Hiring a private chef for the first time can feel like a leap. You’re inviting someone into the kitchen of the villa you’ve rented, often before you’ve even met them. Most guests want to know the same thing: what does this actually look like, from start to finish?
Here’s how a Tuscany villa private chef experience usually unfolds — at least, the way I run mine.
Before you arrive: the conversation. Most bookings start weeks or months ahead. We exchange a few messages: how many people, which evenings, the occasion, any allergies, dietary preferences, or wines you’d like to highlight. From there I propose a menu — always seasonal, always Maremma-rooted, always adjustable. Nothing is locked in until you’re happy with it.
The day of: the shopping. I source everything fresh that morning. Vegetables from local growers, fish from the Tyrrhenian coast, meat from butchers I’ve worked with for years, cheeses and oil from small producers in Maremma. The quality of the dinner is largely decided here, before I even reach your villa.
On site: the kitchen becomes mine. I arrive a few hours before service. I bring my own knives, my own equipment when needed, and I work in your kitchen as if it were my own — which is to say, quietly and cleanly. You don’t need to host me. You don’t need to entertain me. You’re on holiday.
At the table: the dinner. A typical menu runs four courses, paced unhurriedly across the evening. I introduce each dish briefly when I serve it: where the ingredients are from, why they belong together, what makes them part of this region. Then I step back. The dinner is yours.
After: the kitchen the way you found it. Cleaning is part of the service. By the time I leave, the only thing left of the evening is the memory of it.
That’s the structure. The details — the menu, the pace, the wines, even the table setting — are built around you. Hiring a private chef in Tuscany isn’t about a fixed package. It’s about someone designing your evening from scratch.
If you’re staying in a villa this season and curious how it might work for your group, tell me about your trip.
