I Am A Private Chef Who Works For A Multi-Millionaire. AMA

What is your yearly salary?

In the low 50k range, with bonuses. Luckily, my wife is the main breadwinner in the family!

I thought the chef would be the... nevermind.

She's the breadwinner, but he gets to arrange the bread on a fancy plate.

Exactly!

What kind of bonuses does a personal chef get? Serious question - I don't understand what kind of bonus structure there could be.

They give me bonuses in the summer and around Christmas, usually in the $1000-$1500 range. Occasionally the will give me an extra bonus because they are just that cool.

What does your wife do?

She is a mid-level corporate manager. She makes about 70k a year. We don't have kids, so we do pretty well for ourselves.

Please tell us this, as it is very important for me to know how much I need to make in order to afford my own private chef

You can hire a personal chef to cook for you. That's a different industry, and it's a cheaper solution that can be afforded by upper-middle class types.

How's that different from a private chef?

edit: thanks for all the responses, guys.

tl;dr: private = cooks for one family only (every meal, fresh), personal = cooks and buys groceries once a week for multiple families.

personal chef = Buys groceries , comes to your home , cooks then leaves. Then goes to other's to do the same. You pay for time/groceries only.

private chef = chef works for you only, nobody else, you pay salary. Possibly lives in house if necessary otherwise shows up to work like a normal job.

Exactly!

I'm pretty sure a private chef would be on grounds at all times to cook whatever the family wants whenever they want. Y'know how in movies there's always that fat guy with a beard in the kitchen? That's probably OP.

As a fat guy with a beard, you pretty much nailed it.

are there any outrageous things he ever requests? what are some of your favorite dishes you love to cook?

He would love it if I made snapper soup (turtle soup), but I have never found a supplier. I don't use commercial suppliers like a restaurant kitchen does, because my needs are far too small.

My favorite dish that I love to cook would be roasted chicken with roasted root vegetables, specifically the recipe from the book Roast Chicken And Other Stories by Simon Hopkinson.

Approach a in practice chef at a restaurant and purchase through them. They'll make a lil coin and you'll save a ton.

You can even split sides of beef and split hogs. He'll save a boatload.

I've done that on occasion. I should try it more often.

as a chef myself i have never tasted turtle soup..it was never something i was interested in tasting as it's in my list of "animals i would never willingly eat" what are the ways u acquire the ingredients depending on the location and also is he a very specific type of eater? i.e. only likes steaks done medium rare

I'm not sure where to get turtle meat. I assume the restaurants in Philadelphia have some local supplier.

My employers are not picky eaters, but they do have some fairly serious dietary restrictions that make my life very difficult. Mr. boss is on a low salt diet and wants to avoid carbs. Mrs. Boss can't have any dairy products or egg yolks. One of their grandkids is a vegetarian, and many of their children prefer veggie-based meals. Its a real headache providing variety with so many restrictions. I often make separate dishes for different people.

D'Angelo Brothers on South 9th in Philly has turtle meat.

909 South 9th Street

Philadelphia, PA 19147

Phone: 215-923-5637

Oh, thank you! I love D'Angelo's!

Would you say that any of your boss's kids or grandkids don't respect the work you do?

They all respect me. They have the most awesome family. I joke that they are like a Norman Rockwell painting that has come to life. They actually have family singalongs during the holidays!

What is your most delicious dish that is easy to make?

Pasta Puttanesca. It's dead easy, all the ingredients have a long shelf life, and it tastes fantastic.

Edit: Yes, Puttanesca does mean "Whore's Spaghetti". I was told that's because in Italy the prostitutes were only allowed to go to the market one day out of the week, so that the other women would not be offended by them. By the end of the week the prostitutes would run out of fresh produce, so they would make pasta entirely out of canned and long-lived ingredients. Or so I was old many moons ago.

How do you personally make it? If you don't mind explaining.

It's simple. Boil up some spaghetti. While it's cooking, gather these ingredients: Several cloves of chopped garlic, one small can of diced tomatoes, crushed red peppers, capers, chopped parsley, half a lemon, olive oil, white wine, black olives, and anchovies or anchovy paste. Heat the oil in a pan, lightly cook the garlic, add the tomatoes and cook for a few minutes, add white wine, add all the other ingredients except for the parsley and the lemon, which you should add at the last second. Toss with the pasta and serve.

This will not be a thick sauce. It will just lightly coat the pasta, with the tomatoes and olives adding a bit of chunky texture. Good luck!

Your cooking sounds amazing. Compared to how I cook

Thanks! I'm not the greatest chef in the world, but i try hard to please.

