Private Chef in Lisbon
Rent one of our 690 private chefs for a unique dining experience. You choose the menu, and the cleanup is included.
Hiring a private chef in Lisbon: how it actually works
Most people who look for a private chef in Lisbon are organising something specific: a birthday, a send-off before a wedding, a group of friends who have rented an apartment together and do not want to spend the evening cooking or chasing a table for ten. That is the moment Take a Chef was built for.
You tell us what you have in mind and we turn it into a brief: date, number of guests, allergies, the kitchen you have, what the evening is actually for. From there we put together a shortlist of chefs who fit that brief and explain why each one suits it, so you are choosing between relevant options rather than sorting through everyone who happens to be available.
Chefs have been registering with Take a Chef since May 2017, and 690 Private Chefs are now signed up to cook in Lisbon and across Lisbon Municipality.
Once you pick a chef, the service does not go quiet. We keep the menu, the timings, what is included and any change in writing, in one place, so there is a single version of what was agreed and nobody has to reconstruct it from a chat thread the week of the dinner. We handle the payment, and the price agreed before you book is the price of the service.
Before the date we coordinate the details with the chef: arrival time, access to the kitchen, dietary restrictions, what equipment they will bring. Since 2017, requests covering 34,385 guest places have come through us for Lisbon, and the chefs working with us here have put together 11,527 customised menus and exchanged 26,212 messages with their guests, who rated the experience 4.66 out of 5.
Groups in Lisbon tend to be larger than people expect: the average booking here is for around eight guests, menus usually run to 3.84 courses at about 66 EUR per person, and it takes roughly 5.23 messages between you and the chef to settle the detail, because we do the rest of the chasing. Friends' gatherings, send-offs and birthdays are the three most common reasons to book, and the two cuisines most often requested are Portuguese and Mediterranean, with the chef's own tasting menu just ahead of both.
Booking is only the beginning. If a date moves, a guest count changes or something does not go the way it was agreed, we stay responsible for the service and there is someone to resolve it. That has held across the 34,385 guest places requested in Lisbon since we started working in the city.
How it works
3 simple steps — easy, tailored, stress-free.
690 Private Chefs in Lisbon
Get to know more about our top rated Private Chefs in Lisbon
More than 34,300 guests have already enjoyed the experience
4.4 Chef
The guests in Lisbon have scored the experience with their Private Chef with a 4.4.
4.7 Food quality
The quality of the menus cooked by our Private Chefs in Lisbon received an average score of 4.7.
4.59 Presentation
Not only taste counts! The presentation of our private chefs' dishes has received a 4.59 average score.
4.82 Cleaningness
The cleanup of the kitchen and dining area in Lisbon has been scored with a 4.82 on average.
Personalize your menu
A romantic dinner or a gathering of friends. Traditional dishes or exotic flavours. A fine dining experience or a family-style meal. Every private chef experience is unique! Submit your request and personalize yours.
Frequently asked questions
Below, you can find the most common questions about private chef services in Lisbon.
A private chef service includes everything necessary to enjoy a personalized dining experience at home. This includes:
- Customization of a menu based on your preferences;
- Purchase of ingredients;
- Mise en place (preparation of ingredients) before arrival;
- Preparation of the menu at your home;
- Complete table service;
- Set up and cleaning of the kitchen and used spaces.
Please note that tableware and glassware are not included. Gratuity is entirely at your discretion.
Prices in Lisbon depend mostly on the size of the group: the more guests, the lower the cost per person, because the chef's time is shared across the table.
As a guide, bookings range from 55 EUR to 101 EUR per person. For groups of 13 or more it is around 55 EUR, for 7 to 12 guests around 51 EUR, for 3 to 6 guests around 66 EUR, and for two people around 101 EUR.
Those are starting points, not quotes. The menu you choose, the number of courses, seasonal ingredients and how far the chef travels all move the final figure. What you will not get is a surprise at the end: the total, what it includes and the conditions are agreed in writing before you book, and we handle the payment.
Tell us the date, how many guests, any allergies or dietary restrictions, and a few details about your kitchen. We turn that into a brief and come back with a shortlist of chefs who fit it, each with a menu proposal, their experience, reviews and photos of their dishes, and an explanation of why they suit what you asked for.
You choose the chef and the menu. From there the conditions, the timings and any change stay in writing in one place, we handle the payment, and we coordinate the final details with the chef before the date. If something needs to change afterwards, you come back to us rather than starting a negotiation on your own.
You do not need to search for one. Tell us the date, the number of guests and what the evening is for, and we look at which of the 690 chefs registered in Lisbon are available, cook the kind of menu you are after and have worked with groups of your size before.
What comes back is a short list with a menu proposal from each and the reason they were chosen, not a directory to filter through. You pick the one you prefer.
There is no fixed limit, and the honest answer is that groups in this city are bigger than people expect: the most common booking is for seven to twelve guests, and gatherings of thirteen or more are a regular occurrence, usually send-offs and family reunions.
What matters more than the headcount is the kitchen and the table. Tell us how much worktop, oven and seating you have and we will only put forward chefs who can serve that group properly in that space, and we will say so in advance if the number does not fit the room.
Yes, the chef always prepares the menu at your home for a more personalized experience. However, some prep work might be done beforehand for complex dishes.
Absolutely! Many guests are passionate about food and relish the chance to learn from the chef. You can pick up new kitchen skills and get a behind-the-scenes look at each dish on the menu. Feel free to jump in and cook alongside the chef for a truly interactive experience!
