A private chef for your vacation rental

You rented the house so nobody would have to cook. I come to the rental, cook in its kitchen, serve, and clean up, for one dinner or for the length of the stay. Most of my dinners are at home in Massachusetts, between Worcester and Boston; rental dinners farther out are by request, for the right occasion. The mussels above were a dinner in Great Barrington; I have cooked in rental houses on the Cape, in the Berkshires, on the Connecticut shore, in southern New Hampshire, and for retreats in Northampton.

How it works

• Send the listing link with your inquiry. I check the kitchen photos: a working stove or oven and some counter space is enough, since I bring knives, pans, and an induction burner.
• We plan the meals by email. One dinner, or dinners plus breakfasts and a lunch. Menus follow the season and the place: shellfish on the Cape, what the farm stands have in the Berkshires.
• I shop on the way and bring everything in. Printed menus at each seat. My tabletop kit is included if the rental’s plates are not up to it.
• Afterward the kitchen is cleaner than I found it, leftovers labeled in the fridge, and I am gone.

What it costs

A dinner is priced the same as at home: $100 per person family-style, $125 plated, $175 for a tasting menu, plus groceries at cost, with a $650 minimum. A server ($250) is required for plated dinners of 13 or more and family-style of 17 or more. Rentals outside Greater Boston, MetroWest, and Worcester County add a travel fee, quoted up front, and a multi-day stay is quoted as one price. Breakfasts and lunches are priced by what you want. The cost guide has the dinner math.

Where

Cape Cod, the Berkshires (Great Barrington, Lenox, Stockbridge), the Pioneer Valley (Northampton), the North Shore, Rhode Island (Newport, Providence), and the Connecticut shore (Mystic). Rentals inside my regular area, from Boston to Worcester, have no travel fee at all.

Rentals I have cooked in this year

• A seventieth birthday for six in West Falmouth: oysters to start, ribeye and duck, wine pairings, and an intermezzo added at the last minute.
• A plated dinner for eight in Dennis, and a family reunion dinner in Centerville.
• A bachelorette weekend for seventeen in Hancock, in the Berkshires, family-style.
• A seventieth birthday for eight at a lake house in Ashburnham: surf and turf, as requested.
• Several weeks of lunches and dinners for a family of three at a house in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, plus a birthday weekend for thirty at the same house.

Who books this

Family reunions in a big house, a milestone birthday weekend, bachelorette weekends, a couple’s anniversary trip, and retreats. If the group is large or the stay is long, the events page covers how I handle weekends of meals.

• Check availability
• See what it costs

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Questions people ask

Do you cook at Airbnbs and vacation rentals?

Yes, often. Rental kitchens are usually fine as long as there is a working stove or oven and some counter space; I bring my own knives, pans, and an induction burner. Send the listing link and I will check the kitchen photos.

Is there a travel fee?

Not within Greater Boston, MetroWest, and Worcester County. The North Shore, the Berkshires, Cape Cod, Rhode Island, and coastal Connecticut add a travel fee, quoted up front with the rest of the estimate.

Can you cook breakfast and lunch too?

Yes. Multi-meal stays are quoted as one price, with breakfasts and lunches priced by what you want on the table.