1.) When going to a new house for an extended period of time, do you travel ahead of your employer to prep the kitchen and stock the pantry, so to speak?

2.) Is it just you, or do you have a small cooking staff; one or two others?

3.) You mentioned he is pretty old fashioned when it comes to his meals, do you ever try to mix it up and surprise him with a new dish?

4.) Are you allowed to create new menus for him, per his approval?

Awesome AMA by the way, thanks for answering!

Yes, sometimes I have arrived several days in advance to prep the kitchen. Things tend to fall apart when a house has been left vacant for months, especially in Florida where the salt air and the bugs destroy EVERYTHING!

I'm the only full time staff. They have house cleaners, handymen and landscapers, but those guys just come and go as needed. During big dinner parties, however, they will hire a bartender and servers to help.

I do try to mix it up, and in fact I do that all the time. Mr. Boss usually grouses and says, "Well, that veal Saltimboca was good, but I prefer it if you just pan fried it with lemon."

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They are pretty much clueless about food cost. They almost never buy anything themselves.

What do you cook most often?

You might be surprised, as I mostly cook normal home cooking. My boss is elderly and old fashioned. He likes things like meatloaf, roasted chicken, pan fried fish, etc. Dinner parties are a completely different matter, though.

what are some of the things you cook most often for dinner parties?

An easy thing for semi-casual dinner parties is prime quality Filet Mignon, pan cooked with a simple deglazed sauce. The meat is ridiculously expensive, but it tastes so damn good you don't need to do anything fancy to make an awesome meal.

do all the staff in the house get Filet Mignon leftovers for dinner that night?

I'm the only full-time staff, so no.

What is the most complicated dish you've had to create?

I once replicated a dish from a Roy Yamaguchi cookbook that was a ridiculous amount of work for the end product. If I remember correctly it had layers of pasty, seared scallops, potatoes, two different kinds of squash, cheese, all arranged like a checkerboard Napoleon with two different sauces and garnished with flower petals. It was a serious pain in the ass to plate up for twelve people when you are working by yourself. It didn't even taste that good.

Edit: I found a photo of that stupid Scallop/Squash Napoleon! http://imgur.com/FXv0B For some reason I can't format that properly.

Sounds cool,

• Do you make more than if you were employed in a similar position at a well known restaurant?

• What's your favorite dish to make?

• Do you cook the same dishes over and over?

• Are you happy doing what you do now?

• If your employer turned out to be an evil genius would you poison him/ her?

I make more than the average cook in a restaurant, but less than a chef in a major kitchen will. My salary is in the low 50k range.

My favorite dish to make would be roasted chicken with roasted root vegetables, specifically the recipe from the book Roast Chicken And Other Stories by Simon Hopkinson.

I have a long list of menu choices, but things tend to get repeated. This is in part due to multiple dietary restrictions and because my boss just happens to like certain things and he grouses if he doesn't get his pot roast often enough. Nevertheless, I try not to do the same dish more than once a month.

I am extremely happy doing what I do now. My employers are wonderful people and I consider them to be close friends. Working in restaurant kitchens was great, but the stress was bad for my health. Working as a private chef is so much less stressful, plus the working environment is so much better. For example, I can currently watch dolphins play in the ocean from my kitchen window while I work!

If my employer was an evil genius, I'd probably just quit.

I can currently watch dolphins play in the ocean from my kitchen window while I work!

That, sir, is fucking awesome.

That's one of the main perks of the job. The places they live are all beautiful.

I'm a cook and think being a private chef would be cool. How does one get into such a specific and probably rare position?

It's difficult. Private chef positions are rare and highly sought after. the most important thing is you have to be totally flexible. When I first put out an add seeking a job I announced I was willing to move worldwide. I got a couple responses from Dubai!

Mostly, you have to be willing to sacrifice your personal life. If you cant do that, then you won't make it as a private chef.

How many sacrifices did you make in your personal life?

Moving every four months means it's almost impossible to sustain friendships or dating or a marriage. Having children is almost impossible. Also, I generally fit my schedule to suit their schedule so I do not have regular days off or regular holidays. I haven't had a Christmas with my family in at least seven years, and I'm always working on Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, and other major holidays.

That being said, in almost any chef job you have to make sacrifices. The cooking life is not an easy one.

When they travel do you go with them? If you don't then what do you do while they are away?

I travel with them to Florida and Pennsylvania. I used to travel with them to New Hampshire as well, but after I got married that was no longer feasible. Now I take the entire summer off and I hire another guy to take my place temporarily. I do not travel with them when they go on vacation, however.

