By day Dav Nezhat delivers letters and parcels but when he gets into the kitchen he transforms into Don Francisco, a self-taught private chef conjuring up first class Spanish cuisine. Tapas and large pans of paella are his speciality.
After cooking for friends and family he is now ready to take the next step, by launching it as a business at people's homes or party venues. "Spanish food is the go-to. I love Spain, we go there as much as we can," said Dav, who is half Iranian and half English. "We go to a place called Palamós in Catalonia to a huge campsite. That's where I learnt how to make paella.
"We were off out one night, walking through the campsite as the sun's setting and outside every other caravan or tent there was paella bubbling away - either that or some kind of animal on a spit."
Dav mastered the art of creating the perfect paella from a family at the campsite. Spain's famous dish, originating from Valencia region, is characterised by saffron-infused rice cooked with various ingredients such as meat, seafood, and vegetables. The secret is to "leave it alone" and not stir the rice to create 'socarrat' - a crispy, caramelised layer at the bottom of the pan.
Don Francisco's paella (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)
"You learn something new every time you go to Spain. I was watching a video of this famous chef and someone asked him how many recipes there are for paella. He was from a small town in Valencia, population of 2.400 people. In that little town there were 2,400 recipes for paella. Everybody does it differently, Some have it wet, some have it dry, some like the socarrat, some don't. Some people add the rice to the stock, some people do it the other way round, so it's personal preference."
He can conjure up a menu of traditional authentic tapas, such as a Basque dish of cider and honey glazed chorizo, padron peppers, tortilla, and patatas bravas - crispy potatoes with a spicy tomato sauce. As for paella, he's got a 70cm pan that's ideal for parties - but at the other end of the sale he has created a tapas-sized portion too.
"I've done a dish that I've called tapaella. It's not strictly a paella because the pan is the paella. It's more like a risotto but you use everything you'd use in a paella so you get the flavours but everything is smaller and tapas-size," he said.
Chicken and chorizo is the most common paella in the UK but Don Francisco can also do seafood, squid ink rice, a vegan version or rabbit. "They use rabbit a lot in the original paella but we don't eat much here. In Spain you get it in supermarkets like you do a chicken. It's an abundant wild meat."
Don Francisco's paella and tapas (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)
Dav has been working as a postman around his home town of Bingham for just over a year but previously had managerial roles in hospitality for more 20 years, including operations manager at Belvoir Castle and area manager at pie restaurant chain Pieminister.
He said: "I left for a year off. I wanted weekends and evenings off and spend a bit more time with the family and my girlfriend. I dabbled with getting back into it again. It's changed so much over the last couple of years. I weighed up the idea of getting my own little place, which is a long term goal, my own little tapas bar.
"I went through a number of different options, going down the street food route, a food kiosk, markets and decided on this. Food has always been my number one passion. When I'm in the kitchen I'm at my happiest, I'm smiling. The past few months I've done more and more dinner parties for family and friends and just decided to go for it."
He is offering bespoke menus at dinner parties and larger gatherings. He said: "It's all very new, I'm seeing how it goes for now. If you're a couple celebrating your anniversary, then why not? I'd love to cook for them. I'd probably cap the private dining to about 12 and then we start getting into the garden parties in the summer where I can take my big pan and outdoor cooking equipment and go up to about 50.
"Being in hospitality for so long you get an idea of trends and what people are up to. People's behaviour's have changed. We don't go out half as much as we used to. You've got to think twice now about going out- its a lot of money but private dining is more accessible than people might think. People might think it costs more than if they go out but that's not always the case. I think we'll see more and more of it in future."
If the venture takes off, Don Francisco will be introducing Greek flavours too, such as lamb and tzatziki, his second favourite cuisine. He can be contacted via Don Francisco Chef on Facebook or at davnezhat.wixsite.com/don-francisco/private-dining