Private Chef Experiences · Mendocino County

The rain’s coming, the coast is getting quiet, and the holidays are close. If you’re spending one of them in a house out here, let us cook. We shop, cook, serve and leave the kitchen clean, from Point Arena to Ten Mile and inland through Anderson Valley.

Pick the night

Halloween

Saturday, October 31. A costume dinner or a party spread from the first of mushroom season, with the kids fed first. Two weeks out? Ask anyway.

Thanksgiving

Thursday, November 26. We cook the whole meal in your rental’s kitchen, or deliver it cooked and ready, with leftovers for the weekend.

Holiday parties

All December. Company parties, friends’ parties and open houses: passed small plates, a grazing table or a seated dinner.

Christmas

Thursday, December 24 and Friday, December 25. Family-style, your traditions, Dungeness crab if the season’s open. These two dates go first.

New Year’s Eve

Thursday, December 31. A late tasting menu paced to midnight, bites for the countdown, and nobody driving home.

Why it’s easier with us out here

• The stores are small. The coast’s grocery stores stock for a town, and the week of a holiday every full rental on the coast is shopping there too. We source weeks ahead, from the farms and the boats.
• The kitchen isn’t yours. Rental kitchens are set up for breakfast for six. We bring what the menu needs. If you’re cooking the rest of the week yourself, our guide to stocking your rental kitchen has the shops town by town.
• Restaurants close or book out. Many coast restaurants close or run set menus on the big holidays, and the ones that stay open book out early. A table for twelve on a holiday night is hard to find anywhere, and harder here.
• Nobody should be driving. Highway 1 on a winter night is dark, winding and often wet, and this year has a strong El Niño behind it. Our El Niño winter guide has what to plan for.

Good to know

What does a holiday dinner cost?

Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve are priced for the holiday: dinner from $275 a person, most landing between $275 and $350, with a $2,500 minimum. Halloween and December parties are at our standard rates, dinner from $175 a person (most $195–245). See the pricing guide for the full rate card, sample menus for the cooking and what to expect for how a booking comes together.

Staying the whole week?

Families who rent for the holidays usually stay several days. We can cook the big dinner, the arrival night and a slow brunch before everyone scatters, and leave dishes that reheat well for the days in between.

Also planning something else? Birthdays · Anniversaries · Retreats · Sample menus · Pricing guide · FAQ · Personal chef · Cooking classes

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.