Kent · England
Live paella catering in Five Wents, Kent
Live paella catering, cooked fresh in giant pans at your event in Five Wents: paella made from scratch in big, shallow pans, in full view of your guests.
- Retirement and leaving parties
- Wedding breakfasts and evening food
- Anniversary celebrations
Paella catering in Five Wents
The menu, dish by dish
Vegetable and vegan paella
A slow sofrito, seasonal vegetables and a good vegetable stock make a paella that stands on its own. Vegan versions use plant-based stock.
Mixed paella
Chicken and seafood together, for guests who want a bit of everything.
How our paella catering works in Five Wents
The cooking is half the fun. Guests gather round as the sofrito sizzles and the saffron colours the rice, and the aroma does the rest. We cook chicken and chorizo paella, vegan paella and seafood paella, and typical bookings are for garden parties and summer barbecues and family celebrations and christenings.
In a hamlet or village like Five Wents, your own garden or a neighbour’s field can make a wonderful venue. Gates, verges and soft ground are worth mentioning when you enquire. We bring everything we need to cook, and pack down our cooking area when service is finished.
Occasions we cook for in Five Wents
It needs no kitchen, so it’s at home in gardens, fields and marquees where plated meals are hard.
Big or small, live paella works well. Common bookings include:
- Garden get-togethers
- Fairs, fêtes and festivals
- Anniversary celebrations
- Family celebrations and christenings
If you’re organising a summer fair for a school like Sutton Valence Primary School, a paella stall is a crowd-pleaser.
What to look for in a quote
- How long the team stays
- If the price includes VAT
- Plates, cutlery and napkins, or disposables
- The venue requirements
How it works
Expect a friendly, organised team. We agree arrival and serving times in advance, set up our cooking area, and get on with cooking and serving. Around midsummer it stays light in Five Wents until about 9:15pm; by late September sunset is nearer 7:00pm, so summer evening service is normally in daylight. In December it is dark by about 3:50pm, so winter events need lighting where we cook.
- Start with the date, the place and the numbers.
- Expect a menu idea and a clear, itemised price.
- Closer to the day, we confirm timings and the cooking spot.
- We set up, cook from scratch and keep an eye on your timings.
- Guests are served from the pan, and our area is cleared afterwards.
Before we arrive
- Ensure we can park close by to unload
- Check the venue allows live cooking
- Have a level space ready for the pans
Getting a price
Getting a quote is simple: tell us the date, place, numbers and any dietary needs. We will send a clear, itemised quote.
Related guides
Common questions in Five Wents
How far is Five Wents from London?
Roughly 35 miles from the centre of London, and we cover it as standard.
Do you come out to small places like Five Wents?
Not at all. We cater in villages and hamlets as well as towns. Let us know about access and parking.
Can you cater for vegetarians and vegans?
Yes. We cook vegetarian and vegan paellas in their own pans.
Do you bring everything you need?
All cooking kit comes with us. Tell us what the venue provides, such as tables or crockery.
How far ahead should we book?
The sooner the better. Popular dates book up first, so it pays to ask early.
Can you feed plenty of people?
It’s ideal. Large pans and fast service from the pan make it well suited to crowds.
How many paellas should we have?
Two or three is usual: a meat or mixed paella, a seafood paella and a vegetable or vegan one. We’ll help you decide the split.
Which paella is most popular?
Most events choose two or three: a mixed or chicken paella, a seafood paella and a vegetable or vegan one. Our menu lists the options.
Prices and what affects them
Each event is quoted on its own, and the price depends on a few things:
- The number of people
- Travel, parking and access
- Plates, cutlery and glassware
- How long we are needed on site
Compared with a plated meal, live paella is often good value, because it needs no kitchen and fewer staff. Ask us for a quote.
Getting an accurate quote
These details help us quote quickly:
- A picture of the cooking space, if it is a garden or field
- Expected numbers
- What the venue already provides
- The address or venue name
A detailed enquiry gets a more accurate quote: the venue, the timings, the courses you’d like and any extras. To send your details, fill in our quote form.
Planning for every diet
A little planning makes sure everyone can eat. Try these:
- Request clear labels at the serving table
- Pick a mix of paellas to cover every diet
- Make sure most guests can sit to eat
- Flag any coeliac guests, not just gluten-free preferences
Once everyone is fed, we clear our cooking area.
Add canapé tapas with the drinks or table tapas as a starter as the rice cooks.
Cook it yourself or book a caterer?
For a small group, cooking yourself can work well. For big numbers or lots of diets, a caterer makes life easier, and handles separate pans for each diet.
Weighing up DIY against a caterer? Think about numbers, diets and how much you want to enjoy the day. Ask us for a quote and compare.
Planning the cooking area
Before the day, we’ll agree where we cook. It needs to meet a few simple requirements:
- Good ventilation: outdoors, or an open-sided cover
- Agreement from the venue or landowner to cook on site
- Somewhere close to park and unload
If you’re unsure, send a picture of the space and we’ll say what we think.
Popular choices
- Black rice (arroz negro)
- Vegan paella
- Chicken & chorizo paella
- Mixed paella
- Seafood paella
- Vegetable paella
- Paella Valenciana
Also near Five Wents
Also in Five Wents
For planners, venues and organisers
For larger events, we plan the number of pans and serving points around your timings, so everyone eats promptly. Tell us how long you have for food.
Many venues have rules for outside caterers: cooking areas, access times and documents. Send us your venue’s requirements and we will follow them.
Planning live paella in Five Wents
Five Wents is about 4 miles south-east of Maidstone, in Kent. Give us the address of your event in Five Wents, and we will plan access and set-up. Five Wents is one of 922 towns and villages in Kent where we cook. Our nearest city page is Canterbury, about 22 miles away.
Nearby historic houses include Stoneacre (1.7 miles north) and Leeds Castle (2.2 miles north-east). If your event is at a historic house or estate, check its rules on caterers and cooking early. If you are celebrating after a service at a church like Church of St Mary, live paella at a garden or venue nearby works well. Five Wents is within about 4 miles of the Kent Downs National Landscape, and country venues and gardens there suit live paella perfectly. Check your venue’s rules on vehicles and cooking.
For paella catering in ME17, we plan around your venue and timings. Local streets include Leeds Road and Sutton Road; an event at home on any of them works well with live paella. If your venue is just outside Five Wents, we also cover Warmlake (1 mile south), Langley Heath (1 mile north-east), Langley (1 mile north-west), Chart Sutton (1 mile west) and Sutton Valence (1 mile south). Larger places within reach include Maidstone (4 miles north-west), Ashford (13 miles south-east), Sittingbourne (10 miles north-east), Royal Tunbridge Wells (15 miles south-west), Tonbridge (14 miles west) and Faversham (14 miles north-east).
Well-known places in the area include KIMS hospital (4.2 miles north) and Sutton Valence Castle (1.2 miles south). Open spaces near Five Wents include Detling Hill.
- Local pubs include The Plough Inn (under half a mile west)
- Cooked live in giant pans at your event
- Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and halal options
- Paella, tapas, canapés and desserts
- Sangria, bar staff, crockery and waiting staff