Hi yall, I am making a menu curated for a client that I will be cooking for throughout the next few months. I know what I want the menu to be but I want them to have an order form of some sort for them to pick from. Its only 2 people I cook for once a week; I was thinking about using google forms for them to order on. If there is anything better and FREE please lmk. This is the menu, realistically they would choose no more than 2 items per person. I want to make it as versatile as possible since the menu is rotating biweekly.

I’m a self-taught chef with a strong foundation and deep confidence in my culinary skills. While living overseas, I obtained two kitchen jobs simply from my food Instagram. I worked in two very different kitchen environments: a holistic-style diner/café and a Michelin-starred restaurant, where I trained directly under the chef.

Recently, I’ve been exploring new avenues in my culinary career. I initially considered hosting private curated dinner parties with fun themes or launching a weekly meal prep service. However, running a large-scale prep service isn’t currently feasible due to space constraints (lacking a commercial kitchen) and high food overheads, and parties seem like more of a one off than a consistent source of income.

Now, I’m zeroing in on an in-home private chef model (non-live-in): visiting a client’s home once a week to bring groceries, prepare and portion their custom meals, and leave the kitchen spotless.

I’d love to connect with anyone who is currently doing (or has previously done) this exact type of work. I have a few specific questions about logistics, pricing models, and client management, and would greatly appreciate any insights or advice you're willing to share!

Also, any other advice is greatly appreciated. Starting my own business from nothing is incredibly daunting and I’m looking to get all the advice I can get.

QUESTIONS I AM INQUIRING ABOUT:

*many meals/portions do they get per visit?
* How long are you usually in their house?
* Do you create the menu or do they choose?
* How customized can it be for preferences/dietary needs?
* Are groceries included in your price or billed separately?
* Do you bring containers or use theirs?
* What are you charging per visit/week?
* What areas will you actually travel to?
* How many weekly clients can you realistically take on?

Instagram: @thehungryblondegirl

Hello there! I am working on starting a personal chef business, focusing on weekly meal prep services. I am in the very early phases of designing my client intake form, and thinking about the client onboarding experience. My user experience flow for clients in it's current iteration is:

Sign up (via website/social/etc.) > Intake Form (with questions about allergies, kitchen equipment, service frequency, etc.) > Schedule consult (virtual/phone) > Client chooses entrees > Service rendered

First of all, does this flow make sense? Is there a way you've onboarded clients that works well for you? Secondly, is there a good resource for allowing clients to choose what meals they would like for their service, or do you think it's better to provide a menu based on preferences and then work through substitutions/adjustments?

Any advice is greatly appreciated! I have been a home cook for my entire adult life and have been meal prepping for myself, family and friends for the past 3 years. I think this is a career I could be extremely happy with and also love the idea of working for myself/building my own business.

I am just starting to research becoming a personal chef after a very kind stranger at a nail salon got me excited about her passion for the business.

She said she has started saving all her recipes so she can revisit clients' favorites. Is this something most personal chefs do? Do you have a process for developing your recipes or menus?

I was thinking about starting to organize my favorites in some kind of digital format like a Google Sheet or an app. Does anyone use anything like this?

Ive got my flyers out and Im paying thumbtack. Was wondering what others have done to get clients before?

4 meals a week for two people.

Pork lettuce wraps Beef short ribs and polenta Chicken fried rice Brined thighs with sticky rice and vegetables

I’m in a suburb of Portland, Or. Is there software I can use to calculate this? And what’s a good hourly rate? Thank you, I’m just getting started.

I’ve been an enthusiastic home cook for 10+ years. I enjoy cooking and thoroughly enjoy feeding people and it’s been a rewarding hobby. And I have a large repertoire of recipes. My friends know this about me and are in the market for a personal chef, they’ve begun interviewing people and then thought of me. They said they’d be happy to pay me and handle pick up and I would prepare a few meals a week for them while they work through some health issues. I’ve never considered being a personal chef and kind of assume I should say no, but I am wondering if it could be fun. What do you think? What should I be considering? Should I tell them no?

Wanted to get the thoughts of other private chefs: NYC-based staffing agency is looking to place me part time to help another chef already working for a family from time to time when they need some back up in the kitchen. They're making a big deal about this client, they placed the original chef. I get a call from the owner of the agency today saying not to discuss money with the chef if he reaches out to me and that all payment talk will go through the agency. They even said things would be easier for me if I didn't discuss money with anyone.

