Guide to Private Chef Services in NYC: From Celebrity Chefs to Family-Style Dinners
May 4, 2022
As warm summer days approach us and the lively energy of the city continues to heighten, planning the perfect summer gathering is a must! Our team is at your service to assist with your entertainment desires, and that’s why we called in a few of our tried-and-true favorite at-home private dining and catering resources in the city to give you a glimpse of the details of their services.
Whether you’re looking to host a lavish outdoor party with friends or family, a memorable birthday party for a loved one, or an intimate dinner with a celebrity chef appearance ranging anywhere from $10-100k, our team is always at your disposal to bring your private dining inspiration to life. You can also read here for our toolkit of ideas, tips and tricks to set you up for hosting success in outdoor spaces.
Culinistas
The Culinistas is a full-service, in-home private chef company committed to hospitality that facilitates and enhances private chef services. Their team makes healthy eating with family and friends both easy and accessible.
What is your price point?
For dinner parties and other gatherings, our chef services start at $500 + groceries. For weekly meal prep, our chef service is $250 + groceries. For full-time or recurring part-time placements, email Q@theculinistas to inquire about booking.
Do you provide a full-service or drop-off?
Full-service. All of our chef services happen in the client’s home. Our chefs shop, cook (using the client’s kitchen and equipment), and clean up. For gatherings & special events, they also serve guests.
Do you provide wait staff, rentals, florals, alcohol? If not, do you provide recommendations to clients when booking?
Yes, we are happy to arrange waitstaff (servers and bartenders) as an add-on to our chef services. We can also recommend many vetted rental companies, florists, spirit purveyors + more.
What is your most booked format? (i.e. meal prep, sit down dinner, casual party)
Our most popular format is chef services for dinner parties and gatherings (7+ guests).
Which cuisine is your specialty?
We pride ourselves on our culinary flexibility. We have over 500 recipes in our database that have been developed and tested in-house. We also offer a variety of international and themed menus. We are confident that our roster of talented, vetted chefs can cook any dish you may request.
What cities / regions do you service?
We service New York City, Los Angeles, The Hamptons, DC, Aspen, and the Westchester area, amongst other markets. We also arrange seasonal and vacation chef placements, so if you are traveling and looking for support outside of our core markets, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
What kitchen supplies are required? (what should a client prepare ahead of time / have in their home vs. what should be delivered)
We ask clients to have the following kitchen supplies: a cutting board, tongs, a spatula, a whisk, several mixing bowls, two pots, two pans, a blender, and a baking sheet. For dinner parties and other gatherings, we will communicate any specific equipment needed beyond this standard list. The chef will handle all grocery shopping for the meal, while the client is responsible for any beverages, including alcohol.
What is your typical lead time from inquiry to booking?
For weekly meal prep, we can usually provide a chef by the following week. For a dinner party or special occasion, the more time in advance, the more thoughtful our HQ team can be about chef placement and custom menu design. That said, we can usually find an amazing chef and design a custom menu within a few days’ notice.
Are you open to recurring regularly scheduled bookings? (i.e. weekly meal service, five days per week)
Our weekly meal prep offering (6 dishes cooked in 3-4 hours) is scheduled on a recurring basis. The Culinistas can also place chefs for a recurring part-time (1-3 days/week) or full-time (4-6 days/week) schedule. Chef services for additional gatherings or special events are typically one-time bookings.
Home Grown Meals By Chef Sean Patrick Gallagher
Private Chef Sean Patrick Gallagher offers a unique private chef service that crafts a luxury dining experience with farm-to-table, seasonal, scratch made, and slow food at heart. Chef Gallagher curates custom menus and executes fabulous parties for his private clients all in the comfort of their own home.
What is your price point?
Average $300-400 per guest including food, staff and transportation.
Do you provide a full-service or drop-off?
Both – I provide full-service + drop-off (minimum for drop-off order is $1500).
Do you provide wait staff, rentals, florals, alcohol? If not, do you provide recommendations to clients when booking?
