PLANNING — GUIDE
How to Hire a Private Chef in Cape Town — Vetting Questions and Red Flags
Hiring a stranger to cook in your home is an act of trust. Here is how to make it an informed one — the questions, the checks, and the walk-away signs.
Hire a private chef on five checks: food-safety certification (R638 Certificate of Acceptability), a fixed itemised quote, verifiable references, a written cancellation and replacement policy, and a menu consult before any deposit. A chef or company that passes four of five is bookable; two or fewer is a risk.
The short answer
Hire a private chef on five checks: food-safety certification (R638 Certificate of Acceptability), a fixed itemised quote, verifiable references, a written cancellation and replacement policy, and a menu consult before any deposit. A chef or company that passes four of five is bookable; two or fewer is a risk.
We hire chefs for a living — our own vetting process is the professional version of this checklist. This guide is the consumer edition: what to ask, what the answers should sound like, and when to walk away.
The vetting questions, and what good answers sound like
Ask for the Certificate of Acceptability. Under Regulation R638 of the Foodstuffs Act, any business preparing food commercially needs one from the municipal Environmental Health Practitioner, with a named Person in Charge holding accredited food-safety training. Good answer: a certificate by return email. Bad answer: confusion about what it is.
Ask how the quote is built. Good answer: chef fee, groceries (at cost, with receipts, or included — either is fine if stated), travel, staffing and VAT treatment, line by line, fixed before deposit. Bad answer: a round number and 'we'll sort the details'.
Ask what happens if the chef cannot make it. Illness is the single most common failure mode in private cheffing, and solo operators have no answer to it. Good answer: a named backup policy. Bad answer: reassurance.
Ask for references you can check — a Google Business Profile, a villa agency, a past client. Self-reported testimonials are marketing; independently visible reviews are evidence.
- Certificate of Acceptability (R638) — ask for the document, not the assurance.
- Fixed itemised quote — every line priced before deposit, VAT treatment stated.
- Backup policy — a named replacement plan, in writing.
- References — verifiable on independent platforms, not just the chef's own site.
- Menu consult first — dietary requirements and kitchen logistics discussed before money moves.
Deposits, contracts and the money norms
Deposits of 50% are the market norm for locking a date — the same structure Textures Bespoke publishes for events. What matters is not the percentage but what the deposit buys: a written quote, a named date, and a published cancellation ladder.
Cancellation terms should be tiered and written — full refund beyond a stated window, partial inside it, and clear festive-season rules (super-peak deposits are commonly non-refundable across the market; ours say so in writing). If the terms change when you ask twice, you have learned everything you need to know.
Red flags that end the conversation
A price given before a single question about your kitchen, your guests or your date. A deposit request before a written quote. Groceries at 'market price' with no receipts. No cancellation terms. A portfolio of reviews that exists only on the chef's own Instagram.
The corresponding green flag: a chef or company that tells you when they are wrong for the job — too small a group for their model, a date they cannot cover, a cuisine outside their craft. That honesty is the thing the five checks are designed to detect. Our how-it-works page shows what the process looks like when a company runs it properly; our vetting page shows the professional version of this checklist applied to our own bench.
One last check that costs nothing: the response itself. How a chef or company handles your first enquiry — speed, specificity, whether the reply answers your questions or just sells — is the most accurate available preview of how they will handle your event. The enquiry is the audition. Treat it as one.
Questions, answered.
We update this guide annually — figures re-verified October 2026.
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Replacement-or-refund · Fixed itemised quote · Published cancellation tiers