family home in Long Island USA, for almost ten weeks. John was a natural fit for our family with his warm and flexible personality. This allowed him to gel well with a multi-generational family composed of varying age groups.
John’s excellent performance led to us making the decision to re-hire him to carry out a 2-day banquet dinner for a shooting party at Drumlanrig Castle in Scotland. I am delighted to say that John exceeded every expectation in carrying out his duties!
I would be happy to recommend John – both as a resident chef as well as for specific events. "
Tony, Principal, Courchevel 1850
“John has just completed a second season at Chalet Manton in Courchevel 1850. He has been a delight to our family and friends providing delicious meal after meal throughout a long ski season. John has a very cheerful manner and was willing to undertake all sorts of tasks outside of his chefs job.
I would recommend John to anyone looking for a highly skilled chef with a strong work ethic, good manners, and amiable personality.”
Jack James - Director, Wild Bones
“I couldn't recommend John highly enough. He became an integral part to the running of our production and we will without a doubt look to use his services again at the first given opportunity. John is a person you can rely on to produce the very best food and drinks service, and to be able to please and converse with a wide range of different people from different backgrounds with ease and grace”
Susan, Principal, Antibes
“John Penman worked for us for two month in the South of France. We were a family of 15 people ranging in age from 5 to 77 years old.
John is an innovative cook and I can say that unless requested, we never had the same menu twice. There were both non-gluten, non-dairy, and other allergies to be taken into consideration and John coped with it all. His vegetarian dishes were also varied. He cooked dishes ranging from Far Eastern to English cuisines and was very willing to try out new requests all the while remaining in budget. The flat breads, rolls, focaccia and scones were a big added attraction with the young and old.
John has a dependable, very easy going and pleasant character and got on well with other staff and members of the family, he even encouraged the younger members to “help” him with the making of profiteroles. He worked hard and was conscientious.
I would not hesitate to recommend John for another position with a family or elsewhere.”