I provide waitstaff, can put together rental orders (paid separately by the client), can order rentals (paid separately), and alcohol is never included but staff can pour onsite. I can always recommend specialty cocktails, wine pairings, and beverage quantities.
What is your most booked format? (i.e. meal prep, sit down dinner, casual party)
Dinner parties – plated, family-style or buffet; Cocktail parties with passed canapes; Culinary experiences – recent examples: cupcake decorating, chocolate bark making, paella lesson, mojito lesson; Special occasions – birthdays are my # 1 most booked, then holiday parties, business dinners and mitzvah/wedding.
Which cuisine is your specialty?
I prepare everything I make from scratch, with the top-quality ingredients I can source. I prepare global cuisine with a Mediterranean/Middle Eastern flair. I’ve worked in Italy, France, India, Turkey and the Philippines and you can find these styles and flavors reflected in my menus.
What cities/regions do you service?
My day-to-day clients are in NYC, CT, NJ, PA, and in the Hamptons frequently in summer. If the budget allows, I travel throughout the country and internationally. I just spent a week cooking for 12 executives at a leadership retreat in Miami for a skincare brand.
What kitchen supplies are required? (what should a client prepare ahead of time / have in their home vs. what should be delivered)
I ask each client to send a picture of their kitchen space and equipment on hand and then I supplement with whatever I have. I have a storage unit full of equipment and design and it’s not a problem for me to bring anything with me.
What is your typical lead time from inquiry to booking?
I’m pretty flexible, I’ve made bookings in 48 hours work. But I would prefer at least 2 weeks notice. Currently, I have bookings as far out as August, and the dates just keep filling it. So I always tell my clients if they have a date they prefer, they need to get a request in to hold it.
Are you open to recurring regularly scheduled bookings? (i.e. weekly meal service, five days per week)
Due to the nature of the service I’ve established, I can only take on events that are short time periods. I do have some pending proposals that are 9 consecutive days long, but it’s uncommon due to the price point.
Resident
Resident transforms luxury spaces into intimate dining experiences and features chefs from the world’s best restaurants. They place an emphasis on a new era of hospitality and pride themselves on making the vibe *just right*.
What is your price point?
Our price point varies depending on the package and guest count for each event. Our minimum F&B spend ranges from $3,500-$8,000 by venue.
Do you provide a full-service or drop-off?
Resident provides full-service Michelin-grade dining experiences in our luxury spaces across Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Do you provide wait staff, rentals, florals, alcohol? If not, do you provide recommendations to clients when booking?
Yes! Each Resident event is totally bespoke and designed to be as turnkey as possible. As such, we provide all of the staffing, rentals, florals, food, and alcohol. If a client would like to bring in additional decor, branded items, etc., they are more than welcome to coordinate the delivery with our staff.
What is your most booked format? (i.e. meal prep, sit down dinner, casual party)
Our signature style of event is a five-course tasting menu by one of our Michelin-trained chefs complete with wine pairing; however, we are very flexible when it comes to private events and are happy to customize our packages. Often, this includes a cocktail hour with an open bar, passed hors d’oeuvres, interactive cooking demos, and mixology classes.
Which cuisine is your specialty?
Right now we work with over 40 different Michelin-trained chefs who have worked at some of the best restaurants in the world, including Eleven Madison Park, Noma, Le Bernardin + more. Our chefs cook almost every kind of cuisine, including Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Modern American, Seasonal French, and beyond. Name your preference, we have a chef who can prepare it!
What cities / regions do you service?
At this time, we operate exclusively out of New York, with stunning venues available to host your next dinner party across Manhattan and Brooklyn. Resident plans to expand to other markets in the next couple of years, with Philadelphia, Chicago, Miami, and LA all on our roadmap.
What kitchen supplies are required? (what should a client prepare ahead of time / have in their home vs. what should be delivered)
Currently, we host all of our dinners out of our lovely penthouses, townhouses, and stunning chef’s kitchens across Manhattan and Brooklyn. Each of our spaces is fully equipped with everything needed for your next great event – all that’s missing is you!
