Chicago · dinner at home

A private chef in Chicago, cooking in your kitchen.

Three independent Chicago chefs, filed under what they cook, working out of your own kitchen. Thirty-seven published menus between them, from an $85 wood-fired pizza night to a $253 Caribbean table, every price written down before you ask.

See the three chefs Ask about an evening

Burrata with cherry tomatoes laid out on a platter for a private dinner in Chicago — Antipasti, plated at your counter

Prosciutto-wrapped jalapeño rolls dusted with chilli, from a Chicago private chef — Openers that land all at once

A flatbread finished with a farm egg from a Chicago private chef’s menu — Pizza for twenty, or ten courses for four

Who is on this site

Three chefs, filed under what they cook

Three names, three kitchens, three sets of prices they each decided on. Narrow it to one style of cooking, then open a profile — the menus, figures and reviews on it are theirs.

EveryoneCaribbean & SoulItalianPan-Asian

“If you are looking for a chef, she should be your first pick.”Steven S., Chicago
“Course after course, and every one was better than the last.”Erica K., Chicago
“A meal to remember. The service floored us as much as the food.”Chris T., Indiana
“Everyone is still talking about that evening.”Dauwn H., Chicago
“On time every time, and the way the food was presented was something else.”Barbara M., Indiana
“The menu had something on it for every person at the table.”Bill P., Chicago
“Enough food for every appetite, and the clean-up was faultless.”Lesly M., Chicago
“If you are looking for a chef, she should be your first pick.”Steven S., Chicago
“Course after course, and every one was better than the last.”Erica K., Chicago
“A meal to remember. The service floored us as much as the food.”Chris T., Indiana
“Everyone is still talking about that evening.”Dauwn H., Chicago
“On time every time, and the way the food was presented was something else.”Barbara M., Indiana
“The menu had something on it for every person at the table.”Bill P., Chicago
“Enough food for every appetite, and the clean-up was faultless.”Lesly M., Chicago

Ground covered

Across the city, the suburbs and around the lake

North Side to South Side, west as far as Naperville, up the Edens, and around the lake into Michigan. Each block below lists the neighbourhoods and what the drive means for a quote.

North Side8 areas

Lincoln Park
Lakeview
Old Town
Gold Coast
Wicker Park
Bucktown
Logan Square
Ravenswood

The densest part of this listing. Expect a fifteen-to-twenty-five-minute run for whoever you pick, already priced into what you were quoted.

The Loop, River North & West Loop6 areas

The Loop
River North
Streeterville
West Loop
Fulton Market
South Loop

High-rise kitchens are routine here. Send the loading-dock and freight-lift rules along with the address and the night runs itself.

South Side6 areas

Hyde Park
Kenwood
Bronzeville
Beverly
Chatham
Pilsen

Well covered, no travel loading. The Caribbean and soul-food end of this listing was schooled on this side of the city.

North Shore7 areas

Evanston
Wilmette
Winnetka
Glencoe
Highland Park
Lake Forest
Skokie

A routine drive up the Edens, booked on the same notice as a city date. Flag the parking situation and that is the lot.

West & Northwest suburbs7 areas

Oak Park
Naperville
Hinsdale
Oak Brook
Elmhurst
Arlington Heights
Schaumburg

Reached as far as Naperville and Schaumburg without comment. Beyond the collar counties, expect a mileage line on the quote.

Lakeshore getaways5 areas

New Buffalo, MI
Union Pier, MI
Saugatuck, MI
Michiana
Harbor Country

Weekend-house cooking around the lake is a real part of this listing — Harbor Country, New Buffalo and the Michigan shore. Worth booking earlier than a city date.

Off the 37 menus

How much does a private chef cost in Chicago?

The 37 menus published on this site run from $85 to $253 per guest, and the median is $175. The middle half of them sit between $150 and $200: at the lower end a properly built three-course dinner, at the upper end a long tasting menu with lobster, lamb or a premium cut of beef. Each number is what one guest costs, and the shopping, the cooking, the serving and the clearing sit inside it — nothing is charged on top for turning up. You get the figure written next to the menu before you commit.

$85lowest published$175median of 37$253highest published

Shaded is where the middle half of them land, $150 to $200 a guest. The scale reads per guest, and the shop, the cooking and the clearing are in it.

The mechanics

Where your job ends and theirs starts

Your side of this is three short messages. Everything after that — the shop, the prep, the service, the mess — belongs to whoever you picked.

Your part

1
Four facts, that’s the brief
A date, a headcount, a neighbourhood, and whatever the table cannot or will not eat. Nothing beyond that is needed to open a conversation.
2
Choose a person, not a service
Each profile publishes that chef’s own menus, the prices they charge and the reviews their guests left. Read three of them, settle on one.
3
The menu comes back in writing
Your chef reshapes a menu around the table and puts the per-guest number next to it. Allergy and vegetarian versions are cooked, not surcharged.

Their part

1
The shopping is already done
Groceries, fish, meat and whatever equipment the menu needs arrive with your chef. All you supply is the kitchen.
2
Each course is finished in front of you
Nothing is reheated out of a tray. Courses go out on your timing, and for a bigger table most of these chefs bring a server too.
3
The kitchen is handed back clean
Counters, pans, bins, dishes. Read a few of the reviews here and you will find that detail turning up about as much as the food does.

Loose ends

Five more answers, no form in the way

What people ask after the price: the wording, the big tables, the rentals and how much notice a chef actually needs. Answered off the 37 menus on this site rather than a range invented for a brochure.

Is there a difference between a private chef and a personal chef?

In the trade, a personal chef usually cooks a batch of meals you eat through the week, while a private chef cooks and serves a single occasion in front of you. Everyone on this book does the second thing — they arrive with the shopping done, cook your menu in your kitchen and serve it course by course. Several will also take on a run of meal prep if you ask, but the profiles here are priced and written for the dinner, not the meal plan.

What does a private chef charge for 30 people?

Most of the plated menus here are written for two to twenty guests, so thirty needs a short conversation rather than a click. Two routes work at that size: a wood-fired pizza or family-style menu, which starts at $85 and is built for a crowd, or a plated dinner with a second chef and a server added, where the per-guest figure tends to hold and a staffing line appears instead. Give it more notice than a table of eight.

Can I hire a chef for an ordinary dinner party?

That is most of what these three do. A Saturday with eight friends and nothing to celebrate is as common on this site as the birthdays. There is a minimum spend so the evening is worth the chef’s day, but no occasion is required: what turns up is the same several-course dinner, cooked and served, with nobody rushing you out at the ninety-minute mark.

Do the chefs cook at rentals around the lake?

Regularly. Harbor Country and New Buffalo, the Indiana dunes and Lake Geneva all turn up in the reviews on this site. A rental kitchen is rarely a problem — everything is bought before your chef sets off, the menu is cooked on site, and the place is left ready for check-out. That last part is why the lake houses book these dinners more than anywhere else.

What notice do the chefs need?

Ten to fourteen days will cover a weeknight or a quiet Saturday. Make it a month for December dates, holiday weekends, or a table over twelve. Two periods run tight in this city: Thanksgiving through New Year, and June onwards anywhere near the water.

Give somebody else the kitchen

Start from the food you actually feel like, land on the chef whose menu reads best, and hand over the shop, the stove and the sink for one evening.

See the three chefs Ask about an evening