Do you still get paid during the summer? If so, do you pay for the replacement chef out of your own pocket or does your boss pay both people's salaries?

No, I don't get paid during the summer. I tend to do occasional catering work to pass the time, plus I work on fixing my house. The replacement chef gets a completely separate salary, and those negations are left up to my boss.

And now I just realized you get paid better than you're letting on, 50K for 9 months of work is really nothing to sneeze at (especially with the three months off coming all at once)

I told you I wasn't complaining about the pay! I love my job.

If your employers asked you to make some righteous pot brownies, where would you look for a good recipe?

On the Internet, of course.

How many meals do you make a day? Do you also provide snacks if they ask for them? Are you on call for any midnight snacks? Do you live with them?

Three per day, during the season. Two a day in the off season. I always keep fresh snacks on hand and leave home baked cookies and other treats around.

I never will get called for a midnight snack. they respect my privacy too much to do that. I used to live with them, but after I got married five years ago I moved out and now only work for them 8 months out of the year, with summers off.

What is the worst mistake you have made in a dish you prepared for someone else?

I once made a Vietnamese noodle salad and served it to a vegan. It turns out I forgot that I put a lot of fish sauce in the dressing...

Were you able to explain it to them and take it away?

They had already eaten half of it... I felt so bad!

Did they notice? Did you confess?

I confessed. I felt horrible.

Do you believe in The 3-Second Rule?

Oddly enough, my Boss actually does! I do my best not to use anything that has touched the floor. They can afford for me to throw it out.

Do try treat you like "the help", or do they actually treat you like a human?

They not only treat me like a human being, they treat me like family. I've met other private chefs that weren't so lucky, however.

How do they request what food you make? Are you free to make war you want? Do you make large meals and serve them over several days? What's a day like?

Oddly enough, they rarely request specific dishes. I have complete menu control, and usually they do not even know what they will be eating until I put it down in front of them. I make normal-size meals, but i do tend to make a bit extra so they have something to eat on my days off.

My days are long but easy. Technically I work from 8:30am to approx. 8:30pm five days a week, but in actuality I have lots of downtime between meals. Actual hours worked are about 7-8 hours a day.

So what do you do in that downtime? Just chill somewhere in the house?

I spend most of it on Reddit, of course! They give me my own room/house depending on location, so I can retreat to there to chill out.

Wait, so you spend 7-8 hours a day cooking three meals?

Well, I also do all the kitchen cleaning, and since Mrs. Boss is a real neat freak that takes a lot of my time.

What celebrity chefs do you admire or even hate?

I've loved Anthony Bourdain since I first read Kitchen Confidential in the mid 1990's. I am in awe of Ferran Adrià. I love Morimoto, and have eaten at his Philly spot several times and have chatted with him in person.

I don't hate any chefs, but I do think a lot of them are bullshit artists.

What are you views on Chef Gordon Ramsay? Would you personally work with him?

I would work with Ramsey on the short term because he's terribly talented. I'm afraid I'd stab him if I had to work for him in the long term, though.

Which chefs do you think are bullshit artists?

Wolfgang Puck and Paul Prudhomme spring to mind.

What is their kitchen like? Is it like a professional kitchen at all? Is it full of technology and gadgets? (If yes - what are some of the gadgets you use?)

Their kitchen is a mix of the wonderful and the pain in the ass. The kitchens themselves are large, roomy,and beautiful. Two of them have multiple ovens/sinks/refrigerators/dishwashers.

However, its not like a professional kitchen. For one, Mrs. Boss is a stickler for neatness, and she likes those damn electric smooth-top ranges. I hate those fuckers! They work like shit, and I have to clean them three times a day to keep them looking nice.

Will you make porkchops at midnight?

I would, if they asked me. However, they highly respect my privacy and would never drag me out of bed for anything less than a medical emergency.

This one will be fun guys! Here are my questions for your current employment only: 1. What is the strangest request one of these guys has made? 2. What is the cheapest request any of these guys have made? Kraft macaroni? Ramen noodles? 3. Most expensive request? 4. Do you get tipped on a nightly basis? At all? 5. Ever made any of them mad by cooking something wrong? Did you give them the ass cake special afterwords?

Thanks for the AMA?

The strangest request was for Snapper soup (turtle soup). However, I couldn't make it because I cant find a supplier.

They don't go for packaged foods, and in fact they have NEVER eaten in a McDonalds their entire lives! the cheapest food they request is spaghetti aglio e oilo, which costs virtually nothing to make because its just pasta, oil, and garlic.

