Judith Umbria wrote:

>>>BTW, this Friday evening is my first job as a professional chef. I am
>>>chuffed!
>
> I went to chef's school here 2 years ago, and made an arrangement with a
> villa owner to act as personal chef to renters.
> I don't want cooking to become a burden, but I need money with the dollar
> down so far. For one meal, I earn less than I used to for one hour in my
> profession!
> I hope this doesn't end up unprofitable. If it does I shall become
> permanently too busy.
> For dinner for 4, with an antipasto, primo, secondo with contorno and dolce,
> I am getting 130 euros and provide the food from that. Dead cheap, I think.
> Still, it's about what they would pay for a meal without wine at the
> Michelin one star restaurant, so what's to do?

The difference between their going to a restaurant and your cooking for
them is service. They have only to sit and eat. If they want the
convenience, they should be willing to pay for it.

I do such events and I charge a considerably more substantial rate than
that. I've also been doing it for a couple decades, so I can demand and
get better prices, but I think you're still working too hard for too
little money.

My customers have several choices:
1) they provide the food for a menu we've agreed on they and pay me an
hourly rate which I have estimated and given them a range for. I do this
because people often want to talk about the food and details afterward,
and it's my time they're taking. They pay for that.
2) I bring the food for which they reimburse me and I charge a price for
the whole event based on estimated time from start to finish. Again,
with an estimate of how much non-productive time I expect.
3) I design the menu, shop for the food, prepare and serve it, and clean
up afterward. I won't even consider doing this for less than $200USD for
myself at the end of the event. And that assuming it's for a single
evening for no more than 4 people.

Four people should expect to spend between $75 and $100 per person at a
minimum, depending on several factors. I've billed people as much as
$300 per person for extraordinary meals with exotic ingredients.
Admittedly, they're rare, but they do come up.