At a glance
- Chef: Giuseppe Manzoli — Italian private chef, based in Scotland, 26+ years’ experience.
- Service area: Aviemore and the wider Cairngorms — Boat of Garten, Carrbridge, Kincraig, Grantown-on-Spey, Kingussie, Newtonmore, Nethy Bridge.
- Best for: Lodge weekends, ski weeks, walking retreats, milestone birthdays, hen parties, family gatherings.
- Venue types: Luxury self-catering lodges, group houses, hot-tub cabins, shooting and sporting lodges.
- A speciality: A plated, restaurant-style dinner cooked in your lodge — not a drop-off meal kit.
- Pricing: From £75 to £180 per person for private dinners. Group and multi-day menus priced per event.
- Bookings: Tailored quote within 24 hours. Phone 07414 235 378 or email [email protected].
I’m Giuseppe Manzoli, an Italian private chef based in Scotland, and the Cairngorms is one of my favourite parts of the country to cook in. It’s lodge country — groups rent a big house for a long weekend or a week, walk or ski out the back door, and want at least one evening that feels like a proper occasion. That’s exactly where I come in.
I already cook across the area: a dinner at Craigard Lodge in Boat of Garten this spring, and a hen party at Biallid House, Newtonmore earlier in the year. I bring the ingredients, the equipment and the service, cook in your lodge kitchen, plate and serve every course, and leave the kitchen exactly as I found it.
Why the Cairngorms suit a private chef
Most Cairngorms groups stay in self-catering lodges — Great North Lodges, Big Husky Lodge, the larger houses around Aviemore, Grantown and Kincraig — built for ten, twelve, twenty guests. The setting is superb, but dinner is left entirely to you, and after a day on the hill nobody wants to cook for a crowd or drive out to a restaurant and back.
There are meal-delivery and drop-off services in the area, and they have their place. What I do is different: I cook from scratch in your lodge and serve a full plated dinner at the table, the way you’d get in a fine-dining restaurant. No reheating trays, no host stuck at the oven — just a real chef in the kitchen for the evening.
How a Cairngorms lodge dinner runs
The most common booking is the centrepiece dinner on a lodge weekend. The group arrives, settles in, and books me for one evening. I arrive in the afternoon, prep quietly while everyone’s out walking, skiing or in the hot tub, then serve a four- or five-course Italian dinner once the table’s set.
Nobody has to leave the lodge or dress up. Some groups add a second night, a relaxed lunch, or canapés before dinner. It works for ski-week groups, walking parties, milestone birthdays, hen weekends, and family gatherings that have travelled a long way to be together.
Ski weeks and walking retreats
The Cairngorms fills up twice over — walking and mountain-biking groups through the warmer months, ski and snowboard groups through the winter season at CairnGorm Mountain and around Glenmore and Loch Morlich. Both want the same thing from a chef: a hot, generous, restaurant-quality dinner waiting at the end of a hard day outdoors, with no effort from anyone in the group.
For active weeks I usually cook one or two evenings rather than every night, built around hearty Italian cooking that suits the cold and the appetite — slow-cooked ragùs, fresh pasta, a proper main, and a dessert worth sitting down for.
Where I cook across the Cairngorms
I travel across the whole national park and the Badenoch and Strathspey strath:
- Aviemore & Glenmore — lodges and group houses close to the slopes and Loch Morlich
- Boat of Garten, Carrbridge & Nethy Bridge — Speyside self-catering lodges
- Kincraig & Kingussie — country houses and the Seasgair-style lodge portfolios
- Newtonmore & Laggan — group lodges and retreat houses
- Grantown-on-Spey — larger family lodges and sporting estates
If your lodge sits just outside the park — Speyside, Dalwhinnie, the Findhorn side — that’s usually fine; we agree any travel when we plan the booking. You can see more of the Scottish venues directory and self-catering lodges I cook in across Scotland.
A recent event — Eagle’s Nest Lodge, Aviemore
A few years ago I cooked for a group at the Eagle’s Nest in Aviemore — a luxury self-catering lodge that gets booked for ski trips, walking weeks, and family gatherings throughout the year. The kitchen there is well-equipped for a chef cooking everything from scratch, the dining room seats the full group comfortably, and the setting itself does most of the work of making an evening feel like an occasion.
The group came back to Aviemore the following year and booked me again at the Eagle’s Nest — and afterwards they recorded this short video review of what the experience was like for them:
And this short clip from the kitchen shows what plated, restaurant-style cooking in a Cairngorms lodge actually looks like in practice — not a drop-off meal kit, not pre-portioned trays, but a chef working from scratch in your kitchen, plating every course:
If you’re booking the Eagle’s Nest, Craigard Lodge, Biallid House, or any of the larger self-catering lodges across Aviemore, Boat of Garten, Newtonmore, or Grantown-on-Spey, this is the format I recommend: a long meal, paced for the table, with the kitchen doing the work so the group can enjoy the evening.
What I cook
Italian techniques meet Scottish ingredients. Slow-cooked ragùs using Scottish beef, fresh handmade pasta, Highland game and venison in season, and Aberdeen Angus fillet finished with a Barolo reduction — one of my signatures. Every course is plated and served to the table, with generous portions and no buffet trays.
Dietary needs are built in from the start, not bolted on. Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, lactose-free, nut allergies and religious requirements are all handled as standard — the Biallid hen weekend, for instance, was a full vegan and gluten-free menu for the whole group. A typical private dining menu runs three to five courses.
What it costs
Private dinners run from £75 to £180 per person depending on the number of courses, the ingredients, the headcount, and any special requests. Group and multi-day menus are priced per event after we agree the menu, with a tailored quote sent within 24 hours of your enquiry.
The price covers menu design, ingredient sourcing, cooking, plating and service, and the full clean-down. VAT is included; travel into the Cairngorms is agreed per booking.
Frequently asked questions
Do you cook in self-catering lodges in the Cairngorms?
Yes — lodges and group houses are the most common booking here. I work in whatever kitchen the lodge has and bring anything specific it’s missing.
Do you cover ski-season groups?
Yes. Winter lodge weeks are a regular booking — I’ll cook one or two evenings around your time on the mountain. Book early for peak ski-season weekends.
How far in advance should I book?
For lodge weekends and retreats, 4–8 weeks is comfortable, and longer for peak ski-season and school-holiday weeks. Shorter notice is sometimes possible midweek — call and ask.
Can you cater a whole walking or ski week?
I can cook multiple evenings across a week. Most groups choose one or two main dinners rather than every night, but we design the run around your plans.
Can you handle dietary requirements?
Yes — vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, lactose-free, nut allergies and religious dietary requirements are built into the menu from the start.
Get in touch
If you’re planning a lodge weekend, a ski week, a walking retreat or a family gathering anywhere in Aviemore or the Cairngorms, I’d love to hear about it.
Phone: 07414 235 378
Email: [email protected]
Or use the booking form on the contact page.