How hiring a personal chef works

1. Decide what you need

Before you contact anyone, write down four things:

Diet. Allergies, a specific way of eating, or meals for a health reason.
Food you like. Cuisines, favorite dishes, and anything you will not eat.
How often. Weekly, every two weeks, or only for occasions.
Budget. A reasonable estimate is $250 to $500 per cook day for the chef’s fee, plus groceries. See what a personal chef costs.

2. Find and interview chefs

Open your city page and pick two or three chefs. Ask each about their training and experience, the kinds of households they cook for, and how they handle your diet. Ask for a sample menu and for references. Our list of questions to ask a personal chef covers the rest.

Many chefs offer a single trial cook day. Take it. One visit tells you more than any interview.

3. The consultation

Once you choose a chef, they will go through the details with you:

your diet and the food you want
the schedule
your kitchen: appliances, cookware, counter space, fridge and freezer room
grocery preferences, such as organic or local

The chef then writes a menu for your approval. Ask for changes until it suits you.

4. The agreement

Expect a written agreement covering the service, the price, how groceries are billed, the cancellation policy and the payment schedule. Many chefs ask for a deposit. You make this agreement with the chef. Personal Chef Finder is not part of it.

5. Cook day

On the day, the chef:

shops for the groceries
arrives with their own knives and any special equipment
cooks your menu in your kitchen
packages and labels the meals with reheating instructions, or plates and serves if it is a dinner
cleans the kitchen

A dinner service usually runs four to six hours. Cooking a full week of meals can take longer.

After the first visit

Tell the chef what worked and what did not: portion sizes, seasoning, which dishes to repeat. Chefs expect this, and the second week is almost always better than the first.