How-Tos

Fine Dining: How to Work with a Private Chef

Lisa Markwell, who swapped the newsroom for the kitchen, gives us a seat at her table to reveal the secrets to finding and working with a private chef

Going out for dinner can be a complicated affair. The food may not be up to par, your favorite wine not on the list, the waiter over-attentive… Little wonder that many people are now choosing to stay at home and bring the restaurants to them, in the shape of private chefs.

Private chef Lisa Markwell, photographed exclusively for Christie’s International Real Estate magazine. Photography: Cristian Barnett. Styling: Katie Sellers
Private chef Lisa Markwell, photographed exclusively for Christie’s International Real Estate magazine. Photography: Cristian Barnett. Styling: Katie Sellers

Today’s private chef is as far removed from the live-in cook of the past as Michelin is from McDonald’s. Where once having guests to dine at home meant the kitchen staff increasing the size of the lasagne or adding some more potatoes to the roast, today it’s about hiring an expert, an artist, someone who has traveled the globe and learned their craft at the world’s greatest culinary schools. 

Related: Find 5 Gourmet Essentials for the Modern Kitchen
It’s not all dinner parties. Private chefs can also help to plan an event with their contacts in the wine trade, floristry, and interior décor. Photography: Cristian Barnett. Styling: Katie Sellers
It’s not all dinner parties. Private chefs can also help to plan an event with their contacts in the wine trade, floristry, and interior décor. Photography: Cristian Barnett. Styling: Katie Sellers

So why hire one? You might want to wow your guests with a sharing feast, full of drama and explosive new flavors, or perhaps you’d like an elegant tasting menu for an intimate gathering. You might be taking the family on a month-long sailing holiday or celebrating a birthday with friends in the mountains. Whatever you desire (maybe just a simple but perfect plate of pasta), there’s a chef who can create it for you—and they will have been trained in Paris at Le Cordon Bleu, in London at Leiths, or in New York at the Institute of Culinary Education, for instance.

Successful private chefs are willing to go the extra mile, and always with a smile

Find the right chef for you
Many people have a live-in cook, but hiring a private chef isn’t about the day-in, day-out family meals, it’s about culinary indulgence. So how do you find the right hire for your needs?

Some private chefs will teach clients to cook favorite dishes themselves, or give their children some simple, fun lessons. Photography: Cristian Barnett. Styling: Katie Sellers
Some private chefs will teach clients to cook favorite dishes themselves, or give their children some simple, fun lessons. Photography: Cristian Barnett. Styling: Katie Sellers

Acclaimed culinary star Margot Henderson says, “I always tell people to come and eat in my place.” Conveniently, Henderson has both a restaurant, Rochelle Canteen, and a private catering company, Arnold & Henderson, in London, so clients can taste her food with ease.

Related: How to Build the Ultimate Outdoor Kitchen

Leiths List, a long established “Agency for Cooks,” suggests asking potential candidates to cook for you. “A trial meal, or at the least a face-to-face meeting, irons out expectations and develops a relationship,” says Leiths List’s Sarah Keene.

According to private chef Lisa Markwell, creativity and a thoughtful approach to who you're cooking for goes a long way toward a happy client. Photography: Cristian Barnett. Styling: Katie Sellers
According to private chef Lisa Markwell, creativity and a thoughtful approach to who you're cooking for goes a long way toward a happy client. Photography: Cristian Barnett. Styling: Katie Sellers

It’s not just about the food, she adds, it’s chemistry. A private chef is, after all, going to be in your property, up close and personal with your family and guests—and party to both your nutritional needs and stylistic whims.

A trial meal, or at the least a face-to-face meeting, irons out expectations and develops a relationship

Georgia Doherty runs The Hill Food Company, London, and has, she says, “a collection of cookbooks bigger than my flat” to make sure she is constantly inspired and offering new options to her regular clients. She’s not only a trained chef, but a florist, too, “because everything should be as beautiful as the food.” 

Private chefs take the utmost care in their clients' homes; they are, after all, likely to be cooking surrounded by valuable art, antique furniture, and precious mementos. Photography: Cristian Barnett. Styling: Katie Sellers
Private chefs take the utmost care in their clients' homes; they are, after all, likely to be cooking surrounded by valuable art, antique furniture, and precious mementos. Photography: Cristian Barnett. Styling: Katie Sellers

Make your requirements known
No one expects (or, to be totally frank, wants) the client in the kitchen stirring the pot, but a job should include a clear and honest discussion, if only to say “Make it like they do at Eleven Madison Park,” or “My wife loves seared tuna.”

A former newspaper editor, Lisa Markwell is currently writing a book, Holds Knife Like Pen, about her experience training to be a chef. Photography: Cristian Barnett. Styling: Katie Sellers
A former newspaper editor, Lisa Markwell is currently writing a book, Holds Knife Like Pen, about her experience training to be a chef. Photography: Cristian Barnett. Styling: Katie Sellers

And speaking of honesty, what’s your kitchen like? I cooked for a family of 15 in a beautiful, spacious house with a vast dining room and a gorgeously stylish marble kitchen. But, because nobody actually cooks in the house, the fact that one of the dishwashers was broken and the sink was the size of a postage stamp wasn’t flagged up.

Related: Find 6 Elegant Essentials for Outdoor Dining

It’s only sensible to let your chef know, ahead of arrival, that your oven is glitchy or that the housekeeper’s away, so there’s no one to serve the food. Everything can be hired, but if your location is a remote lodge, it’ll take some notice.

This four bedroom villa in Liguria Portofino, Genoa has a strikingly modern kitchen with windows that frame the spectacular Portofino scenery. On the market with Immobilsarda, the exclusive affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate in the region, it would make a stunning location for a celebratory dinner party with a private chef at the helm.Nurture a relationship
The lack of control is why some chefs prefer restaurant life. Though, like a restaurant customer, the client is always right. If asparagus is what’s wanted in January, it can be found, but a good private chef will eloquently steer you toward what’s in season, and in peak condition. If they’re lucky, as Doherty knows from experience, the client might have a “beautifully maintained kitchen garden” from which to select herbs, vegetables, and fruit.

Successful private chefs are, as Keene of Leiths List says, “willing to go the extra mile, and always with a smile.” Knocking up a surprise pizza party for the kids, or a last-minute birthday cake? No problem. I had a client pay me to write a bespoke cookbook of the dishes I’d created for her, so she could get them made when she emigrated. When the relationship works, the chef will create bespoke meals, whether one-off or for a season, that surprise and delight the client and their guests. It can become a regular partnership.

There’s nothing like word of mouth to find the stars that will make your dinner parties the talk of the town

And while there are many skilled chefs in the market and reputable agencies representing them, there’s nothing like word of mouth to find the stars that will make your dinner parties the talk of the town. So next time your friend invites you to an outstanding supper, don’t be afraid to ask if you can speak to the chef before you leave.