Just the FAQs
What does your service include? Our pricing is all-inclusive. For most events, the following is covered: menu planning, purchasing, advance prep, on-site prep, and clean-up. Like all good chefs, we clean as we go which means that for most dinner parties, we have cleaned the kitchen and are leaving shortly after the service of the final course.
What if I have a small kitchen? We’re not going to pretend that size doesn’t matter. However, the size of your kitchen only limits the breadth of the options that we can offer. With creative thinking, we can work around just about any challenge.
Can we make all of the arrangements over email? Most, but not all. The initial consultation is much more easily conducted over the telephone. Following that initial conversation (for most events,) most client interaction will be electronic. We are, however, always available for telephone conversations should a client desire.
Will you travel, how far? We are happy to travel to clients who live anywhere within an hour(ish) drive of DC. Beyond that range, accommodations can be made. Have an event on the eastern shore or the beach, sure, but a lodging surcharge may apply and will be adjusted based on the season. We are happy to go anywhere within reason.
I have a menu planned for an event, can I just pay for you to cook it? No. It’s not just because we don’t want to cook other people’s food. Rather, the bigger issue is our standards of service. The only way we can know we will meet them is for us to handle the food from procurement to service.
Do you offer vegan, gluten-free, kosher, halal, paleo or other special diets? Yes, we can accommodate most diets and dietary restrictions. That being said, we will never “cut our teeth” at a client’s expense. We only serve dishes that have been practiced, and stuck the landing at a dress rehearsal… and yeah, we’re ok with mixing that metaphor.
How much time do you need in the kitchen before an event? As much or as little as the client can spare. Typically, we arrive four to five hours in advance of the start of the event. However, in some circumstances – a surprise party for example – we have designed a menu that met our standards and required only 30 minutes of on-site prep. The general rule of thumb: the more time we have on-site, the more menu options we have.
My event is larger than your stated caps, can you do it? Why don’t you do large events? Maybe. Our caps are a general guideline, but as we noted before, creative thinking can solve most problems. Without knowing the size of the kitchen/prep space, the ambition of the desired menu, and a bunch of other things, those numbers are a logical guide. Further, our standard is excellence, and that is virtually impossible to achieve for really large groups (please tell me the last time you had truly excellent food at a big wedding?)