Hiring a private chef for your villa in Marbella: how it works

A private chef dinner is the format we get asked about most in Marbella, usually by someone renting a villa for a week who wants one evening where nobody cooks, nobody drives and nobody queues for a table in Puerto Banús. Here is what actually happens between the first email and dessert.

Step 1: you tell us four things

Send the date, the number of guests, the villa (the area is enough to start: Nueva Andalucía, Sierra Blanca, Los Monteros, Estepona) and the kind of evening you have in mind: a relaxed sharing table, a formal three-course dinner or a tasting menu. If someone in the group is vegetarian, vegan or gluten-free, say so now. It’s built into the menu from the start, not bolted on.

Step 2: we send a menu and a quote

Within two working days you get a proposed menu and a price. Our sample dinner menu shows the register we cook in: Mediterranean produce with Japanese, Mexican and French accents. Everything on it can be swapped. If the budget is fixed, tell us; it’s easier to design to a number than to guess one.

Step 3: we check the villa

Before the day we ask your villa manager or agency a few practical questions: what the kitchen has (hob, oven, fridge space), how many people the dining table seats, whether dinner is inside or by the pool, and where we can park to unload. Most Marbella villas are well equipped. If yours isn’t, we bring what’s missing.

Step 4: the evening

The chef and service team arrive two to three hours before you sit down. They bring the ingredients, the plates and glassware if needed, and everything gets cooked in the villa. You hear the kitchen working while you have a drink on the terrace; that’s part of it. Courses come out when you’re ready, not on a timer. At the end the kitchen is left as we found it.

What it costs

The price depends on the menu, the number of courses and the level of service: a chef alone for a relaxed family dinner is a different evening from a chef plus waiters for a formal one. Guest count matters less than people expect above about ten. Send the details through the quote form and you’ll have a number within two working days.

When to book

July and August evenings go first, followed by the long weekends around Easter and the October bank holidays. For a summer stay, book the chef when you book the villa. Outside peak season a week’s notice is usually enough.

Hosting more than a dinner? See what we do for weddings, corporate events and yacht charters in Marbella.