A private chef is not a restaurant chef who happens to cook in a house. In a restaurant the goal is a menu that impresses strangers once. In a family the goal is food that one particular household wants to eat every day for years — with its allergies, its diets, its children who reject anything green, its late dinners and its unannounced guests. These are different skills, and the most impressive restaurant CV does not automatically make the best household hire.
Private Chef, Family Cook, Personal Chef
Family cook. Everyday home cooking for the household: breakfast, school lunches, family dinners. Reliable and unpretentious, close to the way the family already eats.
Private chef. Employed by one family full time. Plans menus, manages the kitchen budget and suppliers, cooks daily, and handles dinners and receptions. Combines restaurant-level technique with the discipline of a private household.
Personal chef. Works with several clients, usually cooking in batches a few times a week. A good fit for families who want quality without a full-time position.
Most disappointments come from hiring one and expecting another: a family cook asked to plate a dinner for twelve, or a Michelin-trained chef asked to make the same pasta the children like, four nights a week, without visible boredom.
What the Role Actually Covers
weekly menu planning agreed with the family, taking into account allergies, intolerances, medical diets, and religious or ethical requirements;
sourcing and purchasing: suppliers, markets, seasonality, and keeping within the agreed kitchen budget;
daily cooking to the household's schedule, including meals at different times for adults and children;
separate children's food, and adapting family dishes for younger ages;
dinners, receptions, and guests, in coordination with the butler or house manager;
kitchen hygiene, storage, equipment care, and stock control;
travelling with the family and cooking in unfamiliar kitchens, where the role requires it;
keeping a record of what worked and what did not — the difference between a chef who improves and one who repeats.
Formats and Schedules
The most common arrangement is a full-time chef, live-in or live-out, on a fixed rota with clearly defined hours and days off. Families who entertain often prefer a chef who is present in the evenings; families with young children usually need breakfast and an early dinner instead. Rotation — two chefs alternating — suits households that travel frequently or run more than one property. Part-time or batch cooking two or three times a week is the least expensive format and works well for smaller households.
Whatever the format, the schedule should be written down. A kitchen without agreed hours quietly becomes an on-call position, and that is the most common reason good chefs resign.
How to Assess a Candidate
A CV tells you where someone has worked; it does not tell you whether they will suit your table. Three things do.
The conversation about food
Ask how the candidate would build a week's menu for your household as it actually is — the ages, the diets, the schedule. Listen for the questions asked back. A chef who does not ask about allergies, dislikes, and how often you entertain will cook their own preferences rather than yours.
The tasting
A paid tasting is the real interview, and it should test the job rather than the showpiece. Ask for an ordinary weekday family dinner instead of a signature dish; add one genuine restriction from the household and see how it is handled; include something for the children; and look at the state of the kitchen afterwards. Budget discipline, timing, and cleanliness matter as much as flavour.
The trial period
A paid week or two in the actual kitchen shows what no tasting can: consistency, punctuality, how the chef handles a plan that changes at six in the evening, and how they work alongside the rest of the staff.
What to Check Before an Offer
professional training and work history, verified with previous employers by phone;
food safety and hygiene certification valid in the country of employment;
a medical certificate, where local rules require one for food handling;
experience in private households specifically, not only in restaurants;
the right to work in the country: visa, permit, or the family's sponsorship;
a criminal record check and a confidentiality agreement — a chef sees guests, schedules, and health details.
What to Agree Before the First Week
The kitchen budget, and how purchases are approved and recorded. Working hours, days off, and how much notice is needed for a dinner party. Who else the chef coordinates with — house manager, butler, nanny — and who decides when instructions conflict. What happens to leftovers, and whether the chef eats with the household. Whether the chef travels with the family, and on what terms. Written answers to these questions prevent almost every dispute that arises in the first months.
Where an Agency Helps
The chef market is full of impressive CVs and thin references, and a household kitchen is an expensive place to discover that a hire was wrong. Royal Keeper verifies training, certification, and references directly with previous employers, screens candidates professionally, psychologically, and on their background, and helps to structure the trial and the contract. The agency places chefs with families in Europe, the UAE, and the USA, taking into account visa requirements and local employment law.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Do we need a chef with restaurant experience?
Not necessarily. Restaurant training gives technique and speed; private household experience gives discretion, flexibility, and patience for daily repetition. If you have to choose, the second is harder to teach.
Should the tasting be paid?
Yes. A tasting is several hours of work plus ingredients, and paying for it is standard practice — as well as the fastest way to be taken seriously by strong candidates.
Can the chef cook for the staff as well?
Often yes, and in many households it is expected. State it in the job description from the start, because it changes the volume of work significantly.
How long does it take to find a private chef?
Usually longer than for other household roles: the pool is smaller, tastings take time to arrange, and the match is highly personal. Six to eight weeks is realistic, and rushing this particular hire rarely ends well.