Their most expensive request was caviar. The price of caviar has really gotten ridiculous, and good luck finding real Beluga. I had to settle for Osetra last time.

edit: I accidentally saved too early! To finish, the only time I ever get tipped is occasionally when a guest will drop a fifty or hundred on me. My boss does give me thousand dollar bonuses two or three times a year, however. They never get mad when something is cooked wrong because they are awesomely cool folks and they treat me like part of the family.

Is there a dish that you are just totally sick of making at this point?

Nope! I love all food.

The only thing that ever shocked me was their house in New Hampshire. It's stunningly beautiful, right on a lake and built in the Adirondacks style. Otherwise they are fairly simple people. I once asked my boss why he didn't own a yacht, which he could easily afford, but he simply said, "I don't want one.".

I always wanted to find a job like that (I am a cook) How did you find this job? Are you well paid? And is it not difficult to have a personal life if you are following him all the time?

I'm paid better than the average cook but worse than a chef at a major restaurant. I make in the low $50k range. I found this job by advertising on an old site called Chefjob.com. I don;t think it exists anymore.

If you want to work in my field you have to sacrifice your personal life and be willing to uproot yourself and travel to where the jobs are. When I got married 5 years ago, and so I had to stop working summers for my boss and hire someone to take my place. My wife didn't like the idea of me being gone for eight months out of the year! She still misses me terribly during the winter months when we are separated, and i miss her too.

1. Do you prepare all meals and serve them just after they're prepared? I mean: do you need to be early in the morning to prepare breakfast and stay late until evening to prepare supper?

2. How much time do you spend working daily on average? If you have free time during the day (between meals?) - please tell how much time do you spend actually working and how much time do you spend “at work” meaning between you start your working day and finish it.

3. Seven days a week? Do you have any holidays beside taking the summers off?

4. Do you shop for ingredients yourself? If yes, do you simply go to the nearest store and buy what you need or do you take care to find and visit reliable suppliers of high quality, healthy food?

5. Comparing to the average family standards, how much more (in percentage) does your millionaire family spends on food? I mean how much do they spend comparing to what average same-sized family would spent?

6. Do you cook for larger events? I don't mean 100-people party, but some family gatherings when some extended family visits. If yes, do you get some help hired for such events?

Thank you.

I prepare all meals and immediately serve them, with the exception of meals that I will make for them to eat while I go on vacation.

Technically my hours are long, 8am to 8pm on average, but I have lots of down time and I only actually work for about 7-8 hours a day. Dinner party days are very long and tiring, though.

I work five days a week, with random days off. I get a week of vacation each winter that I always spend with my wife back home. I work on most holidays, like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter.

I buy everything myself, and I shop all the time. I use a variety of different shops, and I prefer to buy from farmers markets and specialty shops for fish, meat, deli items and cheese.

My boss probably spends about twice what a normal couple would spend on food. Part of that is the wine, which is always of good quality, but I also tend to buy other things that are top quality. Prime steaks and lobster are not cheap.

The largest events I will cook for are in the 40-50 person range. When that happens, they will get a bartender and several servers who can also act as kitchen assistants.

What's your weekly food budget? Does Mr. Boss give you say $3,000 on Monday and tell you "Make delicious stuff this week"? Do you do all the food shopping, or does someone else take your lists and get the groceries?

I have no budget. They give me a credit card and I buy what's necessary. They keep loose tabs on me, but they have learned to trust my judgement. I buy quality stuff, but I don't do stupid things like blowing $500 on a bottle of champagne.

What's your relationship like? Do you hang out? Is he a cool guy?

We have a wonderful relationship. They are almost like a second set of grandparents. We talk all the time about current events and have long debates about them.

What do you eat when you're working? Do you eat what they eat or just a sandwich in the kitchen?

I eat exactly what they have. If they eat lobster, I eat lobster.

Do you make sushi?

What is the oddest thing you've been asked to make?

What is the biggest group you've cooked for?

This seems like it'll be an interesting AMA, thanks for doing it!

I can make sushi but I'm not particularly good at it.

The oddest thing I've been asked to make was turtle soup, but I couldn't find the meat.

The largest group was about 50 people. It was a buffet, though, and any idiot can make a buffet.

What is the favorite thing you like to make for yourself? For a SO/close friend/family members?

For myself it's Peanut Butter Crunch, because I'm a lazy bastard. For family members, usually some sort of pasta.

Do you cut your sandwiches diagonally?

Always.