Personal or Private Chef

Hello Ozbargainers,

I am looking for recommendations on how others out there have managed to solve the 'couple in mid 30's, full time professional workers (8am-6pm) who don't have time or can't make time to cook meals at home' conundrum.

I've given the precooked meals a solid go more than once (youfoodz, musclemeals, lite n'easy etc.) and I just cannot maintain it as I find the variety of tasty food is very limited.

Does anyone have experience with using a private/personal chef/cook for 3-4 nights per week? Does such a service exist in Sydney that's 'affordable' (under $300 per week)?

Thanking you in advance for your contribution.

Comments

    • +1

      you are indeed a funnykent

  • +1

    Can't be too busy socialising at the moment so…..

    Anyway, trying being 2 professionals working 7am-7pm including commuting and taking care and cooking for 2 kids with multiple activities per week and having 2 dogs…. Still have time to cook for 4 people every day

  • Check Facebook market place, there are some home cooked meal pickup/delivery services. Cheaper than take away as well.

    You can find different services with different cuisines for each day of the week and get delivered or picked up when you are coming to home from work.

    Also, there are some cheaper weekly meal prep delivery services as well (way cheaper than take away or frozen meals from supermarkets). But you have to keep in the fridge and reheat.

  • Go onto Facebook Marketplace, select your area and type food.
    Not sure what types of cuisine you enjoy, but there is a variety to choose from.

  • +1

    Lots of good suggestions on here. A couple different ideas (from my biased perspective of liking to cook). Consider really fast and simple food recipes. A nice cut steak takes 10m (or less) to prep cook, and 2m to wash a pan. Pair that with wine and bagged salad, and you're done. With your budget of $100/dinner you could be eating rib-eye every night. You also mention leftovers taste worse - consider recipes that reheat better. Lasagna tastes even better on day 2 (and 3). Same with ribs which you like cooking. We'll do bigger batches of lots of things so we don't cook every night.

    • I think his budget is under $300 per week for all meals for 2 people.

  • +4

    We had a private cook for a couple of years. A retired cruise ship chef living next door. It was much cheaper for us, than to cook ourselves. The food was delicious and restaurant grade. The only issue was that he was used to cook in large amounts, so I had to eat more than usual and gained some weight.
    Too sad he passed away.

    • It was much cheaper for us, than to cook ourselves

      Nowt sure how this is possible when cooking for yourself costs you zero dollars.

      • We just gave him cash and he went shopping to market, bought everything at bulk prices, etc.

        • +1

          Yes but what you saved in food costs (maybe 20-30%) would have been easily eaten up by the wage you paid him.

          So really it wasn't that it was "cheaper" you paid for a service that saves you time which you value highly.

  • +2

    I can recommend these people https://www.gourmetdinnerservice.com.au/ I've used them multiple times; to send food to a sick rello in Melbourne and for myself when it suited me. If you're near the Northern beaches you can collect.

    I'm wondering would you really want someone coming to your house in the midst of a pandemic?

  • -1

    Keep surfing dude fortunately we have legal rates in Australia to keep such offers at bay.

  • +3

    Does OP have kids? If not, damn you are lazy. Like you have all night to prepare a meal.

    I remember being entitled like yourselves when I was in my late 20s but my partner and I also were working out of the house from 7am to 7pm. So we didn't cook a lot but we still did it probably 4 days out of 7 a week.

  • Do you want variety or the same stuff every weeknight?

  • +2

    Reach out to members of the local community, maybe somebody older nearby who would be happy to cook and provide meals a few nights a week.

    Pay them $100 to prepare a meal one night and if you like them provide an ongoing arrangement.

  • Meal prepping is the way to go. Cook your entire weeks food on a Sunday evening. There's heaps and heaps of recipes out there and a lot of YouTube channels are dedicated to meal prepping and actually make really decent foods. I use to watch Flavcity and have their cook book and it's just loaded with really tasty and visually appealing foods but just about anything will do.
    Can't recommend a slow / pressure cooker enough either - when we got one it was a real game changer as you can cook rice, pasta, stews, roasts, silverside .. even cake in it.

