policies, TASTINGS, minimums and more

We serve the entire Bay Area, South to Carmel, East to Tahoe, North to Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino. (Travel charges, if applicable, are negotiated with your chef).

Minimums vary per chef; menus start at $1500 ($2000 for all events between December 12th and 31st). In addition, the cost per server is $250-300 for 4-6 hours. For a plated 4-5 course dinner with 5-11 guests, your chef will work with a single server; 12-17 diners require 2 servers, 3 servers with 18-25 diners. For larger events, please consult with your chef. Chef Tasting menus as well as dinners with wines paired to each course may require additional servers and/or a Sous Chef ($300).

Minimums and minimum deposit may be higher for: *New Year's Eve/Day, Super Bowl Sunday, Valentine's Day, Oscar Night, Easter Sunday, Jewish Holidays (1st and last night of Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Chanukah), Mother's Day, Cinco de Mayo, Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day weekends, Day of the Dead, Halloween, Thanksgiving, the month of December including Christmas Eve/Day. for Valentine's Day*.

Per person minimums for plated meals are $85 for brunch, $100 for lunch and $130 for dinner, and may vary with chef, # of courses, and menu.

Gratuity not included in the above pricing. Suggested gratuity is between 18% and 25%, just as it is for service in a restaurant. Gratuity is shared by your chef between the servers and bartenders.

$1000 non-refundable booking deposit or 50% of event total (some chefs charge $1000, some charge 50%) is required to secure your event date*. Additional deposit and event contract will be worked out with your chef.

We are one of a growing number of chefs who do not offer tastings, which we feel are not a fair reflection of what to expect on the day of your event. After all, preparing an exquisite meal for two or four is very different from preparing that same meal for 40, or even for 15, on the day of.

Overtime and extra guests: 

If there are additional people who need to eat (i.e. your musicians, your babysitter) please advise us in advance and we will gladly increase your guest count.If the actual number of guests at your event exceeds what is stated in your contract, you will be charged for those additional guests (even if no additional food is prepared). A minimum guest count policy is in effect, which means you will be charged for number of guests in your contract even if they do not all show up.If you guest count INCREASES less than 72 hours prior to your event, we are happy to add your additional guests and provide additional food, rentals and if required and available, additional service staff, so please do let us know. There is a 20% upcharge, in addition to the per person charge, for these last minute guests.

TIPS FOR HOSTING A SUCCESSFUL DINNER PARTY

Dishwasher should be empty (and working– if your dishwasher is NOT working please let us know as we will need to hire a person to wash dishes by hand). If you have any china that you are planning to use that cannot go into the dishwasher, we will need to know and have someone available to wash dishes.IF ANY of your kitchen surfaces including stove top, floors, counters) require ANY special care or cleaning, please inform us immediately. We are NOT RESPONSIBLE for any damage if you do not let us know what we need to do to protect your surfaces. All kitchen surfaces should be made available, so as much as possible, store your small appliances and kitchen decor. For plated dinners, especially for larger crowds (more than 8-10) you may want to make an extra space available for plating. In some cases, this may even mean renting a table.Make some space available in your refrigerator (more space will be needed if you have extreme perishables on the menu, like seafood).BBQ grill (if appropriate to the menu) will need to provided by a party rental provider. Unfortunately, we are unable to use any grills on the premises as our experience has shown that these may cook unevenly. If your event is a sit-down dinner, you will need glasses for the table (water and wine) as well bar glasses and/or wine glasses if you are having a cocktail hour, or champagne glasses if there is a toast. You should figure 2 glasses per guest for the bar. Due to breakage liability, we will not wash your crystal or wine glasses; they will be rinsed with clear water and set aside.Provide large garbage bags, make sure your receptacles are not too full to receive the refuse from your event. We strongly prefer to have: recycling/compost/garbage.We all love dogs, but not in the kitchen. For the safety of your pets (there’s hot stuff goin’ on in there) and catering staff, its best if you can keep your best friend elsewhere during your dinner party or catered event.Although it may seem obvious to you, it may not be to some of your guests, especially if they are friends and family accustomed to making themselves at home in your kitchen; it’s not ideal to have guests opening the refrigerator to look for beverages, trying to be helpful by serving themselves seconds, or looking for a snack. Catering staff is there to attend to your guests’ every need and are happy to do so. A little extra planning (like having a cooler full of bottled water somewhere where people can easily help themselves) goes a long way towards preventing kitchen accidents.

disclaimer

Please don’t hesitate to reach out in the rare event that you have a problem with one of our chefs and we will do our very best to resolve it. Do note that because Private Chefs of the SF Bay is collective rather than a business entity, we not responsible for the financial arrangements between the chefs who are members of our collective and clients.