Three private chefs who have followers gripped cooking in lavish NYC homes

Grueling hours, stifling pressure and a lack of autonomy are leading more chefs to pack up their utensils and head to the lavish kitchens of private clients.

According to the American Personal and Private Chef Association, there are 10,000 personal chefs working in the U.S.—a number set to double over the next five years.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, 4,500 restaurants have closed in New York, Eater reported, forcing many chefs to turn to the Upper East Side and a world of beach houses in the Hamptons. On TikTok, some are transfixing viewers with videos of their grand dinner parties and meticulous meal preparations.

Newsweek spoke with three chefs who left New York kitchens and embraced the freedom of private cheffing.

Rebecca Moran, @moranskitchen

Rebecca Moran, 26, (@moranskitchen) is one of the many chefs who left the searing scene of New York during the pandemic and decided not to return to the line.

“Being a woman played into it,” she said, adding that it was “hard to have a voice in the kitchen; everyone has a very loud kitchen. I like to listen to what everyone else has to say.”

Moran trained at the Culinary Institute of America, including a three-month stint in Cape Town, South Africa. After graduating in 2019, she had planned to work in kitchens for five years, but during successive pandemic lockdowns, she decided to become a freelance chef. Though she briefly returned to a restaurant kitchen for four months, Moran realized her purpose lay in the freedom of working for herself.

While working as a chef de cuisine in a pizzeria, she decided she wanted to embark on a solo venture following a clash in management styles.

Moran now has eight full-time clients whom she works with to curate a bespoke weekly menu. She delivers meals to their homes and caters clients’ dinner parties, which pay upwards of $1,000.

The chef told Newsweek: “Even before working in kitchens, I knew I wanted to do private cheffing. I love working in kitchens, but it’s usually the other people in kitchens who steer you away from it—and the long hours, not great pay and not being able to cook what you want.”

Moran said one of her favorite parts of working for clients was seeing their amazing houses and opulent kitchens.

The Queens native has served a host of star-studded customers—including Jeff Green, a professional basketball player for whom she spent three months preparing meals before he moved out of New York.

“His wife is super into fitness, so it was a lot of healthy and steamed food, with not a lot of oil and salt,” she said. “But Jeff loved my cinnamon rolls.”

Moran said she was fortunate to have had generous and kind clients, though they had obvious lifestyle differences.

“There was one kitchen where I had to take the instruction manual out of the stove because they had never used it,” she had.

A trickier client Moran did not wish to name liked only extremely caramelized onions, she said, and did not like meat paired with sweet sauces, though they consistently requested apricot-glazed roasted chicken.

Moran said she did two meal preps a day four days a week—from Sunday to Wednesday—and spent the other three days catering clients’ dinner parties.

“I would say all of my parties go pretty smoothly,” she said. “The biggest one I’ve ever done was on a boat, one of my first catering gigs. It was for 100 people. I got everything done.”

She continued: “I don’t know how I did it. A lot of organization. My biggest accomplishment is my organization.”

Moran’s top tips:

• Be organized
• Maintain good relationships with your clients

Bri Marriott, @brilovesbasil / @shrimjason

Bri Marriott, 30, (@shrimjason)—a friend of Moran’s—forged a similar path. She began working in restaurants at the age of 15 and decided not to complete a college degree in culinary arts when she realized she could train under chefs in restaurants. She gained experience while working in restaurants across Wilmington, Delaware, and then moved to Savannah, Georgia, before settling in New York, which she described as the mecca for restaurants.

Marriott eventually became the savory sous chef in Brooklyn’s Win Son Bakery, but during the pandemic, she turned to private cheffing to pay her bills.

“I dabbled into private cheffing. I loved it, and I fell in love with it,” Marriott said. “It’s a different world. It’s a lot more relaxed.”

She continued: “It’s a whole different form of professionalism—you’re in people’s homes, their safe spaces. You have to discover what kind of chef you want to be. I’m chummy with the clients, some have kids and little babies. I find ways to connect with them so they feel safe and want to be around you. They hang out in the kitchen with me while I’m cooking.”

Marriott said she’d had most of her clients for three or four years and had developed a strong bond with them, as she cooked in their kitchens weekly.

One of her customers, a couple from the Upper East Side, has a date night every Tuesday, and Marriott cooks them a four-course meal.

