Hiring a personal chef for special diets and food allergies

What a chef can do

A personal chef builds the menu around the diet from the start. Common requests include:

• gluten-free cooking, including for celiac disease
• vegan and vegetarian meals
• keto, paleo and other low-carbohydrate plans
• dairy-free, nut-free and other allergy-safe cooking
• low-sodium or heart-healthy meals
• different diets within one household

What to tell the chef

Be specific in your first message:

• every allergy and intolerance, and how serious each one is
• the diet you follow, and how strictly
• any instructions from a doctor or dietitian
• foods you are tired of eating

Allergies and cross-contact

If someone has a serious allergy, ask the chef:

1. How do you keep allergens out of a meal? Listen for separate tools, cleaned surfaces and label reading.
2. Will you cook only in my kitchen? Food prepared off-site has passed through a kitchen you cannot see.
3. Have you cooked for this allergy before?
4. Will you list the ingredients on each container?

A chef who takes these questions seriously is a good sign. A chef who brushes them off is the wrong chef.

A chef is not a doctor

A personal chef cooks to the plan you give them. They do not diagnose conditions or prescribe a diet. If you are eating for a medical reason, get the plan from your doctor or a registered dietitian and hand it to the chef.

Finding the right one

Many chefs build their whole service around one way of eating. When you browse your city, look for chefs who name your diet in their profile, and ask each for examples of meals they have cooked for it. Our questions to ask a personal chef will help with the rest.