Personal Chef · Mendocino County

Not every stay needs an event. Sometimes you just want someone to take care of the cooking: a few days of good meals in the fridge, or a relaxed family-style dinner for the people you came with. That’s a personal chef day, and it starts at $800 for up to four people, plus groceries at cost.

Tell us what you want and we’ll shape the day around it. A call is always welcome.

What a personal chef day is

One of our chefs, on their own, for up to eight hours: a couple of hours shopping, then about six in your kitchen. You can use the day two ways, or mix them:

• Meals for your stay. Enough for two people for about five days, cooked and packed into your containers and labeled. A bigger group or a longer stay? We come back twice a week.
• A family-style dinner. We cook, put dinner on the table family-style and serve it, then clean the kitchen, pack up the leftovers and head out. You get the evening to yourselves.

What you provide

• The kitchen, and the plates and serving dishes for dinner
• To-go containers for the meals and the leftovers
• A rough idea of what everyone likes, and any allergies

What it costs

Up to 4 people	$800
Each additional person	$150, up to $1,400 for about 8 people
Groceries	At cost, with the receipts
Travel	Included within 15 miles of Mendocino; quoted beyond that

Four people for a long weekend: $800 plus groceries. Six people: $1,100. Eight: $1,400.

When it becomes a dinner or an event

A personal chef day is one chef, up to eight hours, family-style. If you want more than that, more people, plated courses, us staying through the meal, a second chef or a server, it moves over to our dinner and event pricing. We’ll tell you on the call which one fits.

Ongoing cooking at home

Live here and want a chef every week, or twice a week? Ongoing cooking runs on a simple agreement with a retainer, and prepaying a block of days earns a discount. Call us and we’ll set it up.

Good to know

Can you cook in a vacation rental?

That’s most of what we do. Send the listing link and we’ll know what the kitchen has. Here’s how we size up a rental kitchen.

Can you work around allergies and diets?

Yes: vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, allergies, low-glycemic. One menu everybody eats.

We’re arriving this week. Too late?

Ask anyway. Short notice is often fine.

What about the holidays?

Personal chef days aren’t available during the weeks of major holidays: Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. Those weeks we cook full holiday dinners instead (see holiday dinners).

Who will cook?

One of our chefs. Meet the team.

Also planning something? Cooking classes · Holiday dinners · Sample menus · Pricing guide · FAQ

Tell us what you’d like

Your dates, the house and how many are eating. We’ll get back to you with a few questions and a time to talk.