Around Melbourne she’s known as the Dessert Queen and currently runs the pastry section at The European, but Philippa Sibley’s storied career includes plenty of time working with savoury food, too. The chef famously cooked at ’90s and early-2000s “it” restaurants Est Est Est, Ondine and Luxe, plus Circa, Albert St Food & Wine and Syracuse.

Sibley recently launched her own dinner service, Take3 by PS, which delivers three different heat-and-serve mains and three different desserts for an insanely good $100 per head. That’s $33.33 per night. The catch? It’s capped at 40 orders per week. Orders must be placed by Saturday afternoon ahead of Tuesday delivery to suburbs within 10 kilometres of Fitzroy only.

“I don’t want it to get stupid big, because I want to have my hands on everything,” says Sibley, who started the service from home but recently moved into a commercial kitchen with a couple of helpers.

We think you might like Access. For $12 a month, join our membership program to stay in the know.

SIGN UP

The menu changes every week and remains secret right up to the point where customers receive their delivery. This means specific dietary requirements and allergies unfortunately cannot be catered for. But past that, Sibley says she’s focusing on guaranteed crowd-pleasers.

“People loved it this week,” Sibley says. “They said, ‘Ooh, it’s like getting a show bag!’”

Each menu tends to include a hearty soup, such as lamb shank and black barley or caramelised onion, split green peas and ham hock, plus handmade milk buns to mop it up. Braised meat dishes are also a constant, from lamb cacciatore to carbonnade, a Belgian stew of beef, onion and beer. Chicken pies and handmade gnocchi with mushroom bolognaise have also made appearances.

Most mains come with a side such as polenta or green salad, plus detailed instructions on how to heat them on the stove, in the microwave or oven. Many dishes can be frozen for the future. That chicken pie, for instance, consisted of cooked chicken and fresh, raw, uncooked pastry. That’s a totally different experience to a supermarket or bakery pie, which is cooked prior to freezing and suffers when it’s brought back to life.

But what about the all-important desserts? This is, after all, the chef whose salted-caramel and peanut parfait (an elevated take on the Snickers bar) achieved mainstream fame via Masterchef. Well, that signature dessert has already come up (in cup form), as have apple-apricot strudel, boozy tiramisu and a delicately scented trifle of strawberry, rhubarb, rose, geranium, amaretto and candied almonds.

“The repertoire is pretty massive after 33 years or whatever it is,” Sibley says.

Take3 by PS is $100 per head (plus $15 delivery fee) and includes three mains and three desserts. To order, email [email protected]. Payment must be received by 5pm Saturday (via bank transfer) to receive delivery the following Tuesday. Take3 by PS’s bike couriers deliver within a 10-kilometre radius of Fitzroy only.