cociana
Yacht Dining

A galley the size of a wardrobe

Yacht Dining

6 to 20 people · 4 to 5 · €180 to €380 per guest

Dinner for ten at anchor, cooked in a galley built for six, with no shop, no second oven and no possibility of a late delivery. The most constrained format there is.

Cooking on a yacht removes every safety net. There is one oven, the fridge is full of the guests’ wine, the nearest shop is a tender ride away and the floor moves. The yacht chefs who do it well work in a different order from land chefs: everything that can be done ashore is done ashore, the first and last courses live in the cold box, and only one element of the meal is genuinely cooked to order, usually on the grill on the aft deck.

The money reflects the difficulty rather than the food. A chef on a charter is part of the crew; a visiting chef for a single dinner at anchor costs 900 to 1,400 euros in the Mediterranean season, and the provisioning premium is real because everything is bought in a port town at port prices. Budget 180 to 380 euros a guest for a serious dinner, more if caviar and shellfish are involved, which on a yacht they usually are.

What makes a yacht dinner memorable is not complexity, it is temperature and texture against a view: raw fish dressed at the last second, a whole fish off the grill, a cold dessert that tastes of citrus. The hosts who enjoy these evenings most are the ones who spend the budget on produce and ice rather than on a menu that the galley cannot deliver.

The evening

How it runs

  1. 08:00Provisioning ashore, cold chain bags, nothing bought that cannot survive four hours
  2. 11:00Everything prepped on land or at anchor while the galley is cool
  3. 18:30Deck laid, hurricanes lit, glasses secured, ice made hours ago
  4. 19:30Canapés on deck, first course cold and already plated in the fridge
  5. 20:30Main from the grill or one oven, served family style
  6. 22:30Dessert from the cold box, coffee, galley cleaned with a bucket discipline

Works for

When to choose it

  • Dinner at anchor in a sheltered bay
  • A lunch that is built cold and finished on the grill
  • Guests who want the place, not the plating
  • Charter weeks where the chef is already aboard

Avoid

When not to

  • Nine course tasting menus, full stop
  • Anything fried, flambéed or soufflé
  • Dinners while under way with a swell
  • Menus that need a delivery on the day

Before you sign anything

  • Galley equipment list confirmed in writing, including oven size
  • Ice plan: twice what a land dinner needs
  • Everything prepped ashore, nothing relying on a day of delivery
  • Non slip service plan and weighted table dressing
  • Crew briefed as service staff with a written order of play
  • A bad weather alternative, which is usually lunch in the bay instead

Questions hosts ask

Can we have a tasting menu on board?

Four or five courses, yes. Eight is a fantasy in a galley that size, and the attempt ruins the dishes that could have been excellent.

Who serves?

The crew, briefed properly. A visiting waiter is rarely worth the bunk, but the deck crew need a written order of service and a run through.

What should we avoid entirely?

Deep frying, soufflés, anything that needs a second oven, and any dish that cannot survive a twenty minute delay while the tender brings the last guests.

Plan it

The numbers for this format

What it should cost

Cost Planner

A full cost model for a private dinner: food, kitchen labour, service, rentals and logistics, by market and service style.

Open

How many hands

Staff Planner

The brigade for your dinner: cooks, servers, bartenders and the captain.

Open

What happens at 19:40

Service Timeline

A backwards plan from the minute your first course leaves the kitchen: crew arrival, prep, table setting, briefing, doors, courses, speeches, coffee and strike..

Open

Menus

Built for this format

The Mediterranean Raw BarMenu Cold, sharp, no oven

The Mediterranean Raw Bar

The summer answer to a kitchen you cannot use: raw fish, marinated prawns, tomatoes that need nothing, citrus, oil and salt.

May to September · €45 to €120 per guest

Read on Whole Fish in a Salt CrustMenu One fish, one table, one knife

Whole Fish in a Salt Crust

A three kilo fish in a salt crust, cracked open at the table.

All year, best May to October · €40 to €90 per guest

Read on Caviar ServiceMenu Thirty grams, done properly

Caviar Service

A tin on ice, a mother of pearl spoon, warm blinis and cold crème fraîche.

All year, traditional at New Year · €60 to €300 per guest

Read on

Chefs

Who cooks it

The Yacht ChefChef profile One oven, a moving floor, no shop

The Yacht Chef

Provisions for a week, a galley the size of a wardrobe, guests who want sushi at eleven and a barbecue at two.

€350 to €600 per day on charter

Read on The Fire and Grill ChefChef profile Embers, smoke, one hour of heat

The Fire and Grill Chef

Cooking over wood for twenty people outdoors: a fish, a shoulder, vegetables in the embers, flatbread made in front of the guests..

€550 to €1,200 per dinner or per day

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Markets

Where it happens

Côte d’AzurMarket The most expensive kitchen logistics in Europe

Côte d’Azur

Between Saint Tropez and Monaco the season is eight weeks long, the villas are spectacular and every supplier knows it.

Guide price €265 per guest · 2 formats

Read on MykonosMarket Eight weeks of terrace dinners and the highest logistics premium in Greece

Mykonos

Mykonos charges Saint Tropez prices with island logistics.

Guide price €225 per guest · 1 formats

Read on IbizaMarket A short, expensive season with the best private chefs per square kilometre

Ibiza

Ten weeks of the year Ibiza hosts more private dinners per head than anywhere in the Mediterranean, and the island’s chefs have built a trade around fincas with no kitchen and guests who arrive at eleven..

Guide price €205 per guest · 3 formats

Read on DubaiMarket Anything is available, at a price, with paperwork

Dubai

Dubai’s private dining season runs when Europe’s stops.

Guide price €245 per guest · 4 formats

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