 What
is a Personal Chef?
What Is Included In Your Personal Chef "Regular
Service"?
Do You Shop For Me?
Do You Cook In My Kitchen?
How Long Will You Be Here?
Do You Have access to a Commercial Kitchen?
Will You Customize the Menu to My Tastes & Health
Requirements?
How Do You Package And Store Our Ready-To-Serve
Meals?
How Much Freezer Space Do You Need?
Do I Heat The Food?
How Often Should I Schedule Your Service?
How Long Should The Food Retain Its Optimum Flavor?
Why Do You Charge By The Meal for your Regular
Service?
Why Do You Have A Minimum Order For Regular Service?
Do I Pay You Before Your Visit?
Will You Cook For My Private Dinner Party?
Can I Call You On An As-Needed Basis?
How Far In Advance Do I Need To Reserve Your
Time?
What Is Your Cancellation Policy?
Why Do You Charge A Travel Expense Fee?
What Is A Personal Chef?
Unlike a private chef who is usually employed full-time with one
household, a Personal Chef has several clients who regularly schedule
the Chef's services on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis.
A Personal Chef provides a customized selection of several meals,
which are packaged and stored for the client to enjoy as each meal
fits into their schedule and lifestyle. A Personal Chef usually
schedules one client per day.
Personal Chefs meet the needs of clientele whose schedule limits
meal planning and preparation to less than 2 hours per day, and
who have a desire to integrate high-quality, healthy meals into
the everyday life of their home.
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What Is Included In Your Personal Chef "Regular Service"?
My Regular Service is the most convenient and economical way to
benefit from what I do. It is an ongoing service based on your
schedule. The minimum amount of meals for my Regular Service
is twenty (20) meals. For this service I charge on a per-meal basis.
To begin, we will sit down together to discuss your particular
needs. I will first help you decide how often I should come for
meal preparation. This will depend on the amount of meals, and servings,
you feel you will need for a typical week. We will then discuss
your food likes, dislikes, and special requirements. From there,
we will create your menu of entrées, and other meal components,
for the first week, or two weeks.
Each meal will be a variation on approximately 4 menu items that
we have selected together. For example, you may have selected one
poultry dish, one fish, one meat, and one vegetarian dish, from
which I will compose variations to create twenty or more meals.
Each time I visit, I will verify the schedule of my next visit,
to assure that my Regular Service is fitting with your schedule
needs.
A selection of appetizers and desserts for the first few nights
is included.
My Regular Service also includes a just-made dinner for
you and your household on the evening of my preparation day.
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Do You Shop For Me?
Yes. Based on your menu, I select the most appropriate places
to find the best ingredients. Typically, I will go to 4 or 5 different
places to complete the list of ingredients we will need. I shop
at some of the best markets, and have accounts with some of the
restaurant industry's best local purveyors. If you like a very particular
item, be sure to tell me, so I can keep bringing it to you.
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Do You Cook In My Kitchen?
Yes. On our agreed upon preparation day, I will be cooking
on site, in your kitchen, for most of the preparation. The
size of your kitchen does not matter; I can adjust my methods
according to your facility. I bring my own pots, pans, small
cooking appliances, and utensils, as needed. After I have finished,
I clean up, leaving your kitchen as it was, and leave you with
a fresh home-prepared gourmet meal to enjoy that evening.
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How Long Will You Be Here?
When I come for meal preparation, I will typically be spending
4 to 8 hours in your kitchen. For extra-large quantities, I may
need two consecutive days for preparation. We will estimate preparation
time before we begin your regular service. Most typically, the
length of each time I visit will vary according to the menu selection
(some dishes take more time than others to prepare), and the quantity
of food.
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Do Your Have Access to a Commercial Kitchen??
Yes. For large catered events, commercial kitchen rental is included
in my pricing. For my other services, I charge an additional fee
when extensive preparation requires that I rent a commercial kitchen.
This is also an option for you if you are uncomfortable with me
utilizing your residential kitchen, or if your kitchen is truly
unusable for any reason. The commercial kitchen use fee is $65 for
three hours or less.
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Will You Customize the Food to My Personal Tastes
& Health Requirements?
Yes. When we meet, I will ask you to fill out a questionnaire
that I will keep as a Client Profile. Here, you will have the opportunity
to let me know your likes and dislikes. It is important for me to
know if you have any food allergies, or special dietary requirements.
As well, I would like to be aware if you have a preference for hormone-free,
or organic products.
Besides assisting me to create a customized menu for you, this
information helps me select the most appropriate places to shop
for your table. I keep a Client Profile for each individual who
is a regular client. If you have ten members in your household who
will be eating my food on a regular basis, I will have a profile
for each of them. Client profiles are not completed for your guests.
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How Do You Package And Store Our Ready-To-Serve Meals?
I individually seal each meal using a vacuum-sealing machine,
which removes the air from the interior of the package. This allows
the flavor of the food in its freshest state to be preserved. It
also prevents the likelihood of freezer burn.
