Christmas Dinner in a Breckenridge Vacation Rental

Private chef guides

---

Christmas in the mountains is the trip many families talk about for years: snow on the deck, lights on Main Street and everyone under one roof. The meal is where it can go wrong. Christmas dinner in Breckenridge means competing for a few restaurant tables, or someone giving up the holiday to cook in a kitchen they have never used.

This guide is for families and groups spending Christmas in a Summit County rental. You will see how a restaurant compares with dinner at the house, whether to book Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, what a Christmas private chef in Breckenridge serves and how to keep your own traditions while you are away from home.

Christmas dinner in Breckenridge: restaurant or rental

Most of the town’s restaurants stay open over the holidays, and some put on special menus. The local tourism board’s guide to the holidays in Breckenridge recommends reserving ahead and notes that restaurants generally will not seat a party until everyone has arrived. For a family of ten coming from three different condos, that alone can decide it.

This table compares the two options for a family Christmas dinner.

A night out in town has its charm, especially for couples. For a multi-generation family, dinner at the rental usually wins.

Christmas Eve or Christmas Day

Families split on which meal is the big one, and either works with a chef. A few points to think through:

• Christmas Eve suits families whose tradition is the night before, and it leaves Christmas Day free for presents, skiing and leftovers.
• Christmas Day suits families who open gifts in the morning, ski in the afternoon and want a proper dinner to end the day.
• Both is possible if you are staying the week. A lighter platter evening on one night and a four-course dinner on the other keeps it special without being too much food.

Whichever you choose, tell us the time you want to sit down. An earlier dinner suits younger children, while a later one gives skiers time to come off the mountain and change.

What a Christmas private chef in Breckenridge serves

There is no set holiday menu. You build a four-course dinner from the dishes we cook, and every menu includes a starter, soup or salad, entrée and dessert. For a festive table, families often reach for the richer dishes:

1. Starter: a shrimp cocktail platter, or stuffed mushrooms with sausage, crab or spinach
2. Soup or salad: a lemony Greek avgolemono, or the gorgonzola and walnut dinner salad
3. Entrée: beef fillet with asparagus, with roasted red potatoes on the side
4. Dessert: tiramisu or fruit tart

For a lighter alternative at the same table, chicken piccata or poached fish with tomato and cumin work well. All of the options and the pricing are on our menus page, and pairing wine with a mountain dinner will help you pick bottles for the beef.

Keeping your traditions in a rental

Being away from home does not mean giving up what makes Christmas yours. Some simple ideas:

• Bring one dish from home. A family cookie recipe or a favorite pie travels well and sits happily beside the chef’s dessert.
• Pack the small things. Stockings, a table runner or a few ornaments make a rental feel like your house.
• Give the kids a job. Writing place cards or folding napkins keeps them busy while dinner is cooking.
• Keep a moment for the toast. With nobody in the kitchen, the person who usually cooks can finally sit down for it.

The chef sets and serves the table, so tell us about anything you plan to add when you book.

Three generations at one table

Christmas trips often look like small reunions, with grandparents, parents and children sharing one big house. A dinner at the rental is built for that:

• Grandparents stay in. No icy steps or night driving after a long dinner.
• Kids can come and go. Children can leave the table to play and come back for dessert while the adults linger.
• Children cost less. Children under 12 are half price.
• Diets are planned. Gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan and food allergies are built into the menu, not handled with a separate plate on the night.

If the whole family is together for the week, our page on family reunion catering in Breckenridge explains how we plan for a bigger gathering, and our guide to family ski vacation dinner ideas covers the ordinary nights around the holiday.

Booking and cost

Christmas dinners can be booked, and we have been cooking in Summit County rentals since 1998. Holiday weeks fill early, so call as soon as your dates are firm. Dinners start from $79 per person, with groceries, tax and clean-up already in that figure; what a private chef costs in Breckenridge explains the rest, including the rules for children and larger groups.

When you call or email, have these ready so we can plan quickly:

1. Your dates and the night you want, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or both.
2. The rental address, in Breckenridge, Frisco, Copper Mountain or Keystone.
3. How many adults and how many children, since children under 12 are half price.
4. Every allergy and dietary need, for every guest, including the youngest.
5. The time you want to sit down, and anything you plan to add to the table yourselves.

If this is your first time hosting a chef in a rental, how an evening with a private chef in your rental unfolds walks through the evening from arrival to clean-up.

Staying through the new year? Our guide to New Year’s Eve dinner at your Breckenridge rental picks up where this one ends, and our guide to Thanksgiving dinner in your Breckenridge rental covers the earlier holiday.

Frequently asked questions