Jacobs Private Dining brings hospitality home

Noah Jacobs remembers his mom handing him a plastic cabbage knife to cut up lettuce with her when he was a little boy.

The knife also served as a sword for the five-year-old’s forays into fantasy land, but in the moment with his mom, it began to shape his future.

“I always wanted to get in the kitchen with my mom and grandma to figure out what they were doing,” Noah said. “It was always just a blast to learn how to make the food.”

Those family lessons featuring passed down recipes continued until Noah was 16 and began tossing pizzas in his hometown in Tennessee. He continued his hands-on learning in kitchen after kitchen with amazing chefs in the United States and Europe he found willing to teach him their culinary skills and the essence of food science

“I think so much of my cooking, my experience, and my cuisine has been made so much better by just all the people I’ve met along the way,” Noah said. “I’ve learned from chefs who are so emphatic about sharing their knowledge with their staff and the people who want to learn.”

That experience is what drives his passion for cooking.

“The more you cook, the more things kind of get added into your your Rolodex of, like,. things that you can pull out, whether it be techniques or ingredients,” Noah explained. “It’s like a fun puzzle you get to make whenever you’re making a dish.”

Noah moved to Jasper last year from Franklin, Tennessee, with his wife, Mady, a Huntingburg native. Soon after he arrived, he began considering offering his culinary expertise for a private dining experience at his clients’ homes.

He was being asked about opening a restaurant in Dubois County. Still, Noah felt that starting with the concept of private dining he had experienced with a longtime friend in Tennessee might make for a better beginning.

Speaking about that time with his friend, private chefing, Noah said he was having a lot of fun, and it was an easier entry point for what could become a larger business.

“I don’t think that’s out of the question,” he said about opening his own restaurant. “But it’s a lot riskier. The restaurant business is just much more difficult to tackle.”

Anyone looking for a fine dining experience in their own home can sign up online through the Jacobs Private Dining website or social media. Noah offers three—to five-course meals, individually plated or family style, prepared in clients’ kitchens—all he really requires is a range and stove; he brings the rest.

He sees his service as a way for someone to experience a fine level of dining without worrying about all the preparation and clean-up, whether for an intimate dinner for two or a dinner party of 20.

Once someone contacts him, Noah begins to work with them on what they might like him to prepare. His commitment to sourcing his food locally and seasonally adds to the dining experience.

“We have such a bountiful harvest here in Southern Indiana,” he explained. “We are going to get the best quality ingredients that we can (locally).”

In designing the menu, he considers any allergies or food preferences and offers traditional as well as experimental choices.

“We really try to tailor the event to the client and whatever they are down for is what we will go with,” Noah said, adding that since opening he has been surprised and pleased with how experimental some of his diners have been.

Along with the excellent food, Noah sees this style of dining as a way to provide a very personalized service while still doing what he loves in the kitchen. Getting to know his diners and meeting their needs with a wonderful meal allows him to provide a full circle of hospitality that is more difficult to accomplish in a restaurant.

Speaking of that experience, Noah explained he wants Jacobs Fine Dining to really touch people’s hearts or souls in their homes.

“Give them an experience that isn’t just about the food anymore,” he said. “It’s about something where they felt like they were cared for; like they were nurtered a bit.”

Some clients really want him involved in the process—becoming part of the furniture, so to speak—while others are more interested in his food and full hospitality service alone. Regardless of their needs, his service has been very well received so far.

“The reception has been so gracious and so kind from everyone in the community,” Noah said.

If you are interested in what Noah and Mady offer, you can learn more and contact them through the Jacobs Private Dining website and follow them on Facebook or Instagram.