What to Expect When a Private Chef Cooks in Your Rental

Private chef guides

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You have booked a chef for a night of your ski trip, or you are close to it. Now the practical questions start: will someone take over the kitchen all afternoon, do you need to buy anything, and where do the kids go? This guide covers what to expect from a private chef from the first phone call to the moment the dishwasher starts.

It is written for groups staying in rental homes and condos around Breckenridge, Frisco, Copper Mountain and Keystone. The Mobile Chef has been cooking in visitors’ kitchens across Summit County since 1998, so this is the sequence we know well. After reading, you will know what the chef handles, what your group handles and how to make the evening go smoothly.

Before the night: planning the menu

The evening starts days or weeks before with a conversation. Your chef will listen to your preferences and plan a menu that suits your group. Have these answers ready when you call:

1. Dates and headcount, including how many children under 12, who are half price.
2. Dietary needs: gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan or any food allergies.
3. Style: relaxed family evening or a celebration with more polish.
4. Tastes: cuisines you love or want to avoid. The menus range from contemporary and Mediterranean to family menus and Thai.
5. Address and access: the rental address, door codes and parking notes.

Browse the featured menus and pricing before you call. One evening might begin with steamed dumplings with satay sauce, carry on with Greek avgolemono soup, then chicken piccata, and close with tiramisu.

What to expect from a private chef on the day

Arrival and set-up

The chef arrives well ahead of dinner with the ingredients, so there is no grocery run for you. Your booking will confirm the arrival time. Expect a quick look around the kitchen to find the oven, pans and serving plates, and then the cooking begins.

You do not need to stay in the kitchen. Go to the hot tub, finish a board game or put the kids in the bath. Most groups drift in and out to watch, which is part of the fun.

Courses at the table

Dinner is four courses: first a starter, then a soup or salad, then the entrée and finally dessert. Plates come to the table one after another, at a pace that suits your group. Children can leave the table when they are finished while the adults linger, which is hard to manage in a restaurant.

Clean-up

Clean-up is included in the price. The chef washes up, wipes down and leaves the kitchen in order. You go from dessert to the sofa.

Timing it around the ski day

Pick a dinner time that respects tired legs. Lifts close in the late afternoon, and most groups want a shower, a drink and some time in the hot tub before they sit down. Setting dinner a couple of hours after you get back gives everyone time to recover.

If some of the group are skiing late or arriving from the airport, tell the chef. Courses can be paced so latecomers join at the soup rather than missing the starter.

Who handles what

Here is how the work splits between the chef and your group on a typical dinner night.

Drinks are the main thing to plan yourself. Pouring your own wine is one of the quiet savings of dining in, and our guide to wine pairing for a mountain dinner will help you choose bottles before you arrive.

Getting your rental kitchen ready

Rental kitchens vary, but a chef can work with most of them. A few minutes of preparation helps:

• Clear the counters of ski gloves, snacks and phone chargers.
• Leave the oven and stove free from late afternoon.
• Empty the dishwasher so clean-up can start straight away.
• Make room in the fridge for a shelf or two.
• Set out enough chairs at the table, or tell the chef if the group will eat in two places.
• Tell the chef about quirks, such as a weak burner or an oven that runs hot.

At around 9,600 feet in Breckenridge, water boils cooler and baking behaves differently. Our article on cooking at high altitude explains why working at elevation every day matters.

Dietary needs and allergies

Share every dietary need when you book, not on the night. The nine major food allergens listed by FARE are milk, egg, peanut, soy, wheat, tree nuts, shellfish, fish and sesame. Running through that list with your group before you call catches the needs people forget to mention.

Menus from The Mobile Chef can be gluten-free, vegetarian or vegan, and are planned around food allergies. Our guide to gluten-free, vegan and allergy-friendly private chef dining goes deeper.

Etiquette: tipping, leftovers and extra guests

• Tipping. Read your quote first: parties of six or more may already carry a server’s fee and an added gratuity. If neither appears, a tip is your choice.
• Leftovers. If you would like anything saved for tomorrow’s lunch, mention it when you book.
• Headcount changes. Call as soon as numbers change, since the food is bought for the group you booked.
• House rules. Check your rental agreement if guests from outside the house will join.

Frequently asked questions