Private Chef Experiences · Mendocino County

Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, October 31, and a lot of people are spending it in a rental on the coast with the people they like best. Let us cook. You do the costumes, we’ll do dinner, and nobody has to leave the house to find a table.

Two weeks out? Ask anyway. Short notice is fine with us. Send the date and the house, or call, and we’ll tell you straight away whether we can be there.

What we’d cook on October 31

Halloween lands right at the turn of the season out here, which makes it one of the best nights of the year to cook. The first chanterelles are up after the early rain, Anderson Valley’s still picking apples and pears, rockfish and lingcod are running, and the winter squash is in. That’s the menu: earthy, warm, built for a dark night with the wind picking up outside.

• A costume dinner. A seated menu for the grown-ups, courses paced around the costume parade and whatever games you’ve planned.
• A party spread. Small plates, something hot coming out of the oven all night, and a table people keep going back to. Better than a seated dinner if your crowd won’t sit still.
• Something with a theme. Black-garlic everything, a dessert that’s a little alarming, a menu card written in character. Tell us how far you want to take it.

See sample menus for how we usually cook this time of year, and our October guide for what’s landing on the coast right now.

Kids at the table

Halloween’s a family night for plenty of groups, so we plan for it. The kids eat first, early and happily, with food they’ll actually finish, and the adults get an unhurried dinner once the candy’s been counted. If the kids want to go out first, Fort Bragg’s street festival runs all afternoon and the village gets busy on Ukiah Street around dusk (both below), so dinner at seven works out nicely.

What’s on around Halloween

If you’re here for the weekend, there’s plenty to fill the day before dinner. Here’s what’s on near the coast this year:

• Magic Market Halloween Street Festival, Fort Bragg. Saturday, October 31, 11am to 4pm. Downtown at Laurel and Franklin, streets closed: vendors, a costume contest, face painting. Free to wander. (Visit Fort Bragg)
• Haunted Mendocino Walking Tour, Mendocino village. October 31 at 5pm and 7pm (about an hour and a half), plus other October evenings. Shipwrecks and haunted houses with the Kelley House Museum, $15 to $25. Buy ahead; they sell out. (Kelley House Museum)
• CircusMecca Halloween street show, Mendocino village. On Ukiah Street on Halloween night: circus performers, fire dancers and a DJ. Last year it ran from about 5 to 9pm, free with a suggested donation; check CircusMecca for this year’s times.
• Haunted Hall of Horrors, Fort Bragg. The Lions’ haunted house at Lions Hall, 430 E. Redwood Ave. October 23, 24, 30 and 31 from 7 to 10pm, and the 29th from 6 to 9pm. $10 to $20, and it benefits local projects.
• Spooktacular Storytime, Fort Bragg Library. Saturday, October 24 in the morning: Halloween stories and a little carnival for small kids. Free.
• Pumpkin Wonderland at EarthSpoke Farms, Mendocino. Wednesday to Saturday all October, 10am to 4pm, on Point Cabrillo Drive just north of the village: a free pumpkin patch on a flower farm, with the farm stand open next to it. (More on the farm)
• Skunk Train Pumpkin Express, Willits. Select October days through the 31st: a two-hour round trip through the redwoods to a pumpkin patch, with a pumpkin to bring home. It leaves from Willits, about an hour inland. (Skunk Train)

Our idea of a good Halloween Saturday: the street festival in Fort Bragg after lunch, the 5pm ghost walk in the village, then back to the house, where dinner’s already in the oven. You walk in out of the dark and sit straight down.

Compiled from organizers’ and local event listings. Checked October 15, 2026; times change, so check with the organizer before you go.

Good to know

What does it cost?

Dinner starts at $175 per person and most tables land between $195 and $245; a party spread is quoted from your guest count and format. The pricing guide has the full rate card and what’s included.

Is two weeks really enough notice?

Often, yes. A Halloween dinner doesn’t need the planning a wedding does. Tell us the date, the house and how many are coming, and we’ll come back with a few questions and a time to talk.

What if the weather turns?

It might: this is when the first big storms usually start, and this winter has a strong El Niño behind it. A dinner at the house is the right call either way. Our El Niño winter guide has the details.

More holiday dinners: all holiday dinners · Thanksgiving · Holiday parties · Christmas · New Year’s Eve · What to expect

More from October on the coast: What’s in season in October · Fall food events · A Halloween weekend plan · Every Halloween event · EarthSpoke Farms · Pumpkin Wonderland · The El Niño winter · Fungi Festival

Check your date

Tell us the date, the house and roughly how many are coming. We’ll get back to you with a few questions and a time to talk.