Adam Small and his team were recommended to us by a family member who also used his services for…read moreher wedding. We could not be happier with the recommendation as the appetizers and entrées were absolutely stunning -- both in flavor and aesthetics! Our biggest difficulty was choosing dishes from his diverse catalog of offerings since they all sounded delicious. He was also very accommodating and made various adjustments to account for particular food allergies that some of our guests had (without compromising on flavor at all). For appetizers, we chose: - Pepper-Crusted Seared Ahi Tuna (Seka Hills EVOO, Sicilian Pesto, Herbs) - Ratatouille Tarts (Puff Pastry, Seka Hills EVOO, Parmigiano Reggiano) - Pistachio Flatbread (Onion, Burrata, Honey, and Chili Oil -- this one was a extra-huge hit with all guests) For dinner, we started with a Local Harvest Salad (Farm Vegetables, Fruit, Vinaigrette, Cheese, and Nuts -- plating was particularly beautiful for the salad), and had three entrée options: - Wagyu New York Steak (Imperial American Wagyu, Roasted Vegetables, Marinated Portobello Mushrooms, Potato Galette, and Red Wine Jus) - Signature Duck (Mary's Crusted Duck Breast, Hind-Quarter Confit, Potato Cake, Charred Vegetables, and Duck Jus) - Roasted Butternut Squash with Cannellini Beans (Charred Vegetables, Marinated Portobello Mushrooms, and Saffron-Rosemary Broth) Throughout our entire wedding and afterwards, guests were telling us how impressed they were and that it was the best food they had ever had at a wedding! He and his team arrived right on schedule, set up (including silverware and plates) cooked and served outstanding food, provided extremely attentive service, and then cleaned up, leaving the kitchen absolutely spotless (while also deftly navigating a brief power outage!). We cannot recommend Adam Small Cooks highly enough! His food, attention to detail, and service are truly next level. Thank you again for making our wedding so special!

Chef Adam was amazing!!!…read more We celebrated a friend's birthday with 6 people at an Airbnb in Sonoma. We had a six course menu (see below for details) that was excellent! For the vegetarian in the group (me) he was able to whip up a wonderful dish when everyone else was eating halibut. Every single dish was a stand out and the group was so happy with how everything turned out. This was a wish of the birthday girl - to have a private chef and to spend time with her girlfriends. She was blown away by the experience. The 6 course meal included: Fried Baby Artichokes: lemon aioli, herbs, chili oil Flatbread: preserved truffle, pistachios, onion, burrata, honey, chili oil Ash Roasted Beets: kimchi honey, pistachios, ravigote, feta Charred Zucchini Agnolotti: fried sage, brown butter, lemon, pepper, parmigiana Seared Halibut: fennel-potato salad, herbs, haricot vert, preserved truffle champagne sauce Under-Baked Chocolate Cake: Italian meringue, Luxardo cherries, cocoa nibs Also, our kitchen was left spotless! Thanks again Chef Adam for giving us the perfect first day of our trip!

I've worked with Johana for almost a year in San Carlos. My partner and I needed help with meal…read moreprep while we worked full time and had a new baby. Having someone to do menu planning and grocery shopping was a huge time saver and ensured that we had home-cooked meals to eat rather than falling back to ordering takeout every night. Johanna provided a wide variety in her meals. Most menus came directly from her, but sometimes I would request certain types of food or specific dishes she had made in the past that were our favorites. Johanna tailored her menus to meet my dietary restrictions (low saturated fat). She always left the kitchen clean with clear instructions for the meals and even some cooking tips along the way! Johanna came every 2 weeks but was flexible around holidays and vacation. Would absolutely recommend her services!