  • I'm trying to figure out what went wrong in OP's upbringings. Surely this is not normal in the society we live in.

  • +4

    8am - 6pm is not even long hours. I'm in the same situation as you.

    I usually cook on the weekends, have enough left overs for Monday and Tuesday, I'll usually pick up some takeaway or Ubereats on Wednesday and Thursday and we usually eat out (pre-COVID of course) on Friday.

    Does anyone have experience with using a private/personal chef/cook for 3-4 nights per week? Does such a service exist in Sydney that's 'affordable' (under $300 per week)?

    Not sure why you're after a private chef for 3 - 4 nights and willing to pay $300. That's more expensive than getting takeaway or going to a restaurant. There are plenty of options that are quite healthy.

  • +2

    My wife and I work quite busy schedules, as well as having 2 young kids, one at childcare and one at school with the run around with drop off and pickup as well as the eldest being involved in sport all year round. Everyone's perception of busy is different as you live in your own shoes.

    We tend to dedicate an hour or 2 on the weekends to cooking up meats and veggie bakes etc. I'll cook meat on the bbq or cooktop and my wife will cook veggie bake or vice versa. This means when it comes time to dinner during the week, we're just reheating food and possibly making a small salad to go with it.

  • +1

    I know a guy who is a personal chef. His employer regularly sends him by private helicopter to pick up ingredients from the shops.

    Do you have a helicopter and pilot on retainer too?

  • +3

    In US, I found one awesome chef via https://www.personalchef.com/.

    Now I am seriously wondering, why don't we have something like this here?

    You basically do contract with a chef - select dishes and decide who will do the shopping for ingredients. They come to your place on the selected time, cook, and leave.

    • That sounds exactly like what I'm after.
      Maybe it's worth reaching out to the company and seeing if they have an Australian subsidiary/sister company.

      Thanks for your comment.

      • +1

        Nah. I have worked for them in the past (on a tech project) and no idea.

        Business idea? Shall we do something about it?

  • If you are around Sydney CBD by 10km radius please DM me I can send you some details.

  • I was in the same situation. Spent $300+ on eating out, YouFoodz, Lite n easy, etc. each week.

    Now for the tough love :) The answer to this is to stop being a spoilt retard (like I was) and learn how to cook quickly and efficiently.

    Just a few basic meals and rotate.

    Breakfast weekdays = ((Weetbix | Porridge) + Milk) OR Bacon/Eggs/Avo/Toast/Yogurt whatever
    Breakfast weekends = eat out

    Lunch = buy it out. Buy the stuff you can't cook at home easily like Japanese.

    Dinner = Aldi (Salmon | Beef | Chicken | Other fish | Pork | Eggs | whatever) + (Packaged Salad | Frozen Veggies | Fresh Veggies (pre-cut)).

    That will get you started. Then, you can start to learn some nicer dishes. Cooking up a pasta inc. sauce from scratch can be very quick. Maybe even something like Marley Fresh or Hello Fresh to teach you how to cook.

    You're over complicating it. Meals don't have to be Masterchef.

    Easy, cheap, healthy, tasty. You'll save a packet too and feel a sense of personal achievement.

  • +4

    Forget the haters. Look local for people who are willing to do meal prep for you . Post on local community Facebook groups

    My wife and I cook most meals but pickup a gangster level vege lasagne from a suburban home near us and it's frikkin delish

    • Would you mind sharing details of the place?

      • +3

        Sure, https://mummassugo.com/

        So we live in Sunrise Beach QLD and this vendor operates our of their home in Peregian Springs QLD. Their food is amazing and we can pick it up fresh or frozen. We also get essentials like sourdough from Shambala farms delivered and freeze it.

        I do meal prep sundays like many other busy family’s on ozbargain but this usually takes a night or two per month out of my need to otherwise use takeout and it goes further.

        Have to tell you that having a sub to these places were a godsend during COVID shutdown. Went on a months holiday to tassie and never worried about getting food when we came back to Noosa

  • Cooking is fun, easy and doesn’t take long.
    I work same hours as you and love spending upto an hour making something on most days of week. On days I don’t feel like it I get takeaway.

    • What else do you like to do?

