Dinner in the one town where a table is hard to get
Polignano a Mare is small, spectacular and extremely busy in summer. The good tables go early, the famous ones are priced for the view rather than the cooking, and a group of eight trying to eat together at nine in August is a planning exercise. A chef at your house removes the exercise: you eat where you are staying, at the hour you want, with a menu built for the people at the table.
It is worth saying plainly how the chef market works here. Chefs in Puglia operate regionally: the independents verified in research are based around Ostuni and the Valle d’Itria and travel out to villas and masserie in the surrounding towns, and Polignano has no town-based chef scene of its own. That does not make a chef harder to get — it means availability depends on the date and the drive.
The food and the number
Ask for the regional version and you will get it: orecchiette, focaccia barese, panzerotti and taralli, with the vegetables treated seriously. The wine to ask for is local too — Minutolo, Verdeca, Bianco d’Alessano, Primitivo, Susumaniello. Several of these chefs also host classes and tastings, which is a good use of the afternoon after a morning in the sea caves.
On price we quote rather than publish, because nobody here publishes: every chef in this market prices per menu and per party, and there is no credible published range to put on a page. Tell us the headcount, the kitchen you actually have, the time you want to eat and any real allergies, and the quote comes back itemised.
Who cooks, and what we do
An independent local chef who sets their own price and answers for the food. We arrange it, confirm the menu and timings directly, and stay reachable if the plan moves. Chefs run year-round here unlike the boats, though the summer dates go first. Nothing is booked until you say yes.
Pair it with the sea-caves boat tour or a cooking class in town; the region is on the Puglia page and the wider category on private chefs. Request availability with your dates and address.