Private Chef & Catering · Westport & the North Coast
Private Chef in Westport
Westport is the last town on the Mendocino coast before the road turns inland, and it is genuinely remote — a scattering of houses, a wild beach running north, and not much else. There is nowhere to pick up a forgotten ingredient. That single fact shapes how we cook here: we arrive with everything, twice-checked, because there is no second trip.
We cook where you’re staying
People book Westport for the emptiness — oceanfront rentals, a few small inns, and houses along Union Landing where the nearest restaurant is a half-hour drive back toward Fort Bragg. It is the stretch of coast where having someone cook for you stops being a luxury and starts being the difference between a good evening and driving.
Beall’s Landing, renamed for a town in Maine
Westport started as Beall’s Landing and was renamed by a settler who came from Eastport, Maine and wanted the echo. It shipped lumber and tanbark off a chute into schooners waiting in open water, and at its height it held several times the population it does now. What is left is a scattering of houses on a very exposed coast — which is precisely the appeal, and precisely why we arrive carrying everything.
Our services in Westport
Westport is remote enough that the bookings are usually the whole point of the trip:
Group weekends in oceanfront rentals are the other regular request — often several meals across a stay rather than a single dinner. Full detail on all our services.
Worth knowing while you’re here
Things we’ve picked up cooking in Westport, for whoever is staying:
- This is the last town on the coast road. North of here Highway 1 turns inland and the coastline becomes the Lost Coast, with no road at all.
- There are effectively no services. Fort Bragg, half an hour south, is your last chance for fuel, groceries and a pharmacy.
- Westport-Union Landing runs for miles of bluff-top beach and is usually empty even in August.
- It is windier here than anywhere else on this coast. Bring layers you think you won’t need.
- Winter storm-watching is a genuine draw — the swell comes in unobstructed and the rentals are cheaper.
Good for
- Oceanfront rentals taken for a group weekend
- Retreats and writing weeks that want feeding
- Milestone dinners with nowhere else to go
- Storm-watching winter stays
What we bring and source
- Fish from Noyo, brought up with us that morning
- Everything else provisioned before we leave Fort Bragg
- Foraged greens and mushrooms from the north-coast woods
- Sea vegetables from the Union Landing beaches
What it costs in Westport
Guide rates, per person, by the meal we’re cooking — every event is quoted individually.
- Dinner from $175 a head, where most tables land $195–245. Brunch, lunch, weddings and tasting menus are all on the full rate card.
- Travel is billed separately. Westport is roughly twenty-five miles north of Mendocino, outside our 15-mile radius — we’ll quote it with your proposal so there’s no surprise on the invoice.
Every rate includes menu design, sourcing, all shopping, cooking, service, and full kitchen cleanup. See the full pricing guide.
Good to know
There are no shops here. Is that a problem?
It’s the reason to book us rather than a problem. We provision entirely before we drive up and carry backup for anything critical. It’s also why we ask for dietary needs early — a substitution we can’t make here can’t be improvised at seven o’clock.
Is it worth it for a small group?
Often more so than in a bigger town, because the alternatives are so thin. The $1,400 minimum applies as it does everywhere, and travel is quoted separately given the drive.
Can you cook outdoors on the bluff?
Yes, with the wind planned for — and this coast is windier than most. We’ll build a menu that works off the fire and keep a version that doesn’t depend on it.
Also cooking nearby: Fort Bragg · Caspar · Willits · see all services, sample menus, or the pricing guide.
%s
Tell us the date, the guest count, and where you’re staying. We’ll reply with a menu and an exact quote, usually within two business days.