    • +1

      I don't understand how people are not getting that people don't like cooking. My mrs cooks and I clean. I would prefer to clean a shitter than cook.

  • Vitamix is a solution to some of the problems if you love smoothies. Not that you can have it as a meal everyday, but it will definitely serve some of your noons / evenings.

  • +3

    I work 8-6 every sunday and after coming home after work I am able to cook dinner and I live alone. 6pm to 8am is more than plenty of time to do things at home.

  • +3

    Do you have any local restaurants with friendly owner / manager / chef.

    Some friends of mine (a couple) who disliked shopping and cooking came to an arrangement where they would dine there every Mon-Thu. They paid less than menu prices and were given a varied selection, focussing on the options with more veggies and less salt and fat.

    Win-win.

    • I think this is a great idea! Thank you!
      I'll have a good look around for restaurants in the area that I can open a tab with (so to speak) and maybe start with that if I can't find the chef/cook I'm after.

  • +1

    I borrowed the au pair from across the road and paid her $30/hr to cook the meals I printed out from taste.com.au or the meals from my gym program twice a week (Sundays and Wednesdays).
    She would have breakfast, snacks and dinner in Tupperware in our fridge and do the dishes after her.
    I had to go to Coles Saturdays and Tuesday nights. The $60 I paid her per week was the cost of me eating healthier and was the lowest cost solution in outsourcing this task.

    • +1

      Many suggestions so far seem to lead to AuPairs.. I'll see if I can put an ad out in the local newspaper (digital & print).
      Thank you

  • Both, they might learn something at your house or residency.

  • +2

    Ask around locally, we used to get homecooked meals prepared two nights a week by a lady who worked at a local canteen, we'd collect from her hot and bring her back the ceramic pots the next time. Used to be around $30 for a full pot of things like beef goulash, roasts etc, easily enough for two people. It was worth it to her because she would make half a dozen and the couples would collect direct from her work.

  • +1

    You want to eat healthy, but sometimes doing the grocery shopping and cooking meals from scratch just is not an option. You might be juggling work, study, a house full of kids or simple sick of trying to decide what's for dinner week in and week out.
    You could settle for eating toast or takeaways… But I’m offering you something better that will save you time and make healthy eating enjoyable.
    I am a certified nutritionist and personal trainer, passionate about cooking healthy food and helping others to reach their wellness goals.
    How does it work?
    I create a meal plan for the week and either come to your house to cook or deliver the meal portions directly to your door. Come home to a refrigerator full of delicious healthy food ready to go. This is perfect for families or busy couples. For those with a fitness goal in mind, I can also track your macros and calorie intake and make a meal plan according to your objectives (fat loss, muscle gain…)
    Vegetarian/vegan/gluten free are options as well

    Hey @Surfer Dude not sure where in NSW you are, but this popped up on my FB for Sydney. Happy to link you if you enable DM's

  • +1

    I always tells my kids to be useful in the kitchen, it works well in the end they know how to cook for themselves and pretty damn good at it.

  • +3

    Are you very wealthy, OP? I’ve often wished I could do this but can’t afford it.

    • +2

      No. We have above average income, no children and no debt.

  • +1

    Look up the company I H8 cooking.
    A local-ish person comes over and does a huge cook up of 5 different meals (I think at least 4 serves of each). And you pop them in your freezer.
    You buy the groceries yourself or can pay extra for them to.
    It works out to be not a bad price.

  • +3

    Don't have anything useful to add, but I've wondered if services like this exist. I'm too cheap to pay for it though, would rather cook and remain the permantly exhausted pigeon I am, than spend $15,000 on someone elses cooking.

    Also, does the $300 include ingredients? I'm sure you could find some pensioner/stay at home mum/someone who has recently lost their job to take you up on the deal.

  • +1

    I think it’s a valid concern but your approach to solve the problem may be wrong. You have few options;
    - take away or food delivered from uber eats for example
    - start learning to make simple meals that wont make a whole lot of mess with cleaning afterwards or require 100 steps and ingredients to make.
    - Ask from your neighbours if they know someone who is doing home cooked meals as catering.

      • pray upon a wishing star
  • +1

    Thanks yous for working hard.
    - your neighborhood dole bludger.

