Your Complete Guide to Booking a Celebrity Chef

How Booking a Celebrity Chef Works

Booking a celebrity chef is simpler than most people expect, provided the brief is clear and the approach is made properly. This guide sets out what we need from you, what happens after you enquire and how the day itself is run, so you know what to expect at every stage.

In plain terms: bookings start from £20,000, a name is usually confirmed within two to three weeks of your first call, and three to six months of notice gives you the widest choice of chefs.

What We Need to Check Availability

Five details let us check availability properly: the date, or a range of dates; the location and the kitchen available; the number of guests; the format, whether a seated dinner, a demonstration, a masterclass or an appearance; and a sense of budget. If you already have a name in mind, tell us; if you do not, tell us what the evening should feel like. Dietary requirements, and whether the occasion will be filmed or photographed, are useful to know early.

Agencies, planners and assistants booking on behalf of a client are welcome. We work to your brief, keep your client’s identity confidential under NDA wherever it is needed, and you remain the single point of contact throughout.

What Happens After You Enquire

• A short, confidential call: we talk through the occasion, the guests and the atmosphere you want, with no obligation
• A shortlist: names who are genuinely available for your date, with what each would bring to it and an honest fee expectation
• The approach and the contract: we handle the introduction, the fee negotiation and the contract, including NDAs and any filming or usage rights
• The menu or the format: a planning call or a tasting with the chef, where the menu is written around your guests, your cellar and any dietary requirements
• The kitchen: a call or a visit to check the space, with anything the kitchen lacks brought in rather than the menu changed

What It Costs

Fees start from £20,000. Private dinners, demonstrations and corporate bookings all start from £20,000, and the final fee depends on the chef’s profile, the format and the location. The fee covers the chef’s time, the planning, the chef’s own team and the sourcing; wine, hired equipment and travel outside the chef’s home region are quoted separately and shown in full. Our guide to what a celebrity chef costs sets out the ranges format by format.

On the Day

The chef and a small team arrive several hours ahead to prepare. At a private dinner the chef moves between the stove and the table, introducing each course as it lands; in a larger room they work with the venue’s own kitchen team and introduce the menu from the stage. Service staff, a sommelier and hired equipment are arranged where they are needed, and one point of contact runs the timings from arrival to the last guest leaving. For a dinner at home, our guide to celebrity chef private dining goes into the detail.

Why Clients Book Through Us

Since 2016 we have arranged private dinners, masterclasses, launches and corporate evenings with well-known chefs for private clients and companies across the United Kingdom and Europe. Everything is arranged privately: we do not publish a list of names, and most of what we arrange is never made public. You deal with one point of contact from the first call to the evening itself. Where technical cooking matters more than a familiar face, the Michelin star chef route is often the better fit, and our comparison of celebrity chefs and private chefs helps if you are still deciding. Teams who want to cook rather than be cooked for should look at our corporate cooking classes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Ready to start? Tell us about the occasion and we will come back with names who are free for your date, or read how we hire a celebrity chef for private and corporate clients.