The smells of duck and simmering broth and the sounds of sizzling food fill the kitchen of Emilie Roy's white colonial home.

Although she and her husband moved in less than a month ago,  Roy, who is from France, hit the ground running with her home-based business in which she cooks and serves dinner for small parties in her home, or prepares meals in other peoples' homes.

Last Saturday, she hosted a quintet: Glen Weill, of Simsbury; Joanne Lewis and Rick Bonyun, of Andover; and newlyweds Gary Wassmer and Andrea Doane, of Cheshire.

They ordered poached sole filets, lobster Bisque and Duck Confit in a thyme and rosemary sage sauce. Lewis ordered scallops and bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin.

The cooking demonstration and meal was a late birthday present for Lewis. "I discovered Emilie on the web and we decided to make that happen," Bonyun said.

Roy works through her website, http://www.emiliefrenchchef.com. Her kitchen has gleaming black and white with a center island housing a gas stove. The counter, loaded with ingredients for the group's dinner, is just a step away. The group, wearing white aprons, leans over the counter to watch their personal chef for the evening.

In the first dish, the bisque, Roy splashes in rum for flavor. "It will have the taste of the rum but not the alcohol because the alcohol is bitter," she said. Then she cuts the sole with a ceramic-bladed knife, which never needs sharpening but is very delicate.

"What is great with sole is there are no bones," she said. After adding chives and peppering the fish, using an electric pepper mill, the fun begins for the five diners.

"And now you roll it," Roy commands. She will ladle each piece of sole, tied with long piece of chive, into the broth and poach it for two minutes.

Next comes sampling the bisque. "Wow, that's good," Bonyun said after sipping a spoonful. "There is no comparison [to restaurant food]. That's why I wanted to do this."

In between preparing dishes, the five sip wine tailored to each portion of the meal that they were preparing.

Many of Roy's recipes are based from cookbooks, but she almost always customizes them. Doane said a meal prepared by a genuine French chef in America appeals to Americans' palates. Roy replied, "You know, a French chef in France is not really that appealing."

The 32-year-old trained chef, who was born in Burgundy, was learning the craft since age 10. She worked beside her father, a chef, in a restaurant, but later became a statistician. After that, she wanted to bring her talent to a boil and went to school and worked in restaurants in her free time.

She also wanted to run her own business."I'm happy in my kitchen," Roy said.

Then she moved to America after her husband found work here several years ago. The couple lived Fairfield before coming to Trumbull several weeks ago.

The first thing she unpacked was the kitchen, because she had a cooking class coming in two days. 

Her students get to eat what they help make, but Roy still serves them in a restaurant style. She even heats the plates and sprinkles curry powder on their rims for decoration.

When everything is ready, the five guests sat down in Roy's dining room. Roy has impressed them all so far. "We're ready to move in," says Doane. Then they clink their wine glasses and dig into the appetizer, the lobster bisque.

The birthday girl also appreciates her gift. "I think it's great a idea for special occasions and this is a special occasion," Lewis said.

Roy enjoys serving people as much as they enjoy her food, whether in her home or in theirs. Her mathematics background comes in handy, too."I know exactly how much I need to buy, how to buy what and have to prepare everything at the last minute. It's very important to be organized," she said.

And in the end, cleanliness counts."I leave the kitchen like I found it," Roy said.