  • Take turns cooking, cook in bulk or use tricks. Jamie's 30 minute meals for example. Rice cooker meals, all in one pot meals. Buy bulk pizzas from the local quality Italian deli. Quality pizza bases and make your own. There's so many tricks. Save your time/ effort finding this person. Quickly cooking will assist with mental health and taking care of yourself is important.

    Lets do the maths. Chef (For 5 days? 300/5 = 60) you would need to stick to 2 hours to make it legal. Otherwise you are risking paying under minimum wage. (Counting super) It's probably going to take about 3 hours comfortably with service prep and clean up. Plus a minimum shift is actually 3 hours anyway. Cooking is fun.

  • +1

    I'm in my mid 30s too, work similar hours and was literally thinking this just a few days ago! Although, I was also thinking of how I'd spend the 80M that person in Victoria won last week in Powerball. I'd happily spend $100k per year for a full-time professional chef. That's about 4M for the rest of my life and still leaves me with 76M. If only…

    • +1

      Don't need $80M to have the service I'm looking for. If you want a full service live-in butler and nanny and cleaner and 24/7 access to a personal Chef; then yeah you do need millions of $$. I think with all the suggestions I've been given in the multitude of comments in this thread will help me find what I'm after. I'm sure you could accomplish this too..

  • Cook enough for 8 meals being 2 dinners and 2 dinners at once for 2, refrigerate and re-heat.
    Not necessarily at normal dinner time either - e.g.:

    • Have takeout one night / week and one lunch/week = 6 nights / days
    • Cook 3 times per week = done.

    E.g.:
    Cook Sunday Evening = Sunday dinner, Monday Lunch, Monday dinner, Tuesday lunch.
    Takeaway Tuesday evening (Cheap Tuesdays).
    Cook Tuesday night later after takeaway = Wednesday Lunch, Wednesday Dinner, Thursday Lunch, Thursday Dinner.
    Eat out Lunch Friday (work lunch)
    Cook Friday evening = Dinner Friday, Lunch Saturday, Dinner Saturday, Lunch Sunday

    Repeat

    Works a treat - only thing that kept us on track - less washing up cooking utensils etc, all containers dishwasher safe each meal.
    Saved us money and healthier for lunches having left overs too rather than take-out during work days

  • +5

    Lol, everyone says they love cooking, their jobs, etc..but if they win a lottery, the first things they give up are jobs and cooking.

    I don't hate cooking because I have to learn to love it and it's because I'm f.. poor.

    • +2

      i don't mind cooking the occasional egg and bacon, or making jaffels

      but the constant pressure of having to come up with interesting meals for people can get a bit

  • +8

    Imagine when OP has kids…😂

    • Easy just outsource all the child raising parts he doesn't like so he can keep his precious time.
      Not like that doesn't already go on with boarding schools, nannies etc.

      • +1

        I think it's better for OP just don't have them yet….seriously don't make babies until you're ready to deal with shite after ….telling old-self lol

    • +1

      +1… +2… + damn it, why can you only do +1 ….!!!!???
      I remember the days thinking we had no time back then pre-kids, hahaha ha … oh

      I thought I was soo busy though…. ! ! Little did we know

  • -2

    My wife and I work longer hours then this guy, we have 2 young kids. We still find time to cook, eat, look after and play with our kids as well as spending time with eachother. My parents did the same then they had us kids without issues. God help this couple if they ever have kids. I guess they every have kids they will pass on the same mentality….

    • +2

      Good to see that you wear that as a badge of honour, well done to you Blitz.

      Are you or your partner based in Sydney and want to earn an extra $300 per week raising an additional 2 adult children that only require food for 4 nights per week and nothing else?

        • +5

          What's with the personal attacks? Everyone has things they're good at. OP obviously is no good at cooking and wants to outsource this. Why does that make him someone you wouldn't want to associate with?

          I use a car wash frquently, I can also choose to wash my own car but that usually takes hours. I prefer to pay an expert to do it instead because they do it more efficiently. You can change 'car wash' to anything and these are the fundamentals of the free market system and pretty much the only reason we have achieved so much as a society. Just because 'everyone cooks' doesn't mean the same logic doesn't hold.