What is your typical lead time from inquiry to booking?
Our typical lead time from inquiry to booking ranges from 14-60 days. To best ensure your venue and chef of choice, we recommend beginning the booking process 30-45 days out from your desired event date.
Are you open to recurring regularly scheduled bookings? (i.e. weekly meal service, five days per week)
We love our regulars! We have a number of high-end private and corporate clients who choose to engage us on a recurring basis, be it for weekly personal entertainment purposes, monthly client dinners, quarterly product launches, and beyond.
dineDK
dineDK is a full-service, boutique private dining company that curates modern, customized culinary experiences. Their Michelin-trained chefs and Experience Team collaborate to create unique experiences for each client based on their vision, goals, and menu preferences.
What is your price point?
$$$. Full-service private event services start at $1000. Ongoing private chef staffing services start at about $400-$500 per day depending on the scope of work. Virtual cooking classes start at $500 for groups up to 10 and are $50 per attendee thereafter.
Do you provide a full-service or drop-off?
We are full service and can provide everything needed to make large and small events happen.
Do you provide wait staff, rentals, florals, alcohol? If not, do you provide recommendations to clients when booking?
We provide rentals, service staff, bar services, takeaways, chef demos, cooking classes (in-person and virtual) and customized menus for our events. We can provide recommendations for venues, florists, and many other event services.
What is your most booked format? (i.e. meal prep, sit down dinner, casual party)
It’s a split between multi-course plated dinners and large-scale cocktail parties.
Which cuisine is your specialty?
As we have an incredible team of Michelin-trained chefs we work with, we have chefs that cover all specialties.
What cities / regions do you service?
We mainly focus on the tri-state area. NYC, The Hamptons, New York State, NJ, and Connecticut. Our chefs are available to travel abroad upon request.
What kitchen supplies are required? (what should a client prepare ahead of time / have in their home vs. what should be delivered)
As most of the preparation happens in our kitchen over the days leading up to an event, our team just needs a basic set of pots and pans, baking sheets, etc. when they arrive onsite.
What is your typical lead time from inquiry to booking?
Ideally, 2-3 weeks is our preferred lead time, but we can accommodate most requests even with short turnaround times.
Are you open to recurring regularly scheduled bookings? (i.e. weekly meal service, five days per week)
Yes, in addition to our event services, we offer private chef placements where we can work with you to place one of our talented chefs to take care of a family or group on an ongoing basis. These can be short-term contracts or annual part-time / full-time positions.
Chef Rosana
Chef Rosana‘s private dining services focus on intimate, food-loving experiences. All made by hand with love, Chef Rosana’s dining ranges from 3-5 courses curated specifically to your event type, cuisine preference, and vision.
What is your price point?
Private Chef – $125 per person and up- multi-course dinner.
Catering – $35 per person and up.
Do you provide a full-service or drop-off?
We provide both.
Do you provide wait staff, rentals, florals, alcohol? If not, do you provide recommendations to clients when booking?
We provide all of these through trusted and vetted vendors. Alcohol has to be purchased by the client, but we can serve and have bartenders available.
What is your most booked format? (i.e. meal prep, sit down dinner, casual party)
Private multi-course dinner + full service catering.
Which cuisine is your specialty?
French, Spanish, Italian, Mexican, Latin.
What cities / regions do you service?
New York, Charlotte, NC, Tampa, Miami.
What kitchen supplies are required? (what should a client prepare ahead of time / have in their home vs. what should be delivered)
They don’t have to have anything. We will more than likely need access to a kitchen, or if it’s an outdoor event – access to a grill.
What is your typical lead time from inquiry to booking?
30 days.
Are you open to recurring regularly scheduled bookings? (i.e. weekly meal service, five days per week)
We are open to regular bookings and events, but we are not ready for weekly meal service yet.
Feeling inspired?
Everything here and more can be arranged by us, and you can send your private dining or catering request through the LIV app, our web portal, or by emailing or calling us directly. We look forward to assisting you!