Background: Contacted Chef Johanna about preparing food for…read moremy small wedding in the spring of 2022. My (now) husband is a severe Celiac and so making sure all food is completely Gluten-free was the number one concern. The Chef was quick to respond and so helpful in brainstorming a potential menu for the event (we settled on Mexican). She then got started on putting together the recipes and gathering the proposed ingredient list. This is where the Chef went above and beyond for us-she sent us the full recipes and proposed ingredients(down to the specific brands) so that we could ensure that everything was free from gluten and free from cross-contamination (a shocking amount of spices are processed on the same equipment as wheat). She even was able to find a way to make gluten free Tres Leches and Tiramisu (our favorites). For our wedding cakes! Menu: Crudités with Green Goddess Dip Queso Fundido with Chorizo Pico de Gallo Chopped Salad Chili Verde Stew Slow Cooked Barbocoa Tacos Roasted Zucchini Sweet Bell Pepper Rice Spicy Citrus Black Beans Tres Leches with strawberries Tiramisu Preparation: The chef packaged up all of our food so that my sister could pick it up and transport it (our venue was 4 hours north of the bay). She provided detailed instructions for reheating the food and prepping the cakes. She even made sure we would have any additional utensils that would be necessary. She gave me an accurate and in-depth invoice that broke down the expenses and made it easy to work into our wedding budget. Food: WOW WOW WOW! The best part (obviously) was the food! Everything was fresh and vibrant and so so delicious! The Queso provided the best cheese pull I have ever seen and my husband and I are still drooling over that Tres Leches and my family keeps bringing up how incredible the dinner was! Additionally my husband was able to freely eat everything to his hearts content, confident that he wouldn't become ill on our special day. I cannot recommend Chef Johanna enough!!

I was doing some research on a private chef for my sister's bachelorette small gathering. During…read morecovid there isn't much that we can do and I really wanted to make my sister's event memorable. Chef Lucas was beyond exceptional in planning and organizing the three course meal for the event. He created a personalized menu which made it that much more memorable!! Before the event he asked for everyone's dietary restrictions/allergies and took what stated into consideration. Chef Lucas wore a mask the entire time and he was very clean! He even washed all the dishes after we all enjoyed the meal and left the kitchen so spotless. He made my sister's event very memorable and I am so fortunate to have meet chef Lucas! He drove all the way from San Ramon to seaside for the event. The three course meal all were too good and I loved the details of how each dish was presented. I would recommend chef Lucas to all!

Chef Lucas prepared not only a wonderful meal but an exciting exhibition of culinary delights. From…read morestart to end, the flavors married each other stately and fit like a glove to the wines that we chose to open. The professionalism was above reproach and descriptions of each dish on point. He was punctual and very accommodating. Extremely easy to work with. I would highly recommend Chef Lucas for any special events. My husband's birthday dinner was fantastic! This was our 6-course dinner: Ode to Exotic Flavor 1999 Salon Blanc de Blancs Champagne, France Dungeness Crab Souffle 1990 Domaine Coche Dury Bourgogne Blanc Burgundy, France Fresh Made Pasta with Black Truffle Sauce 2013 Vincent Dauvissat Chablis 'Vaillons' 1er Cru Chablis, Burgundy, France Duck Breast with 3 Hour Polenta & Roasted Farmers Market Vegetables 1978 Domaine Albert Ponnelle Vosne Romanee En Magnum Vosne Romanee, Cote de Nuits, Burgundy, France Pesto Butter Crust Rack of Lamb 1982 Chateau Palmer Margaux, Bordeaux Chocolate Souffle Tart with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Excellent food!! Great service too. Highly recommend if you're looking for a caterer or personal…read morechef. We had the pleasure of trying their food at a small 50th wedding anniversary. Everything was delicious! We had Pomes Fruit and Citrus Salad, Housin-Braised Beef Short Ribs, Matcha Crème brûlée. The hosts purchased lechon (a roast pig) which was not part of the catering package, and the caterers offered to cut and serve it. Very cool! I highly recommend this caterer/personal chef. Food was exceptional!

