Private Chef & Catering · Elk & the South Coast

Private Chef in Elk

Elk is seventeen miles south of Mendocino and it has the most dramatic view on this coast — the sea stacks off Greenwood Beach are the reason people book here and the reason they propose here. The village itself is a handful of buildings. Everything else is inns and private houses along the bluff, which is where we cook.

We cook where you’re staying

Elk runs on small inns and clifftop rentals, and there is essentially nowhere to eat late. That is the honest case for a private chef here: the alternative to cooking in is a dark drive back up the coast. We cook in inn kitchens and rental houses, and we bring what the property doesn’t have.

We also cook up and down this stretch — Cuffey’s Cove, Greenwood, Irish Beach, and the private properties along the bluff road. If the place you’ve booked isn’t really a town, that’s normal here; send us the address.

Greenwood, Elk, and Cuffey’s Cove

Elk was called Greenwood for most of its life, after the family who settled here, and only became Elk because California already had a Greenwood post office. Just north sits Cuffey’s Cove, now little more than a cemetery on a headland — it was a working settlement and doghole port before the mill business consolidated south, and it is named for Nathaniel Smith, known as Cuffey, one of the earliest Black settlers on this coast. People still book houses out there and still ask us to come cook. It is the sort of place that shows up on no map and in plenty of our inboxes.

Our services in Elk

Elk is small, dramatic, and books almost entirely for two:

• Anniversary dinners
• Birthday dinners
• Wellness retreats

Elopements and very small weddings are the other half — the bluff is the reason people choose here. The wedding itself is from $250 per person, with rehearsal dinners from $215. Full detail on all our services.

Worth knowing while you’re here

Things we’ve picked up cooking in Elk, for whoever is staying:

• The Elk Store opened in 1927 and turns a hundred in 2027 — genuinely excellent sandwiches, local wine and beer, and whatever small thing you forgot to pack. The deli case is 1930s San Francisco mahogany and enamel. Both of us have worked behind that counter at different times, so we’re biased, but only a little.
• Harbor House Inn holds two Michelin stars and a Green Star under chef Matthew Kammerer — twenty seats, cooked over fire and smoke, with nearly all the produce grown on the property. Book well ahead; it is not a walk-in.
• Elk Cove Inn serves dinner with ocean views at every table, but reservations are mandatory and you order ahead. Decide the day before, not the evening of.
• Nearest gas is Fort Bragg. Do not plan on filling up in Mendocino — the station there has repeatedly been the most expensive in the United States, hovering near ten dollars a gallon.
• Elk was called Greenwood through its logging heyday, when the village carried several hotels, saloons and a brothel or two. Cuffey’s Cove just north is now a headland cemetery and not much else.
• The dark skies here are excellent. Away from the village lights on a clear night you’ll see the Milky Way without trying.

Good to know

We’re staying somewhere that barely has a name. Can you find it?

Almost certainly. A good share of our south-coast requests come from places like Cuffey’s Cove and Irish Beach that don’t show up as towns anywhere. Send the address or the listing link and we’ll work it out.

Is Elk too far for you?

Not at all — we cook there regularly. It sits outside our 15-mile radius, so travel is quoted with your proposal rather than absorbed. It’s a small line, and you’ll see it before you commit.

Can you cook at the inn we’ve booked?

Often yes, with the inn’s agreement. Some are glad to hand over the kitchen out of service hours. Tell us where you’re staying and we’ll arrange it with them directly.

Also cooking nearby: Albion · Point Arena · Little River · see all services, sample menus, or the pricing guide.