          • +6

            @Dsquall: +1!

            But I have a partner and work more hours than you and I have 4 kids under 5 and I have 4 cars and I manage to wash my own cars every time they need a wash. I'm sorry but you're lazy and just need to learn the wax on wax off method. Watch some YouTube videos and learn how to do it yourself!

            Doesn't this (^^} sound absurd? When you have to explain your life and then force your standards onto others?

            Thanks for your input Blitz, kindly take your advice and opinions and gently insert them where the sun don't shine.

  • +1

    What kind of jobs?

    If you have sit-down office jobs you might consider reclassifying cooking as 'exercise'.

    Standing up for an hour at the end of the day makes a difference.

    You could also consider cooking classes to add more enjoyment to your cooking.

    But if you can't extract any enjoyment from cooking then buying take-away is exactly the same as hiring a personal chef. A professional chef is cooking your meal.

    You can choose what you want and if you choose appropriately you can get reasonably nutritious meals. Not from everywhere but definitely in cities.

    • Thanks for your comment. Somewhere further up this thread someone made a very valid point that in order to buy, cook and sell in bulk for a profit, the food needs to be loaded with salt, fats and sugar. I don't believe takeaway is the answer.

  • +1

    Dunno if OP is still reading (I gave up), but joining a local club might be an option worth considering. This is pretty common (or so I hear) for rich people in the US at least - they'll go to their country club for a few meals a week. These places cost a lot more than $300/w to join, but…

    Your local RSL or sporting club, assuming it's open and covid-safe, can certainly give you a few meals within the price range you're looking at.

    • Thanks Abb. We have visited the local RSLs quite frequently in the past however their bistro's only operate on on weekends now due to COVID. With the 2nd wave coming in the next 2 weeks, doubt this would be a feasible option.

      • That's unfortunate. My local club is open as of June, although they don't have the "grab and go" style bistro, just restaurant style cook-to-order.

        Fingers crossed we don't surf that second wave too hard.

        • +1

          Fingers crossed won't save you - need the government to wake up to the themselves and good luck with Gladys announcing she isn't going to do s… all about our only successful defense to date being lockdowns "over every small outbreak" or whatever she shrugged it off as, and wait until it's a Victoria-sized problem to realise she should have saved the economy and jobs and lives by doing a shorter, localised, sharper shutdown sooner whilst she had the chance so those of us who've been able to go back to work can stay that way…

          stupid governments relying on old data - waiting for the:
          (a) incubation period - 5 days?
          (b) symptoms get bad enough to get tested - 2 days
          (c) spread it all over the place in the meantime = + dozens of dispersed community transmission
          (d) test and wait for results - 3 days
          (e) results and reported up to health authorities - 1 day
          (f) government interprets results and realises there's a problem - 1 day
          (g) government waits to see if it is a pattern or isolated - 2 days
          (h) government decides the huge numbers of community transmission means a shutdown is actually warranted but announces it will take place on Saturday evening in 2.5 days time "to give everyone time to prepare"

          = 16.5 days? = too late to stop anything cause 100+ people then already have it that haven't been detected, then 150, then 200, then 260 and you know the drill

          Watch this space, what could have been a little containment in NSW could easily now blow up bigger than Ben Hur - read between the lines: Gladys thinks it can't be stopped and isn't even trying

  • +2

    How hard is to swing past woolies and pick up a roast chook? add veggies and presto 15 minute meal.

  • +4

    quality shit post

  • woolies ready meal?

  • +2

    'couple in mid 30's, full time professional workers (8am-6pm) who don't have time or can't make time to cook meals at home'

    which I interpret as 'don't want to cook everyday'

    OK - my first thought as a volunteer strata committee member who spends hours every week dealing with residential problems and doesn't get paid for it

    I was intrigued to be told the other day that our cleaner has just got a job - one day a week - as site contact person for a strata - paying $80Kpa !

    So yeah - I'm sure you could find someone to come to your house and cook for you - one day a week and freeze 6 days worth or somesuch

    and you might only have to pay them … $80Kpa … enjoy !