We worked with Chef Ken for our wedding and there are a lot of pros and cons. Chef Ken is very…read morepersonable and is a really cool and relaxed guy. We found him on yelp and loved his reviews and also loved how unique his menu was as it had Korean and Chinese fusion which was so perfect for our wedding. The food is absolutely incredible and we literally got so many compliments from our guests saying the food was the best food they've ever had at any wedding. Chef ken was also very helpful in helping us pick out the dish wear and arranged all of the rental dishware which made the process easy. The only problems we had with Chef Ken was that he can often be non-responsive and difficult to get in touch with through email. He's definitely busy and has multiple private events going on but at times we had to really hunt him down. It was difficult also because his secretary went on vacation around the time of the wedding so I think he was managing everything on his own. Also, I would also get everything written in bullet points for Chef Ken as he's definitely busy and it's easy for him to forget things we agreed on such as quantity of amount of certain dishes, rental numbers, types of food we ordered, deduction of the initial taste testing, etc. Small things but it changes the overall invoice and required a bunch of redoing of the invoices. He also said he would help us come up with a custom drink menu for our wedding which we ended up scrambling at the end to make our own menu. Again, I think there was just too much for Chef Ken to do on his own without extra help. Overall though, the wedding day went extremely smoothly with no issues. The staff he hired was solid and exceptional. The bartenders were awesome and fun. The food including the entrees, dessert and appetizers were amazing and it was unanimous from the guests that the food at our wedding was by far the best from any other wedding they've been to. Highlights was everyone loves the Miso Chilean Sea bass, Korean Street Tacos, Poke Tacos and the Tomahawk steak. My personal favorite was the Garlic Noodles!

Absolutely would recommend Chef Monmon! This past weekend, I attended a bachelorette celebration…read moreand was given a DELICIOUS 4 course meal. The dinner was hosted at our airbnb and she came well prepared with her own table settings and cookware. Her and her sous chef (her husband ) were so warm, kind and professional! The courses included 2 starters, a main, 2 shareable dishes, and dessert. I wish I could tell you which was my favorite dish, but they were all incredibly made and it is so hard to choose! You can tell Chef Monmon takes great pride in her craft and has a commitment to wholesome ingredients. Many of the herbs provided were hand grown from her garden. She also believes in providing clean meals. One of the dishes, for example, included green beans cooked with reserve osmosis water (triple filtered purified water) aka the cleanest most delicious green beans I've ever eaten! You will not regret having Chef Monmon at your next event!

I really enjoyed Monica's in house dining services this month. It's always a treat to eat so well…read morein the comfort of my own home. Her culinary skills are vast and far between, with Asian cuisine and French fine dining as her foundation, she's bound to make any party feel special. A real hassle free experience with everything included and taken care of. Hoping to try more of what she has to offer. Looking forward to our next event with her team. P.s. Her Hainan Chicken rice is to die for. Highly recommend!

The food from the Hearts and Plates team is so good! Absolutely delicious, full of flavor, and…read morebeautifully presented. They're also excellent with communication, very dependable and punctual, and completely exceeded every expectation. Highly recommend!

Heart & Plates catered our event and everything was fantastic. The food was amazing and the…read morepresentation looked beautiful. The staff was attentive and made sure everything ran smoothly. Our guests were very impressed. I would definitely book them again!

Cute little spot in a food court area. Ordering a day in advance is usually cheaper and they don't…read moredo same day orders.

Koshin Bento is my new go-to spot for delivery or pick-up when I'm craving Japanese comfort food in…read morea bento box. This place delivers fresh, flavorful bento boxes with high quality ingredients and top quality cooking techniques. So far, I've had the wagyu yakiniku bento and wagyu hamburger bento. For my first time, I ordered the wagyu yakiniku bento via delivery and I was already blown away -- perfectly grilled, moist, and seasoned just right. Everything tasted homemade and thoughtfully prepared. The wagyu hamburger steak was also a generous size and juicy and flavorful. I've been to Japan 3x and this was exactly what I look for in a hanbaga steak. So glad this is around now! The portions are generous, and the prices are super reasonable for the quality. The chef/owner is also private chef. Check out Koshin Bento's website to learn more. Koshin Bento is a win for the Bay Area. Since delivery prices are getting high, I do also recommend just picking up. There's tons of parking at that location. Support small businesses like Koshin Bento! They keep Bay Area unique and we need to keep the talented chefs like here.

