Private Chef for a Dinner Party: Cost, Menu and How to Book
A private chef for a dinner party plans the menu, shops, cooks in your kitchen, serves each course and leaves the kitchen clean. With MileHighCook it runs $150 to $250 per guest, groceries included, with a suggested 20% gratuity on top. You get a written menu and an all-inclusive quote within 24 hours of your call.
Below: what the chef handles, when a dinner party needs a chef and when it needs catering, how to hire one, how the menu gets built around your guests, how the night runs, and what it costs.
What a Private Chef Does at a Dinner Party
The chef handles the whole meal, start to finish:
- Builds a menu around your guests, the occasion and any allergies
- Shops for every ingredient
- Arrives 2.5 to 3 hours before your first guest to prep in your kitchen
- Cooks and serves each course, plated or family style
- Clears between courses and cleans the kitchen before leaving
A family-style dinner for six usually needs one chef. A plated dinner for thirty needs a service team, and the quote includes it.
Private Chef or Catering: Which Fits Your Party?
A private chef fits a seated dinner where the food is the point: a birthday, an anniversary, a holiday table, friends in from out of town. Everyone sits at one table, courses come out in order, and the chef can talk you through each dish.
Catering fits when the party is bigger than the table: stations, passed bites, a bar, a crowd moving around. Past about twenty guests catering starts to make more sense, and past fifty it is the format we quote. See private chef vs. catering for the side by side, and the catering cost guide for those prices.
How to Hire a Private Chef for a Dinner Party
- Settle the basics. Date, town, guest count, and whether you want the meal plated or family style.
- Collect every allergy and diet before you call. A gluten-free guest changes the menu less than you think. Finding out on the night changes it a lot.
- Ask what the price includes. Some chefs quote a lower per-guest rate and bill the groceries after the shop. Ours puts groceries, cooking, service and cleanup in one number.
- Ask who will be in your kitchen and when they arrive.
- Read the menu before you book and change anything you want.
To start with us, send your date and guest count or call (720) 730-7194. You can meet our chefs and browse sample menus first. We cook in 40+ towns across Colorado, Arizona, Utah and Wyoming; see every market.
Want a real number for your dinner?
Tell us the basics and we write back with a quote within 24 hours.
Planning the Menu Around Your Guests
Start from the occasion and the people, not a list of dishes. A birthday dinner for a friend who loves Italian food and a client dinner for twelve call for different menus, even at the same price.
A three-course seasonal dinner and a seven-course tasting menu are both on the table. More courses and more premium ingredients move the price toward the top of the range. Tell us about allergies, vegetarians, vegans, gluten-free guests and kids when you book, and their plates are built to match everyone else's. Sample menus show the range.
How the Evening Runs
The chef arrives 2.5 to 3 hours before your first guest and preps in your kitchen. Before the day, tell us where the chef can work, which burners and oven are free, and whether you want the meal plated or family style.
Once guests sit down, courses come out at the pace of the table. After dessert the chef clears and cleans, and the kitchen goes back to the way you left it. You stay at the table the whole night. If you also want bar service or a bigger service team, say so when you book and it goes in the same quote.
What a Private Chef for a Dinner Party Costs
$150 to $250 per guest, all-inclusive. That covers the menu, every grocery, the chef, service staff for your group size, and cleanup. A 20% gratuity is suggested and never added automatically. Inside our markets in Colorado, Arizona, Utah and Wyoming there is no travel fee.
Where you land in that range depends on guest count, the number of courses, and how premium the ingredients are. An event minimum applies; ask for your market's. For worked examples by party size, plus prices per day, per month and for a full-time chef, see how much a private chef costs.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is a private chef for a dinner party of 12?
Multiply $150 to $250 by twelve. That number covers the menu, groceries, the chef, service staff and cleanup, with a suggested 20% gratuity on top. For worked examples by party size, see what a private chef costs.
Can I hire a private chef for a dinner for two?
Yes. We cook the same way for two as for twelve, with the menu scaled to you. The per-guest rate is the same $150 to $250, and an event minimum applies, so ask for your market's.
Is a personal chef the same as a private chef?
For a dinner party, yes: people use both names. The difference shows up when you mean regular cooking. A personal chef usually means weekly meal prep for a household, priced by the hour. A private chef usually means a dinner or event, priced per guest. See meal prep for the weekly version.
How far in advance should I book a private chef for a dinner party?
As early as you can for Friday and Saturday nights and the holidays. A few weeks out leaves time to settle the menu. Shorter notice often works too, so call and ask.
Can a private chef handle dietary restrictions like vegan or gluten-free?
Yes. Tell us at booking and those guests get plates built to match the rest of the table, not a plain substitute. The same goes for allergies, vegetarians and kids.
Do you cook dinner parties outside Denver?
Yes. We have chefs in 40+ towns across Colorado, Arizona, Utah and Wyoming, from Denver and Aspen to Scottsdale, Park City and Jackson Hole. See every market.
Which type of chef is more suitable for a small family gathering?
A private chef is the right fit for a small family gathering. The evening stays intimate: one chef in your kitchen, a menu built around what the family actually eats, kids' plates alongside the adults', and the kitchen clean when everyone leaves. Catering earns its place past roughly twenty guests, when service staff and stations make sense. For six to sixteen at one table, a private chef costs from $150 per person all-inclusive and keeps the host at the table instead of at the stove.
Tell us the occasion, the headcount, and the town. We build the menu around your event.