The chef said she doubled-down on work during the summer season. In May, Marriott heads east to the Hamptons and makes her living from dinner parties hosted on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays—with the occasional Sunday booking.

Like Moran, Marriott said she’d been lucky with her clientele, with the most common problem being a pushback over her pricing, which starts at $1,000 and includes sourcing seasonal produce and cleaning the kitchen.

Part of the charm of private cheffing is the intimacy and humanity it provides, and Marriott has been with her clients through the best and worst times.

“In the Hamptons, I cook for this one older couple. They’re in their 80s. They’re killing it. They’re so fit and active,” she said.

“I cook for their anniversary, which is 10 to 15 of their closest friends. We had a family-style buffet, plated salad,” she continued, adding that the couple’s home was historic.

“It’s one of those where you can feel the love has been there for so long,” she said. “Moments like that are so special.”

Marriott said she had also cooked for wakes and for a gender-reveal party where the couple later lost their baby.

The chef also hosted a dinner party for New York Fashion Week, where she cooked for Victoria’s Secret models.

For the optimum dinner party, simplicity is key, according to the chef. Her go-to dishes include steak and chimichurri, summertime pastas, charred zucchini, fish with something light, and fresh, beautiful-looking food.

She said: “It’s so much better being a private chef—pay is insane; the amount of work is different. In a restaurant, you wake up, show up, do tasks and leave.

“Now, I am in people’s homes. With a restaurant, you have a dishwasher, you have someone doing prepping, and you go home.

“I’m my own shopper, menu planner, transportation, my own dishwasher, my own stylist.”

Marriott’s top tips:

• Keep it simple
• Be friendly with your clients and find ways to connect with them
• Make your food look good because people eat with their eyes

Madeline Dudek, @aplateofmind_

Madeline Dudek, 35, (@aplateofmind_) decided to have a complete career change at the age of 28. The chef, who is originally from Massachusetts, taught math and science to students with special educational needs before pursuing her dream of cooking.

She enrolled in a four-month intensive culinary course at the International Culinary Center in Soho, where she picked up an internship at the Gramercy Tavern, a Michelin-star restaurant that later hired her.

“I remember feeling like it was where I was meant to be. It was so lively,” Dudek said. “I felt like every day was something different. That was what was so thrilling—to get my hands in the food and be in the trenches and learn what a restaurant is like behind the scenes.”

Dudek combined her love of teaching and food and began giving cooking lessons when her schedule allowed. During the pandemic, she delivered her lessons online.

The chef realized during the lockdowns that she wanted to host dinner parties, and she started testing menus.

When the lockdowns lifted, she didn’t return to a restaurant kitchen, deciding instead to make private cheffing and teaching culinary classes her full-time occupation.

Dudek, who has a passion for parties, plans to split her time between New York City and the Hamptons this summer.

While she has dealt with difficult clients in the past—including one customer who asked her to make different food for men and women—she said she could now be selective with clients and say no to tricky diners.

“I’ve learned how to throw a really nice party,” Dudek said. “As a social person, it’s served me really well.”

The extroverted chef said she missed human interaction when working in the kitchen, but that she was able to thrive through hosting.

“My favorite thing is to interact with people—that personal touch is so special to me,” she said.

Dudek cited a 40th birthday party she threw last summer as one of her most memorable parties.

“It was one of my favorite client’s 40th birthdays. There were 100 people and a pizza truck, cake, hors d’oeuvres. It was just so fun,” she said. “It’s so fun to be part of a party. I genuinely love it.”

Dudek’s pricing starts at $1,600 for a party of 10. For bigger parties, she charges per head.

To host the perfect party, the chef has a few nonnegotiables: having a good team and paying them well, giving yourself an entire day to prep, having a plan, and getting good ingredients.

Dudek said she didn’t miss the buzz of restaurant kitchens, and that she could create her own buzz through the electricity of a dinner party.

“There’s so much more autonomy,” she said. “Now, I can take vacations. I have free days. I get offered more work than I can do.”

She continued: “I have tremendous respect for people who continue to work in restaurants, but there is a misconception that if you leave restaurants you ‘sell out.’ I don’t care what people think. This feels more genuine to my personality, to be able to have these personal interactions.”

Dudek’s top tips

• Have a good time
• Have a plan
• Give yourself a day to prepare
• Buy the best produce