cociana
Journal

Seasons, rooms, prices

Journal

Private dining has a calendar: chalets in February, villas in July, city tables in November. Twelve pieces on where the money, the chefs and the tables are going.

What a private dinner actually costs in 2026Journal The arithmetic

What a private dinner actually costs in 2026

Five cost blocks, three markets and the number that surprises every host: the food is rarely more than a third of the bill..

2 September 2026 · 2 min read

Read on The chef circuit: where the good cooks are, month by monthJournal The season map

The chef circuit: where the good cooks are, month by month

The same fifty chefs cook the Alps in February, the Côte d’Azur in August and the Gulf in January.

19 August 2026 · 2 min read

Read on The one night restaurantJournal A format that grew up

The one night restaurant

Restaurant brigades now rebuild themselves for a single evening in a private room, and the food can be better than the restaurant they came from..

28 July 2026 · 2 min read

Read on Fire cooking in rented villas, and the rules nobody readsJournal Embers and liability

Fire cooking in rented villas, and the rules nobody reads

Open flame has become the default luxury menu, and it is banned or restricted in more places than most hosts realise..

9 July 2026 · 2 min read

Read on The economics of a chalet weekJournal Four services, seven days

The economics of a chalet week

Why the Christmas fortnight costs twice February, what a crew actually consists of, and the single line that saves a week..

17 June 2026 · 2 min read

Read on The quiet return of the dining roomJournal Architecture follows dinner

The quiet return of the dining room

Twenty years of open plan produced kitchens you can watch and dinners you cannot hear.

21 May 2026 · 2 min read

Read on How to read a catering quoteJournal Five blocks and three questions

How to read a catering quote

The cheapest quote is usually the one missing the most hours.

6 May 2026 · 2 min read

Read on Staffing is the real constraintJournal The hands, not the food

Staffing is the real constraint

Good service staff are the scarcest resource in private dining, and the market has repriced them faster than anything on the menu..

14 April 2026 · 2 min read

Read on The vegetable centrepiece stopped being a compromiseJournal Technique, not substitution

The vegetable centrepiece stopped being a compromise

A whole roasted celeriac carved at the table now holds a menu in the way a joint of meat does, and the technique is harder..

25 March 2026 · 2 min read

Read on The dietary conversation, done properlyJournal In writing, two days ahead

The dietary conversation, done properly

Most dinners now carry three or four requirements at the table.

4 March 2026 · 2 min read

Read on A sommelier for one eveningJournal The cheapest upgrade

A sommelier for one evening

Four hundred euros buys you correct temperatures, a decanted bottle, poured glasses all evening and a host who never touches a corkscrew..

11 February 2026 · 2 min read

Read on The late supper is back, and it is the best value course you can buyJournal One in the morning

The late supper is back, and it is the best value course you can buy

Twelve to thirty five euros a head, served at one in the morning, and it is what guests talk about on the way home..

22 January 2026 · 2 min read

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