Private Chef London

A private chef changes how your family eats — and honestly, how you live. No more thinking about what's for dinner. No more arguing about takeaway. Just good food, cooked properly, every day.

Our chefs come from serious kitchens. Michelin-starred restaurants, five-star hotels, established private households. They know flavour, nutrition, and presentation. But what makes a great private chef isn't just technique — it's knowing your family. Learning what everyone likes, adjusting for allergies, handling a busy Tuesday differently from a Saturday dinner party.

We match chefs to families carefully. A vegan household in Notting Hill needs a different chef than a family in Chelsea who entertain three nights a week. That's why we take the time to understand how you actually live before we start the search.

The remit

What the role actually covers

01Menu planning and meal preparation

02Grocery shopping and ingredient sourcing

03Kitchen management and food safety compliance

04Special dietary requirement accommodation

05Event and dinner party catering

06Kitchen equipment maintenance

07Staff training and supervision

08Budget management and cost control

Frequently Asked Questions

Many trained at Le Cordon Bleu, Leiths, Johnson & Wales, or similar, and worked in Michelin-starred kitchens or top hotels. We verify qualifications and can match you with specific cuisine expertise — French, Japanese, plant-based, whatever you need.

Yes. Our chefs regularly work with vegan, kosher, halal, gluten-free, keto, and medical diets. It comes up in almost every placement, so our chefs are used to it. We make dietary needs a key part of the matching process.

It varies. Some families need a chef who can handle dinner parties at short notice and work weekends. Others want standard weekday hours. We clarify all of this before the search starts so there are no surprises on either side.

A chef has formal training and produces restaurant-level food with complex techniques and presentation. A cook handles everyday family meals — still good food, but simpler. Many households need something in between, and we help you work out the right level.

Salaries run from about £40,000 to £75,000 a year depending on experience and the kind of cooking you need. Specialist skills or fine dining backgrounds push it higher. Live-in roles often include accommodation as part of the package.

There's no clever process — we have a real conversation with you about what you actually need, then put forward people we know would do the job well. Two or three candidates, not a longlist. We arrange the meetings, brief both sides, and stay close through the trial period. For most roles you're meeting candidates within a week and someone is in post inside a month.

Yes — We strongly encourage paid trial periods — typically 1-3 days — so you can experience the chef's cooking style, assess their fit within your household, and ensure they meet your expectations before making a permanent commitment.

Recent placements

From the books

01

Placed a French-trained chef for a family in Holland Park who needed kosher and halal experience. Found the right person in 12 days.

Holland Park·12 days

02

Recruited a molecular gastronomy specialist for a tech executive in Chelsea. Previous chefs could not master his dietary requirements.

Chelsea·3 weeks

03

Found a live-in chef for a Hamptons estate who speaks fluent Spanish and excels at Mediterranean cuisine.

Hamptons·5 days

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What does a private chef actually earn?

Real salary ranges drawn from our actual placements — London, the Home Counties, Monaco, Dubai — updated as the market moves. No padding, no estimates from job boards.

See the salary guide

Tell us what you need.

One conversation with a real consultant — no forms-and-funnels, no automated follow-ups. We’ll listen, ask the right questions, and come back with people we’d put forward for our own families.

Message Us on WhatsApp Request a Consultation

Most clients prefer to start with a WhatsApp message — it's discreet and we typically reply within minutes.

Private Chef

What the role actually covers

Frequently Asked Questions

From the books

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