What Does a Private Chef Service Cost, and What's Included?

How pricing works

Chefs set their own prices. When you submit a request you choose one of three budget tiers — Casual, Gourmet or Exclusive — and chefs build a tailored proposal around it. Chefs may come in slightly above or below your tier depending on the menu, the ingredients and the complexity of what you've asked for.

The total you see in a chef's proposal is the total you pay. Take a Chef does not add any fee on top of it.

What's included in the price

	Single service (one event)	Multiple-day service
Menu design	Included	Included
The chef's travel to your address	Included	Included
Grocery shopping	Chef does it	Chef does it
Cost of the ingredients	Included in the price	Not included — the chef shares the receipts at the end of each day and you reimburse them directly, in cash or by transfer
Cooking and table service	Included	Included
Cleanup of the kitchen and cooking area	Included	Included
Local taxes	Already inside the chef's price	Already inside the chef's price

What's not included

These are optional and billed separately. Agree them with your chef before the event:

Drinks and wine
Extra waitstaff or an assistant
Tableware, glassware, cutlery and table styling — you provide the everyday items; a specially styled table is an add-on
Decoration and ambience
Gratuity (see below)

Transportation

We work with local chefs, so there is no separate transportation fee. Enter the correct location when you submit your request — if you don't know the exact address yet, the city is enough and you can confirm the address with the chef in the chat later. Transport costs can only come up in the rare case where the location changes at the last minute and you agree with the chef to cover the difference.

Taxes and extra charges

The chef's price already includes any applicable local taxes. We add nothing on top. If you see an extra amount on your statement, it is almost always a transaction or currency fee from your own bank — check with them.

Tipping

Gratuity is not included in the price and is entirely up to you. If you do want to tip, a common range is 15–20% of the service cost, but any amount is welcome — follow whatever is normal where you live.

Three ways to do it:

Cash on the day, at the end of the experience.
A transfer app (Venmo, Zelle, PayPal) — arrange it directly with the chef.
A payment link from us —the chef can send you a money request up to 24 hours after the service is completed. If this is not possible contact support with the email you booked with, the service date, and the amount you want to tip. A small processing 3% fee applies. We pass the tip on to the chef.

Currency

Quotes and payment are in the local currency of the country where the service takes place. Exceptions: Costa Rica, Argentina and Colombia are quoted in USD. If you need to pay in a different currency, contact support and we'll issue a payment link at that day's exchange rate and confirm the booking with your chef manually — an emailed confirmation from support is just as valid as one from the platform.

If the quote is higher than you expected

Chefs have some flexibility. Message the chef and explain your budget — they can usually adjust the menu. Or reject the proposal with the trash icon, which frees a slot for another chef to send you one.

Payment

Full payment goes through the platform to confirm the booking. Once it's processed your service shows as reserved, you get a confirmation email, and you're covered by our cancellation, chef-payment and complaints policies.