I booked Luis on 6/28 for my parent's anniversary. We communicated back and forth for details and a…read moredraft menu between 5/26 -6/8 and it was confirmed. I also booked a harpist to play that day. I texted Luis on 6/28 morning to confirm since I had not heard anything from him before. He texted and told me to call him, and told me he had an emergency surgery and was out for 2 weeks. I'm not sure when the surgery took place either before or after the date but I was NEVER informed prior. Thankfully I did not put in a deposit but I did not anticipate on being left in the dust with zero communication especially since I had to text first...Luis apologized and offered a "zero transportation fee" for a next booking. Now I get things come up, but it was confirmed for that month, and I am unsure how my date was missed. I typically don't write reviews, but this was upsetting. The text messages show I had to cancel a musician right after Luis called me. And the emails shown below are of the confirmations and draft menu.

Excellent presentation, delicious taste! They were courteous, quiet, organized, and the service…read morewas impeccable!!

What an incredible evening!! Thank you to Alice who was so sweet and professional. We had never…read moreexperienced a private chef before and my best friend was turning 40 so luckily Alice was available to cook a wonderful surprise meal for us at home. I look forward to booking her again because honestly it was such an amazing evening and experience, especially when she would explain the history of each meal and the origin of the ingredients. I can't wait to do it all over again with her! Hire her now, she is a wonderful authentic top chef!

Best. Dinner. Ever. Not only the food, but the whole experience! We contacted Alice for my…read morebirthday: I wanted a true and legit Italian dinner for my family and friends, to celebrate also my heritage. Everything in the dinner was not just perfect, but the extra mile. She cooked for us and explained each dish with details and stories. The food was really delicious, truly traditional Italian food (reminded me of my grandma's amazing food). The choice of the ingredients and the recipes was incredible (my husband still talks about her had made ravioli!) Overall: authentic food, cozy atmosphere created, lovely experience. Alice is professional and extremely nice. Will book her again very very soon, looking forward to it

Chef Paddy catered our wedding, and put together an amazing and delicious buffet for our 100…read moreguests. She was recommended to us by a mutual acquaintance, and was very responsive, helpful, and warm from the moment we reached out.  She was excited at the opportunity, and completely embraced our vision for the big day. During our many months of consultation and planning, she was always responsive as we bounced around ideas, and brought in her own experience and creativity as a Chef.  She planned a tasting evening for us and our families, during which we tried many of the dishes we ended up serving at the wedding. Every single dish blew our mind. As I am French, and my spouse is Mexican-American, she made sure to include dishes which made both of us feel very connected to our heritage.  The week of the wedding, Paddy was an absolute rockstar. She was very responsive to any last-minute questions or concerns I had, and kept us up-to-date. The day of, she brought two other staff members to help her, and worked all day to put everything together.  The hors d'oeuvres which were passed around at the cocktail reception were delicious, fresh, and filling. This included Sauteed Figs on Crisp Baguette, Spicy Thai Chicken Empanadas, Braised Pork Shoulder Tacos.  The main dinner buffet received so many compliments from our guests all around, and had a variety of options for guests. The buffet included: - Potato Leek Soup with Bacon and Cheddar - A delicious salad  - Baked Atlantic Salmon - Roasted Rosemary Chicken - Gratin Dauphinois - Roasted Green Beans Finally, Paddy served our guests a late night snack, which included the most delicious grilled cheese sandwiches I had ever tasted, and little bags of seasoned popcorn to go. Our guests were so grateful to have something to eat while they partied, and to take home with them! Paddy is the sweetest person to work with, and brings all of her energy to work she does. I could not recommend her more.

Chef Paddy created a lovely dinner for our party of 10 in Healdsburg, Ca. wine country. She was…read morevery open to menu ideas & when we discovered she had an Irish background we were thrilled to sample her grandmother's recipe for Banoffee pie - phenomenal! She created fresh, inventive dishes with all local ingredients. We began with oysters raw & baked, a lovely salad, a savory mushroom bread pudding that I've not experienced before or since & the best lamb lollipops ever!! Chef Paddy's friendly style & dedicated work ethic made our meal seamless. She paired local wines with each course, bringing an assistant to serve our meal outdoors under the stars. Paddy's ingredients, presentation & flavors were perfect. We've discussed flying her back to Texas to help with another event since we enjoyed our experience with her so much!