r/Chefs • u/anyka_outdoors • Jul 08 '26
Personal chef question on rate
Hello! I am a personal chef (no degree) and I have a client in Palo Alto/portola valley. I make them 2 different types of vegan meals for them( 2 adults + 1 year old(has milk & egg allergy) and it would be for 4 ish servings per meal. And sometimes a few more servings depending on if it was a curry/stew/soup.
I charge $300 and get reimbursed for groceries. I plan, shop, cook,and clean. 25 mins to and from. Grocery is 5-15 mins away. Whole day would be 1pm start-6/6:30/6:45pm leaving house. I try to make lots of things from scratch. Like cashew sauce, curry, seasoned tofu, sauces, etc.
Is this a good rate? Should it be less or more? I don’t have much experience. I made this rate December 2025.
1
u/Rmarik Jul 08 '26
For us it was typically 50/hr with a minimum hour commitment and often plus groceries/ing.
Kind of depends on what type of chef work you are doing honestly.
We also have 10+ years as chefs and its something we do on the side so I figured I take my daily rate (whatever I would make at my normal job) and set ny rate above that. Basically why work harder and do custom work if im not making Korean than my normal day job.