What is the difference between a personal chef and a caterer?
A personal chef provides a service for you and your family. This service is typically cooking meals on a prearranged date, packaging them, and providing reheating instructions. This service is provided in the clients’ home. A caterer provides a product and a service and it can be provided anywhere; depending upon the contract between the caterer and the client.
A caterer holds a commercial catering license, works out of a commercial kitchen, and typically focuses on the execution of large parties and functions. Caterers generally require that a minimum food cost be met before they will provide their service. Due to this requirement, they are not as likely to provide services for small events because it is typically not profitable for them to do so. From a regulatory stand-point, a personal chef, unless also licensed as a professional caterer, cannot prepare food off-site and transport it to the client’s home as a caterer can. Instead, all of the food for an event must be prepared in the client’s own home. Given all of these parameters, the personal chef service is optimized for execution of intimate special events. To ensure that the highest standards of service and food quality are maintained, the food sherpa limits plated dinners to 12 people and buffets for parties of 40 or fewer people. Larger groups than those referenced here are often b
