Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ: Personal Chef Services
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Once we get to know your needs & preferences, we’ll work with you to craft a custom menu for each appointment. We shop, cook, wash all the dishes, and clean up.
We can cook you a hot meal, pack the food in individual portions, or box it up in your own containers.
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We create custom menus for everyone!
Check out our Sample Menus here.
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Yes! Restricted diets are our bread and butter. Or should we say our jam? Chef Jamie has a personal passion for accommodating folks with dietary needs.
Past and current clients include persons with Celiac disease, kidney diets, lactose intolerance, vegetarians, diabetics, low carb and keto diets. Everyone gets a plate.
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Because we offer such a tailored experience, we prepare the food at each client’s address. This allows us to shop where you like, use your pantry items economically, and avoid charging for food storage and transportation costs.
If you’d prefer delivery, we can cook at our prep kitchen and deliver it to you for an additional service fee.
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Frequency is up to you!
You can hire a personal chef for one evening, if you just need food for a particularly busy week, or while hosting folks from out of town.
We also offer recurring and long term service if you’d like something more consistent. We can come several times a week, once a month, or anything in between. For less frequent visits, we can prep freezer meals so that you have food on hand throughout the month.
Ask about our discounts for long term customers!
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Generally, $200-300 per visit, plus groceries. Most clients have household sizes of 2-4 and are on the lower end of that range.
The day rate is calculated based on the type of service requested, number of portions needed, and estimated time investment for your household. The price includes tax, menu planning, shopping, cooking, and cleanup. You won’t need to do anything!
We pride ourselves on being accessible to many different budgets and lifestyles. You can see a more detailed pricing guide here. If you’d like to get a personalized quote, please fill out our Personal Chef Form.
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We would love to use food already in your kitchen! Just keep in mind that we ultimately might need to pick up any odds and ends required for each service date. We’ll shop at your preferred store, too.
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The inside joke amongst chefs is, “whatever people wanna eat!”
Though it’s true, we realize that answer isn’t super helpful. The food that we love to make is the food that makes you feel good. Feel-good-food is different for everyone. It might mean sampling world cuisines, stirring up nostalgia, or meeting health goals while still enjoying food. We will make the food for you.
Some of our chefs’ current favorite flavor profiles are Cajun, Southern, Mexican, Mediterranean, and Indian.
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You can just shoot us an email or submit a quote request.
After that, we’ll have a conversation to get to know you better and offer a personalized quote. Your first appointment is booked on our calendar once we receive your deposit.
FAQ: Catering
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The proposal includes menu creation, food cost, catering setup and breakdown, food preparation, service fee, disposables and/or dinnerware, cleanup of the catering work area, transportation, and staff, if needed.
We can offer other services, like rentals, upon request.
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We have some menu examples here.
Rather than a presenting you with limited options to choose from, we prefer to craft a menu that is boutique — perfectly customized to your event.
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Yes! Restricted diets are our bread and butter. Or should we say our jam?
We can design a menu that is partly/wholly vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, Keto, or “X”-free. (gluten, dairy, nuts, eggs, soy, pork, shellfish, seafood, wheat, lactose, etc.)
Our equipment is not totally allergen-free, but our chefs are ServSafe Allergen Certified. We know how to minimize risk and take great pride in being inclusive to everyone. Chef Jamie personally understands the struggle of finding “safe” food to eat outside of the house.
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Pricing will depend on the type of service (i.e. buffet, cocktail, plated…) and number of attendees.
You can see a more detailed pricing guide here.
We pride ourselves on being flexible and accessible to many different budgets. Let’s talk! -
We offer a host of different catering styles. Most events will blend a couple of different types of service.
Drop-off: We drop the food off to you before your event and pick up any equipment or rentals afterwards.
Buffet: Eye-catching displays and self-serve stations.
Cocktail: Stationary or passed platters, refilled as necessary to keep food as fresh as possible.
Family Style: Something between buffet and plated. Platters of food are served to tables, where guests serve each other and pass the food.
Plated: Guests can remain seated as the chefs serve each course to them.
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Yes, we can totally offer Kosher and Halal events!
Please note that our kitchen is not 100% Kosher or Halal, as we offer non-compliant foods like pork, shellfish and alcohol for other events. That being said, we care deeply for people and will take any steps necessary to provide a good experience for everyone.
We will source ingredients accordingly and follow precise cleanliness and cross-contact rules for utensils, countertops, and equipment, including koshering if necessary.
FAQ: Private Classes
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Classes are fun and approachable. Our chefs will share their insider know-how with you and invite you to create with us.
We will get everything ready for you, and do all of the cleanup when we’re done. Typical run-time is 2-3 hours.
Technical classes will cover all about a specific dish or technique. (Ex: Macarons, Braising and Roasting, Knife Skills)
Cooking Parties involve making a multi-course meal together. (Ex: Chipotle Peach Chicken, Parisian Faves, Perfect Steak Dinner)
Demonstrations are the most akin to a typical classroom setting, with the chef demonstrating techniques for guests. Demonstrations are still upbeat and interactive with the guests.
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Our classes are for:
- People who are new to cooking
- People who already enjoy cooking
- Intimate parties
- Team building events
- Children’s parties and after-school groups
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Yes! We love kids here at Kitchen Jam, and Chef Jamie has several years of experience working with and teaching children from elementary to high school age.
We will structure the interactive parts of class to suit the ability level and safety needs of the students. -
Classes can be held at your home or event space, or we can book a private kitchen to host your event.
We can always modify classes to work with the space, if needed. -
Pricing for our cooking classes follows the same pricing structure as our Dinner Parties. Check out our pricing guide here.
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A Course Catalogue is in the works!
For the time being, we’ll put together a class (or curriculum) just for you. Chef Jamie has years of experience hosting fun, collaborative classes of all kinds. Do you have one dish that stumps you every time? Are you throwing a themed party and want the perfect activity to go with it?
Here are a few examples of what we can do: Knife Skills, Breaking Down Chicken, Steak Dinners, Italian Dinners, Intro to Tex Mex, Intro to Indian Cuisine, All About Macarons, Soul Food Faves, Frying At Home, and so, so much more!