A private chef changes a house stay from “a nice place” into something that runs itself. We place private chefs in ski chalets, villas and aboard yachts, and for dinners at home in London. We match the chef to the house, the group and the kitchen, not to a list of famous names.
Residency or single dinners
Residency means the chef stays for the week or the season: breakfast, lunch, dinner, children’s meals, canapés for arrivals. It suits a private chef for a ski chalet or a family villa where you want no decisions at all.
Single dinners suit a birthday, a business dinner or a villa where you want most nights out. The chef arrives, cooks, serves and clears. A private chef in London for a dinner party works the same way, in your own kitchen.
You can combine both: a residency for the first nights and a single showpiece dinner later.
How it works
- Tell us the property, dates, number of guests and the style of food you like.
- We propose chefs who suit it and agree the format, with the fee set in writing first.
- The chef sends sample menus and asks about allergies and preferences.
- We confirm arrival, kitchen access and anything the house needs.
Groceries and travel
Groceries are normally bought at cost against receipts rather than built into a fixed fee, so you pay for what is actually eaten and drunk. A private chef for a villa will often shop at local markets, which suits Mediterranean menus. Travel and accommodation for the chef are agreed in advance: a villa or chalet with staff quarters is easier than one without, and we say so up front.
Seasons
- Alps in winter: Christmas and New Year book earliest, and the best chefs commit months ahead. See our guides to Verbier and Courchevel chalets, and the villas and chalets section.
- Mediterranean in summer: July and August are the pinch point, especially for the islands. Our Mykonos villa guide shows how early planning affects the whole stay.
- Yachts: galley space is small, so menus are designed around it. Chefs on board a charter yacht work with the captain’s crew.
Choosing the right chef
Style matters more than reputation. A chalet in January wants generous, warm cooking with good wine pairing; a villa in August wants fish, salads and long lunches. Tell us what you actually eat at home, and what you would never order, and we shortlist accordingly. If your group is mixed, for instance children plus a formal dinner guest list, we say so to the chef up front so the menu can flex rather than compromise.
Dietary planning
Allergies, religious requirements, vegetarian or vegan households, children who eat only pasta, and a guest on a strict regimen are all routine. Please give us the details at the start, and tell us about any severe allergy twice. The chef will confirm the menu against them. Cross-contamination in a rented kitchen is something the chef checks on arrival.
On the day
The chef normally arrives the afternoon before the first meal to check the kitchen, equipment and storage, and to shop. For a chalet, we confirm who handles the wood, the wine and the housekeeping, so the chef is not asked to do everything. On a yacht, we agree provisioning with the captain well before departure, because ports and supply runs decide what is possible. Each of these points is easy to settle in advance and awkward to fix once you have arrived.
What we need
- Location, dates and arrival time
- Number of adults and children
- Meals required each day, and service style (family-style or plated)
- Dietary needs, dislikes and favourite cuisines
- Kitchen details if you know them, or the villa or chalet name so we can check