Five Reasons to Choose a Private Chef for Your Next Dinner Party
Surprise, surprise … Nashville is expensive! (What isn’t these days?) $25 cocktails are a thing, and a dinner for two can easily run more than $200 when celebrating so much as a simple date night.
When we found out we were moving from the Northeast to Nashville, we thought we just hit the LOTTERY. Essentially, I figured it meant we could afford a mega-mansion and live the life of luxury, thinking it would be affordable compared to Providence and Boston. WRONG!
After a year-and-a-half in Nashville, we’ve built a network of friends and figured out a few tricks to living that “pinkies up” lifestyle in a way that won’t break the bank.
If you follow us on Instagram, you’ve seen some exciting adventures since the summer of ’22. We love entertaining at our house. So when it was time to bring all our friends together to celebrate our next big thing, we partnered with Chef Estrella at Local Kitchen TN.
Funny story: we found each other on the Gram and slowly just started ‘hugging each other’ by liking all our posts and interacting via DMs. She actually introduced me to a really good friend who became my Pinot Noir Wednesday wine date. (Heyyyy, Staci Ann!)
Anywho, we love entertaining and bringing people together, and we have the perfect house for it. But getting set up and prepping is so exhausting. (Not to mention cleanup!) Holy moly … the dishes, the dishes, oh my.
The thought of having a private chef come to your house seemed worth it just for the dishes alone. Yet, when we realized the price was the same as going to the city for the night, we began to entertain the idea.
Here’s the thing. We’re actually been kicked out of restaurants. Not because we’re loud and obnoxious (winky face) but because we have a tendency to stay and stay. What can I say? We just love spending time with each other.
But restaurant managers and wait staff just want to go home. Can you blame ‘em? So the idea of having all our friends together and not feeling rushed was a big plus in our book.
We decided to have a garden party with Chef Estrella. A party of six, we could really up the ante. She came in hot, with show-stopping menus and wine pairings. It was everything we were looking for and more, with produce grown from her own garden and allllll things local.
It started off with our friends walking through the door greeted with a fresh summer cocktail. It even had fancy ice cubes from freshly cut marigolds that were frozen overnight. (If this represented Summer of Carlos, we were gonna do it up.) As we sipped our spiked lemonades, Chef was prepping our full course menu.
First, crostinis with whipped lemon thyme ricotta, early summer tomatoes and just-picked basil. It was so pretty everyone literally stopped talking.
We switched from the lemonade to dry riesling, then moved to the main dining table. We’d only had one appetizer, but spent about 45 minutes laughing and talking in total relaxation.
Next up, a green bean salad with herb vinaigrette and lemon-thyme ricotta stuffed squash blossom. I mean, have you ever heard of a squash blossom? Do yourself a favor and look it up.
Third course: fresh farm yolk ravioli. (I die.) It was my first time trying a farm fresh egg, and the color of the yolk alone was enough to fill this whole blog. Also, it was paired with champagne, my favorite, so … enough said.
Then, we enjoyed jumbo sea scallops with a garden pea puree, accompanied by a 2020 Sandhi California Chardonnay. The first time I ever tried a scallop was with my dad in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Before that, I would have chosen lobster, but now my ultimate seafood is a scallop.
Finally, for dessert, we had lemon ricotta cake topped with strawberries and paired with a sparkling red. It was truly the “icing on the cake.” Bugey-Cerdon-La-Cuelle is now my go-to for any special occasion. Order a case ASAP. Trust me.
We finished our five-course meal and … guess what?! We weren’t kicked out.
While we continued to sit outside and open another bottle of wine, Chef Estrella and her team swiftly packed up and left the kitchen far cleaner than they found it.
We had a fantastic time and highly recommend it. To recap, here are the Five Reasons You Should Consider a Private Chef for Your Next Special Event.
It is comparable in price. A dinner in downtown Nashville with food and wine pairings would have been way more expensive than what we were able to accomplish in the comfort of our home.
We were comfortable and never rushed. We spent about five hours together. That would have been unheard of if we were sitting in a restaurant, and chances are we would have found ourselves at a second cocktail bar, increasing the nightly spend.
Zero prep time and cleanup. We literally did nothing except open our doors to our friends and Chef Estrella’s crew.
A new tasting experience. We delighted in a true farm-to-table experience, plus we were introduced to new flavors, wines, and dishes!
Always be learning! We were super lax with our experience, and because of that we had a really cool atmosphere where we interacted directly with Chef Estrella. As she was preparing and serving, she was not only providing us with the ingredients and the power of flavors, but she also offered tips and answered all of our questions.
To book Chef Estrella, contact @localkitchentn or visit localkitchentn.com.