Mendocino Chef
Pricing Guide — Private Chef Cost in Mendocino County
Honest private chef pricing for Mendocino County, with real numbers from recent proposals.
Pricing Guide · Mendocino County
Most private chefs make you inquire just to learn a starting price. We’d rather you know before you write to us. Below are our guide rates and exactly what’s included, so the number you eventually get feels like confirmation, not a surprise. There are two ways to work with us: a personal chef or a cooking class, shaped around what you want, or a full dinner or event.
Start with a personal chef from $800
A personal chef day starts at $800 for up to four people, and cooking classes at $175 a person. Dinners, parties and weddings are priced per person, with a $1,400 event minimum. Not sure which fits? Call us and we’ll figure it out together.
Our rates
These are guide prices, not fixed quotes — a starting point, and where most events actually land. Your number depends on courses, menu style, ingredients, and service level, and we put it in writing before you commit. Every rate includes menu design, sourcing, cooking, service and full kitchen cleanup. Dinners and events carry a $1,400 minimum; personal chef days and cooking classes start lower.
Most flexible
Personal Chef
$800 for up to 4 people
+$150 each additional, up to $1,400 · groceries at cost
One chef for up to eight hours: meals for your stay packed into your containers, or a family-style dinner served and cleared, leftovers packed. More on personal chef days.
Hands-on
Cooking Class
From $175 per person
Open fire $200 · up to ten · $1,000 minimum
An evening with a chef: a grazing board, a hands-on class (fresh pasta, pizza or open fire), the meal you make, and dessert. More on cooking classes.
Morning
Brunch
From $95 per person
Typically $115–145
Cooked and served, not a drop-off spread. Morning-after brunches, welcome mornings, and slow starts during a group stay.
Midday
Lunch
From $125 per person
Typically $145–175
A proper seated midday meal — retreat lunches, working sessions, and long afternoons that shouldn’t end with anyone doing dishes.
Evening · most requested
Dinner
From $175 per person
Typically $195–245
A multi-course dinner cooked in your kitchen and served course by course. Birthdays, anniversaries, girls’ weekends, family gatherings.
Weddings
The Wedding Itself
From $250 per person
Typically $275–350
The reception, or the microwedding itself. Rehearsal and welcome dinners are priced as dinners, from $215; the morning-after brunch from $95. More on wedding catering. Kitchen team, service staff, vendor coordination, and a timeline we hold to.
Signature
Tasting Menu & Open-Fire Farm Dinner
From $275 per person
Typically $295–350
Our most involved work: an extended tasting menu, or a long table cooked over open fire with the harvest coming from steps away.
Multi-day & business
Retreats & Corporate
Custom quote
Per person, per day
Multi-day retreats, group stays, and corporate offsites are priced per person per day against your actual schedule — how many meals, how many days, how many people. It isn’t the single-meal rates added up: tell us your budget and we’ll be straight about what it covers. A call is always welcome.
What’s always included
Menu design & consultation · all ingredient sourcing and shopping · on-site cooking and plating · attentive service through the meal · full kitchen cleanup. You host; we handle everything else.
Billed separately
- Travel beyond 15 miles of Mendocino — quoted with your proposal. Mendocino, Little River, Caspar, Albion, and Fort Bragg sit inside the radius; Elk, Westport, Philo, Boonville, Ukiah, and Willits are outside it. On Highway 1, fifteen miles is close to an hour.
- Additional service staff — $275 per server, when your guest count or service style calls for it
- Wine & beverages — you buy them; we’ll suggest Anderson Valley pairings and our servers pour
- Specialty rentals — tables, linens, glassware, and anything the venue doesn’t have
- Gratuity — optional, always appreciated
Popular add-ons
Floral tablescapes · grazing boards & passed bites · interactive cooking with the chef
What moves the price
Which meal (a served brunch and a five-course dinner are different jobs) · menu style (an extended tasting menu sits above a family-style feast) · ingredients (king salmon and beef tenderloin sit above a garden galette) · season (June–October books fastest) · venue logistics (travel beyond 15 miles, kitchen setup, rentals, extra staff).
Holidays: Memorial Day weekend, the Fourth of July, Labor Day weekend, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve are priced for the holiday: dinner from $275 a person, most $275–350, with a $2,500 minimum. Personal chef days and classes aren’t available during those holiday weeks.
Booking terms: a 50% deposit reserves your date (for dates more than 90 days out, 25% now and 25% at the 90-day mark) · balance due the day before (10 days before for weddings and events over 20 guests). Browse sample menus or see two sample proposals to picture your table.
Community pop-ups are different on purpose
Our public pop-up dinners run on sliding-scale tickets at $20 / $40 / $60 (Support / Sustain / Solidarity) — no minimum, no per-person rate. Keeping the community table open to everyone is the point. Watch the Events page for the next one.
Ready to talk it through?
Date, guest count, occasion — we’ll get back to you with a few questions and a time to talk, usually within 2 business days.