A birthday dinner at home, with a private chef
A menu written around the birthday person. Nobody cooks, nobody cleans.
A birthday dinner at home means the people you want there, a menu built around the person being celebrated, and no table to give back at nine. Here is how I do them.
How it works
Tell me about the birthday person: what they love to eat, what they refuse to eat, where they have traveled, whether they are a steak person or a pasta person. I write a four-course menu around that and send it to you to react to. On the night I arrive two to three hours before you sit down, cook in your kitchen, serve each course when you are ready, and I’m usually gone within forty-five minutes of dessert with the kitchen cleaner than I found it. Printed menus go at every seat, and I will put the birthday person’s name on them if you like.
Plated or family-style?
For six to ten guests, plated is my most requested format: four courses, one at a time, restaurant-style. For larger birthdays, twelve to sixteen, family-style is better: platters passed down the table, more relaxed, and the food stays hot. At 17 or more guests family-style (13 or more plated) a server joins me, $250 for the evening, so I can stay at the stove. For a smaller table of serious eaters, a seven-course tasting menu is the other option.
A fall birthday menu
One I cook often this time of year, family-style:
- Wild rice salad with cranberries, pickled apples, and pecans
- Pasta with butternut squash, kale, and brown butter
- Porchetta with crispy roast potatoes and balsamic Brussels sprouts and shallots
- Basque-style cheesecake
If the birthday person wants a specific cake, I will make it, or you bring the one from the bakery they love and I plate it with something to go alongside. More menus by season are on the sample menus page.
What it costs
A plated birthday dinner for eight is $1,000 in chef fees plus groceries at cost, usually $325 to $400, so around $1,325 to $1,400 for the evening. Family-style for fourteen is $1,400 plus groceries ($450 to $550); a server is optional at that size. Kids twelve and under are $50 each; under five eat free. The full breakdown is on the cost guide.
Kids, surprises, and other logistics
- Kids at the table get a kid-friendly version of the menu or a smaller plate of the real thing. A family birthday with a table of cousins is a good night.
- Surprise parties work fine. I can arrive after the guest of honor is already out of the house, or set up quietly in the kitchen while the surprise happens in the living room.
- Drinks: I don’t sell alcohol, but once the menu is set I send a bottle list matched to each course, and I’ll pour at the table. I bring ice.
- The table: use your own china, or I bring my tabletop kit (stoneware, glassware, silverware, linens, candles) at no charge.
- Booking: two to four weeks ahead is comfortable. Fall Saturdays fill up a month or two out.
Questions people ask
How much does a private chef birthday dinner cost?
Plated dinners are $125 per person and family-style $100 per person, plus groceries at cost (typically about $35 to $45 per person), with a $650 minimum. A plated dinner for eight is about $1,325 to $1,400 all in.
Can you make a birthday cake?
Yes. Tell me what they love and I will make it, or bring a bakery cake and I will plate it as the dessert course.
Do you do surprise parties?
Yes. I can time my arrival around the surprise and stay out of sight in the kitchen until dinner.