The night nobody has to drive
There is a specific kind of evening that only works at the villa. Everyone is sunburnt and slow, the children are still in the pool, the drive to a restaurant with a table for nine sounds like an ordeal, and nobody wants to be the one staying sober. A chef arriving with the shopping already done solves the whole problem, and it is very often the meal people talk about afterwards.
It is also, quietly, one of the harder things to arrange from abroad. The good chefs in a resort area are known locally and booked early, their menus are seasonal, and the practical questions — who shops, who clears up, what happens if two more people arrive — are exactly the ones that get lost in an email thread with someone you have never met.
How we arrange it
Send your dates, your property, how many are eating and what the occasion is. We check availability directly with local chefs who work in your area, agree the shape of the menu with them, and come back with real options: the chef, the proposed menu, what is included, what the groceries arrangement is, and the total for your group. You can change the menu, add a night, or say no. Nothing is confirmed until you do.
The chef cooks in your kitchen, serves your table and leaves it clean. We are not a catering company and we do not employ cooks — we plan the evening with you and confirm it directly with the local professional who will be standing at your stove.
Menus that follow the season and the place
The best villa menus are not restaurant menus delivered to a house. They follow what the market has that week, the region’s own dishes and, quite often, the fish somebody landed that morning. Chefs in our destinations tend to write around a handful of things they do exceptionally rather than a long list, and you will eat better for letting them. If your group has a fixed idea — a particular celebration dish, a barbecue rather than a served dinner — say so early and we will find the chef who does that well.
Occasions, groups and the practical stuff
Birthdays, anniversaries and the one big table where the whole family is together are the most common reasons people book. They are also the ones where the details matter: seating, timing around small children, whether the meal needs to end early, wine matched or supplied by you. All of that goes into the request, gets answered by the chef, and reaches you in writing before you commit to anything.
Where we arrange private chefs
Live destinations are listed below, each with chefs who actually work those villas and towns.