Dinner, cooked in your kitchen.
I arrive with the food, cook in your kitchen, serve your table, and leave it cleaner than I found it. You spend the evening with your guests instead of at the stove.
$125–175 per guest · $750 minimum · 2–20 guests
A private dinner at home is a different thing from a restaurant. Nobody is waiting for your table. Nothing is rushed to turn the room. The pacing belongs to your conversation, and the kitchen is close enough that guests drift in to watch the pasta come together — which is usually the best part of the night.
Because I'm cooking in your kitchen rather than transporting food, the whole repertoire is open to me. That includes the seafood courses I can't offer any other way.
THE MENUS
Menu I — A Tour of Southern Italy
The signature dinner, drawn from the Taste Elevated stage series.
Benvenuto — Entertaining Board of the Puglian Table
Cured meats, marinated vegetables, and Seared Living infused oils with warm focaccia
Primo — Hand-Formed Orecchiette alla Campidanese
Sausage, saffron, and tomato. Rolled by hand the morning of your dinner
Secondo — Braised Chicken alla Cacciatora
Hunter-style, with peppers, tomato, and rosemary
Contorno — Charred Broccolini, Sicilian Lemon Oil
Finished with toasted breadcrumbs
Dolce — Olive Oil Cake with Meyer Lemon Icing
From Beyond the Recipe, chapter nineteen
Menu II — The Chef's Table Classics
Built from the mother-sauce chapters of Beyond the Recipe.
To Begin — Spanish Garlic Shrimp
Sizzling gambas al ajillo. A private-dinner exclusive
Pasta — Tagliatelle alla Bolognese
The long-simmered ragù, finished tableside
Main — Triple Citrus Salmon
Orange, lemon, and lime with a butter pan sauce
Dessert — Olive Oil Gelato with Chai Apple Fritters
Churned fresh, served warm-against-cold
Both menus are starting points. Every one is tailored on a planning call and adapts to allergies and preferences — vegetarian and egg-free menus gladly composed. Wine pairings arranged with your preferred retailer.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Before the night
We talk. I want to know the occasion, who's at the table, what they love, and what they can't eat. The menu comes out of that conversation, not a catalogue.
What I bring
All the food, my knives, and the specialty equipment the menu needs. I'll ask a few questions about your oven, your burners, and your counter space beforehand so there are no surprises.
What you provide
Your kitchen, your table, your serviceware — and if you'd rather I bring plating, tell me and I'll arrange it.
The evening itself
I arrive two to three hours before service depending on the menu. Courses come out on your pacing, not a schedule. I'm available to talk to guests about what they're eating, or to stay quietly in the kitchen — your call, and both are the right answer.
Afterward
I clean the kitchen down. You should not be able to tell dinner was cooked there, except that it was the best one you've hosted.
⚑ Where the food is made. Every private dinner is cooked start to finish in your kitchen, from raw ingredients or sealed commercial products I bring that day. Nothing is pre-cooked elsewhere and carried in.
Your guests leave with the dinner
Every private dinner ends the same way: a jar from my pantry line and a signed copy of Beyond the Recipe, available as departure gifts or guest favors. The pomodoro they ate is the pomodoro in the jar, and the chapter is printed on the tag.
It's the part guests text me about a week later, once they've cooked it themselves.
$125–175 per guest, set by menu and course count
$750 minimum per dinner
2–20 guests
50% deposit reserves your date · balance due day-of
Recurring weekly in-home service is available to a small number of households — standing meal preparation cooked and stored in your own kitchen, priced as a day rate. I keep this roster short on purpose. Ask if you'd like to be considered.