I label each meal, note the date of preparation, and any special
heating instructions. Then, I organize the meals in your freezer
for easy access.
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How Much Freezer Space Do You Need?
My packaging method is space-efficient, and will maximize the amount
of meals stored. It will depend, of course, on how many meals you
select for your regular service. Usually, a portion of the food
I prepare for you can be stored in the refrigerator. However, I
do consider your freezer size when we first meet to determine your
meal quantity needs. I also suggest easy ways to reorganize the
items you will be keeping in your freezer other than your In
The Kitchen personal chef meals. For refrigerator space, I typically
advise my regular clients not to go shopping the day before, so
I can cool down your products while I work.
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Do I Heat The Food?
Yes, unless it is meant to be served cold. I will always
leave heating recommendations for each entrée. Generally, frozen
entrées should be defrosted overnight in your refrigerator. Re-heating
method is usually as easy as boiling the package itself, or
heating it in a microwave, to release its peak flavor.
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How Often Should I Schedule Your Service?
This will depend on the amount of meals, and servings, you feel
you will need for a typical week. We will determine this together
at our first meeting, and adjust as your schedule and habits demand.
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How Long Should The Food Retain Its Optimum Flavor?
I feel comfortable to say that the vacuum-packaging method I use
should retain the peak flavor of each precooked meal up to six weeks
in a freezer. I do not recommend freezing every component of some
meals, especially those meant to be experienced with fresh herbs,
for example. Meals with fresh, uncooked ingredients have a shorter
fridge-life. To make your life easy, I recommend which meals to
enjoy sooner than others.
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Why Do You Charge By The Meal for your Regular Service?
This method gives you an easy way to add or reduce quantity on
an individual basis. You may invite guests one week, while someone
may be out of town the next.
The rate is comparable to what you may spend eating out, considering
driving cost and time, and tips. The rate is also comparable to
what you might spend grocery shopping, including time and effort
to prepare the same level of quality.
For Intimate Dining Service, I charge food cost, plus hourly labor for
shopping and preparation. For Cooking Instruction, there is a flat
fee based on group size, and type of instruction.
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Why Do You Have A Minimum Order For Regular Service?
This requirement simply refers to how pricing is structured. Regular
Service is priced by the meal, and the twenty meal minimum is based
purely on covering my costs with this pricing method.
If you would like preparation of less than twenty meals
as a Regular Service, I can do that, but I must charge differently.
For under twenty prepackaged custom meals on a regular basis, I
charge shopping fee plus foodcost, plus hourly labor.
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Do I Pay You Before Your Visit?
Yes. It is customary to pay prior to service, if you are a Regular
Service client. You can pay me for my next visit on your preparation
day. For Intimate Dining Service, you pay half of the estimated costs prior
to my service, and the remainder after preparation. For cooking
instruction, 50% prior payment is also required.
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Will You Cook For My Private Dinner Party?
I love to cook for private dinner parties, or family dinners á
la minute. This is considered Intimate Dining Service, and is priced
slightly differently than my Personal Chef Service. I do use your
kitchen. I charge a shopping fee, food cost, plus an hourly labor
fee. My Intimate Dining Service is a perfect option for your dinner
parties, or if you want me to prepare less than twenty packaged
meals for your freezer, or prepare picnic lunches.
For private dinner parties, I set the table, introduce and serve
the meal, and clean up. Often, I will accent your table with serving
pieces of my own which compliment the presentation of the food.
For special occasions, we can discuss table decoration in greater
detail.
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Can I Call You On An As-Needed Basis?
For private dinner parties, any other Intimate Dining Service, and cooking
instruction, yes. For Personal Chef Regular Service, we will have
a standing schedule that can be adjusted with adequate notice (usually
one service cycle).
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How Far In Advance Do I Need To Reserve Your Time?
Two weeks is generally recommended to schedule any of my services
other than large event catering. For private dinners of 10 or less,
or for cooking instruction, I require scheduling 7 days ahead of
the date.
You are welcome to call anytime to see if I have the date you need
open. In this case, a minimum of 72 hours notice is required to
prepare for your needs. I will try my best to accommodate.
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What Is Your Cancellation Policy?
For all my services, I require 72 hours advance notice if you must
cancel. If you cancel within the 72 hours, I keep 50% of the total
charge or estimate. This is to cover resulting expenses for me.
Cancellations within this time frame do leave me with food over-ordered,
and time I cannot replace with another client's business at such
short notice.
I require the same amount of notice for postponing your date. Postponing
has the same impact as cancellation, and is treated the same as
cancellation.
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Why Do You Charge A Travel Expense Fee?
Like most businesses, my business has a time & material cost relationship
at its core. If you live outside of the Salt Lake City area, where
it requires more than a thirty minute trip to get to your home,
I will charge a fee to cover my transportation expenses. This fee
covers gasoline, and my time. I calculate this fee on my hourly
rate, and the amount of trip-time. Longer trips also require more
time to pack the food for transport, in order to insure temperature
consistency of your food.
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