  • Atlasmasterclass.com.au

    Buy the pack for 4, takes half an hour to cook each as most of the hard work is done, give you meals and leftovers for days. $110 delivered, gives 12 meals worth (3 different meals of 4 serves each).

    Changes every week for the menu. It's a proper bargain too, this week included about a kilo of marinated chicken and a kilo of marinated pork and they use high quality stuff, it'd easily cost $80 just to buy the ingredients, let alone the time saved with them making the sauces.

    I work 12 hours a day and the half hour doing this in the evening is super relaxing as it's so easy and tasty. I cook properly on the weekends (usually slow cooked, so still easy), have takeaway once a week and I'm covered.

  • +3

    for $999, not only i can come to your house and cook for you, i can also chew the food and throw it out again on a porcelain plate so that you, not only dont need to cook but also dont need to chew the food

  • Is the $300 purely for labour only or is the chef expected to supply the materials (and cleanup) too?

    • Purely for labour (approx. 2 hrs). If there is leftover time after the cooking, then I'd expect them to clean up as well. I can supply the ingredients and cookware.

  • Youll be hard-pressed to find something for 300 / week i think.

    most chefs charge per the hour . with a minimum amount of course.

    I know some people that use chefs; some not due to time but more laziness.but then again.when you are 10% to 1%… you have all the time in the world (almost).

  • +1

    relax op i know of people that hire chefs to do cooking for them.

    its your money. do what you like.

  • Call an agency chef to cook all day say on a Monday and leave you a few meals in your fridge.

  • +5

    Quality trolling.

    Let's put aside that you are asking for personal chef suggestions on a bargain hunting website.

    My wife and I are in the same demographic, we both work longer hours than the OP and we have 3 kids (and no support network in Australia). Yet we manage.

    Spend your money on whatever you want, good luck to you. But you're not in a special position, you're not stuck in a bind and your circumstances aren't unique.

    • -3

      Thanks for your input cobba. If our circumstances are so homogeneous, why is this simple question stirring up such a heated debate amongst the OzB community?
      I did not post this to troll people, I genuinely would like someone else to cook the weekday meals for us.

      Would you like to earn an extra $300 for doing 8 hrs of cooking if you think it's not so much effort? If so, PM me.

      • Of course you're not, cobba.

    • Maybe the op uses a condom and then wants a nice meal ready instead of a cigarette

      How does what you do have any relevance?

      • It was relevant because I, and most other people, face the exact same circumstances, which are not special.

        Was that not clear to you?

        • +1

          Yeah you're right
          I'm in the wrong.

  • My neighbors had a lady come and cook for them in bulk 1 day a week. She charged something like $100 and brought her own pots/pans etc but you supply the groceries. She would make 3-4 meals with 4-8 serves that were good for reheating/freezer storage.

    • In Sydney? Do you have further information/contact details?

      • +1

        No, but they service a fair bit of Australia including sydney

        I hate cooking is the company. i was guessing at prices before but i just checked, it's not too crazy.

  • +2

    I get you OP. By the time I get home I just want to chill and not be bogged down by daily chores. So many people being judgemental here, saying "this is the norm!" Yes it is the norm, but it doesn't mean it's desirable. Good on OP for wanting to do something about it rather than sucking it up.

  • +2

    hey OP, do you mean $300 p.w. the labour cost?

    $300 / 4 dinners = $75 dinner budget for 2 people

    At this rate, why not doing yourself a favour to Ubereats or even dine out (2 nights Ubereats, 2 nights dine out)?

    Why bothering to have someone in, cook, wash, clean, etc .. unless you live in a mansion and you need a chef to fill in the empty space ?

    • Cause they want to eat healthy?

      Do you do this for everything?

      • +1

        There are literally tonnes of healthy options out there. Sushi, poke bowls, your local Lebanese bakery (shout out to A1). Go looking and you'll find good healthy options.
        Plus doesn't lite n easy already offer the service OP is looking for?

  • You could try contacting a local catering company and see if they could organise weekly meals for you.

  • +1

    I'll take your $300, i'll put in the toast and before it's up i expect to be paid so i can leave

  • Hilarious post lol.

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