Fourteen kinds of chef
Private chefs
Private chefs are not one trade. A chalet cook who feeds fourteen at altitude for a week and a tasting menu chef who plates eight courses for six people share a jacket and very little else. Fourteen profiles, with rates and the questions to ask.
| Profile | Cooks | Rate | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Villa Chef | Mediterranean, three services, no fuss | €450 to €1,100 | per day |
| The Chalet Chef | Four services a day for seven days | €600 to €1,000 | per day |
| The Yacht Chef | One oven, a moving floor, no shop | €350 to €600 | per day on charter |
| The Tasting Menu Chef | Restaurant precision in a private room | €900 to €2,500 | per dinner |
| The Kaiseki and Japanese Chef | Season, knife, restraint | €1,200 to €3,000 | per dinner |
| The Fire and Grill Chef | Embers, smoke, one hour of heat | €550 to €1,200 | per dinner or per day |
| The Plant-based Fine Dining Chef | Vegetables as the main event | €550 to €1,400 | per dinner or per day |
| The Pâtissier on Call | The dessert course, hired separately | €350 to €1,200 | per dinner or per piece |
| The Classical Chef | Stock, reduction, a spoon that coats | €700 to €1,800 | per dinner |
| The City Kitchen Chef | Four square metres and a lift | €500 to €1,100 | per dinner |
| The Family Season Chef | Children at six, adults at nine | €400 to €800 | per day |
| The Household Chef | Employed, not booked | €5,500 to €12,000 | per month |
| The Banquet Chef | A hundred plates in eleven minutes | €900 to €2,200 | per event, plus the brigade |
| The Sommelier for the Evening | Not a chef, and worth the money | €400 to €900 | per evening |
Chef profile
Mediterranean, three services, no fussThe Villa Chef
The all rounder of the summer season: shops at the market, cooks lunch for twelve and dinner for sixteen, and makes it look like nothing happened..
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Chef profile
Four services a day for seven daysThe Chalet Chef
Breakfast, packed lunch, afternoon tea and dinner, at altitude, for a fortnight.
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Chef profile
One oven, a moving floor, no shopThe Yacht Chef
Provisions for a week, a galley the size of a wardrobe, guests who want sushi at eleven and a barbecue at two.
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Chef profile
Restaurant precision in a private roomThe Tasting Menu Chef
Eight or nine courses, a brigade of three, a full day of prep.
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Chef profile
Season, knife, restraintThe Kaiseki and Japanese Chef
Raw fish cut properly, dashi made that morning, eight small courses that look like nothing and take longer than anything else on this list..
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Chef profile
Embers, smoke, one hour of heatThe 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..
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Chef profile
Vegetables as the main eventThe Plant-based Fine Dining Chef
A full menu without meat or fish that does not feel like a substitution: ferments, ash, stock from roasted vegetables, and a dessert that is not fruit salad..
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Chef profile
The dessert course, hired separatelyThe Pâtissier on Call
The specialist who arrives for the last forty minutes: a plated dessert, a cake that photographs, a dessert table, petits fours with the coffee..
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Chef profile
Stock, reduction, a spoon that coatsThe Classical Chef
French technique in a private house: a proper stock made that morning, a sauce that coats the spoon, a soufflé that rises on time..
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Chef profile
Four square metres and a liftThe City Kitchen Chef
The specialist in small flats, narrow stairs and one oven: plans the menu around the building, not around the photograph..
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Chef profile
Children at six, adults at nineThe Family Season Chef
Two menus a night without cooking twice, allergies remembered, and a lunch that feeds eight adults and five children who will not sit down..
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Chef profile
Employed, not bookedThe Household Chef
A permanent position in a private house: daily cooking for a family, dinners for guests, the shopping, the inventory and the diary..
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Chef profile
A hundred plates in eleven minutesThe Banquet Chef
The operations chef: a field kitchen, twelve cooks, two hundred covers and a pass that moves in waves.
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Chef profile
Not a chef, and worth the moneyThe Sommelier for the Evening
Hired for one evening: opens, tastes, decants, pours and talks for ninety seconds per wine.
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