Yes, they're 100% fresh. Unlike restaurants with pre-made dishes, private chefs prioritize using the freshest ingredients possible. This is because the chef creates a customized menu specifically for you, then goes out and sources the finest ingredients to bring your chosen dishes to life.
Drinks are not typically included, but you can discuss adding them to the menu proposal with the chef.
Tipping for private chefs is entirely at your discretion. Our goal is for you to have an unforgettable experience, and the chef always appreciates a nice tip. However, the decision and amount are completely up to you.
Key information about our chefs in Lisbon
Discover more details about our private chefs and their services.
The average age of our private chefs in Lisbon
Percentage of our women chefs in Lisbon.
The average wait time from submitting the request and receiving the first menu.
Our very first private chef service in Lisbon.
Percentage of services with kids in Lisbon.
Maximum number of bookings for a personal chef by a single client in Lisbon.
Increase in the number of bookings for a chef from last year in Lisbon.
Languages spoken by our personal chefs in Lisbon.
Percentage of guests that hired a chef more than once.
Average number of days booked for multiple services at home with a private chef.
Photos uploaded to the platform by our private chefs in Lisbon.
Average timeframe from sending the request to booking.
How many chef services are booked in Lisbon each month?
Demand in Lisbon does not follow the calendar of greeting cards. The three occasions that fill our chefs' diaries here are friends' gatherings, send-offs before a wedding and birthdays, in that order, which means bookings concentrate around weekends, long weekends and the stretch of the year when groups travel to the city rather than around single dates in February or May.
In practice this means two things. If your date is a Friday or Saturday in high season, tell us early: we have more room to line up chefs who fit what you want rather than whoever is left. And if your plans are still loose, that is fine too, because we structure the request around what you already know and fill in the rest with you.
Either way, the work of matching the date, the group and the right chef in Lisbon is ours, not yours.
Cost of a private chef in Lisbon
The cost of hiring a private chef in Lisbon can vary based on several factors, including the number of people in your group or seasonality. Larger groups tend to have a different average rate per person compared to smaller groups that hire a chef:
Booking prices range from 55 EUR to 101 EUR per person.
For 13 people or more: 55 EUR
For 7 to 12 people: 51 EUR
For 3 to 6 people: 66 EUR
For 2 people: 101 EUR.
Treat those figures as a starting point rather than a quote. The final price depends on the menu you choose, the number of courses, the ingredients in season and how far the chef travels within the city, and in a group of around eight guests, which is the average here, the per-person cost sits well below what the same menu would cost for a couple.
What does not change is how the money is handled: the total, what it includes and the conditions are agreed before you book, and we handle the payment so nothing is settled informally on the night.
Private chefs registrations
After many years of offering our services, we are lucky to have a fantastic team of chefs that keeps growing in Lisbon!
6 personal chefs register with us every month. Our verification team reviews these new chef profiles daily to categorize them, allowing you to discover incredible new chefs every month.
What is the most reserved type of cuisine in Lisbon?
In Lisbon the most requested option is the Chef's special, where you hand the menu to the chef and let them build it around the produce they find that morning. Right behind it comes Portuguese cooking, which is the single most asked-for cuisine by name here, followed by Mediterranean; Italian, Japanese, French and fusion menus come up regularly too.
Beyond those, chefs in Lisbon build menus around allergies, intolerances and dietary restrictions every week, and they will say upfront what they can and cannot adapt rather than agreeing to everything and improvising later. Tell us what the group eats and what it avoids, and we will make sure it is written into the brief the chef works from, not left as a verbal note.
Enjoy exquisite food with a Private Chef
Enjoy a Private Chef experience in the comfort of your own home! Let Take a Chef turn your kitchen and dining room into a professional restaurant. It’s a unique experience; ideal for special occasions, lunches with friends, family dinners or a great gift for that special someone. Let us know what cuisine you’re craving and give us some quick details about your kitchen to start receiving personalised menu proposals from our chefs. You just have to choose your favourite proposal! On the day of your meal, your chosen chef will head to their preferred local market to pick up the freshest ingredients. They will cook in your kitchen and provide table service for you and your guests. What’s more, they’ll make sure your kitchen is spotless before leaving. To get started click below!
Lisbon’s best Private Chefs come to your home
Our Private Chefs have trained in some of the best hospitality schools in the world and many have worked in Michelin Star restaurants. We can find the perfect fit for your special occasion. All you have to do is let us know the type of cuisine you’d like to enjoy, and we’ll find the right chef for you. You’ll be able to talk to the chef directly to make sure that every detail is exactly how you would like it!
Do you want to try something new in Lisbon? We have the perfect idea!
Lisbon’s food scene has improved drastically over the last few years, becoming a lot more diverse and enticing. At Take a Chef we are excited to provide the next level dining experience: a completely personalised and intimate service where the chef’s attention is entirely focused on you and your guests. Why not give it a go? To get started, click the button above!
Talk to our chefs in Lisbon
Our chefs in Lisbon have professional training and years of restaurant kitchens behind them, and most of them cook Portuguese and Mediterranean menus because that is what people ask for here. Tell us about your evening in Lisbon and we will come back with chefs who fit it, with the reason each one was picked.
Take a Chef services in nearby cities
Discover cities near Lisbon where you can enjoy a Private Chef service
Cities where you can enjoy a Private Chef
Discover cities of Portugal where you can enjoy our experiences.