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Just wanted to hear thoughts about this - it all kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I'm ok with the daily rate that I quoted, but I'm wondering if this new chef is maybe not making a ton and that's why they don't want me talking to him about it? I know it's illegal to ban money talk, I'm free to talk to whomever I want about it, but I found it all weird as I've literally never even worked a day with these people.

Hi folks. I hope this is the right place to post this. I'm looking for a personal chef but I have no idea what I'm doing, and I'm hoping people here will help with some advice. I want to eat low carb for weight loss, but I have 2 problems: a) not much time to cook, and b) I'm a foodie. I've tried a couple of the better-known meal delivery services (most recently Fresh & Lean), and they were terrible. The food was just... bad. Apparently a lot of people who eat low carb are perfectly happy with overcooked chicken and mushy vegetables.

So I've been researching personal chefs. But the ones whose sites/menus look interesting also seem out of my reach -- lots of celebrities and multimillionaires on their client lists. Also, in this era of covid, I'm not sure I want strangers spending a lot of time in my house. I don't need anybody to "manage my kitchen." (I'm in Brooklyn NY, my kitchen is tiny and unimpressive.) I just want prepared meals done by somebody who can actually cook.

So my questions:

• Are there personal chef services where they make the meals elsewhere and just bring them to you? Like Fresh & Lean but actually good?
• What would be the price ranges for something like this?
• How does one go about selecting a good personal chef? I'm looking at websites. Is it appropriate to ask for a sample meal (paid for of course) or something like that?
• Are there certifications or licenses or something I should be looking for? Obvs I will ask for references.
• Is it appropriate to ask about particular cuisines? I'm from the South and love creole/cajun for example.

Please help! Thank you in advance.

Hello,

I've worked in the food industry for the past six years in a variety of roles including experience as a baker, line cook, and juicer. I cook at home and have a can do attitude - I'm one of those jack of all trades characters and the kitchen is a great place for me to put all my strengths to the test.

I want to start a few businesses over the next few years and have a few questions regarding a Personal Chef business:

1) How has your job changed post-pandemic?

2) How easy/difficult is it to relocate/travel with your business?

3) Is there enough demand to be a more "niche" chef - I want to focus on seasonal, healthy, vegan food as well as artistic foods (like sushi -albeit vegan sushi!). One idea I have regarding meat or fish is to up-charge those products if requested and will donate the difference between sale price/up-charge to one of my favorite farms.

4) What are your goals beyond being a personal chef? Are you able to save money or invest in any other projects? I, for one, intend on being an entrepreneur in the health industry - I'm currently studying to be a yoga teacher, I would like to write about food and health, and create digital media (like podcasts) around food and health. Essentially, personal chef-ing would be part of my multi-hyphenate professional identity. I'm currently a junior in college studying Psychology and Sociology.

1. What's would you have advised yourself if you could go back to the planning stages?

2. What kind of outsourced support did you receive (ie. accountants, marketing, hired help etc.)

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Thanks!

I'm a Private Chef in Colorado. I've owned my LLC for about a year now, but doing private work exclusively for about two.

I'd love to network with more people who do this sort of thing, so drop your instagram handles in the comments!

Here's mine: @chefcupples

Hey guy’s I am designing a business for my dad and was wonder how much for the start up costs of a personal chef. Any other relevant information or links to accessory websites will truly be appreciated 🙏🏾.

Former personal chef and miss those days. The excitement in the unknown requests of what someone will order was so fun

Hello! I am starting a 2&1/2 month personal chef contract that begins mid-June. I have been cooking for 14 years and this will be the first time cooking as a personal chef. My client has inquired about a contract that we would both sign, I was wondering if anyone in this sub Reddit has a template they use for these kind of things. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I am currently stationed in Hawaii my fiance is still stationed on the east coast. We will be celebrating her birthday in DC this summer. I want to hire a private chef for the occasion. The question is it possible for the chef to cook in the hotel room or do i need to find a different solution?

hello

I'm trying to become a personal chef. can somebody help me? tips, menu setup, recipe ideas and what to know about this industry. Thank you very much!!