Private Culinary Staff
Everyday family meals, dietary needs, formal entertaining, and travel call for different culinary experience. Define the table before choosing the title.
Private Chef
What the role encompasses
A private chef plans menus, sources ingredients, prepares meals, and maintains an organized kitchen around the family’s preferences and schedule. The role can include everyday dining, guest meals, special occasions, and coordination with household service staff.
Compensation range
Charlotte evidence with U.S. private-chef guidance
- Full-time appointments
- $85,000–$150,000 / year
For full-time household dining and kitchen ownership. Menus, entertaining, dietary needs and the weekly schedule determine compensation.
Range context & sources
Indicative cash pay in USD, reviewed September 2026. The offer should specify hours, overtime treatment, benefits, travel and housing. Placement fees are separate.
The role may be right when
You want an ongoing culinary professional who learns your preferences and takes ownership of food and kitchen organization.
Estate Chef
What the role encompasses
An estate chef oversees a larger or more complex private culinary operation. Frequent entertaining, several residences, specialist dietary requirements, or a kitchen team may make planning and leadership as important as cooking.
Compensation range
U.S. senior private-chef benchmark
- Full-time appointments
- $150,000–$250,000 / year
Larger culinary operations and multiple residences. This senior private-chef benchmark reflects scope; the estate title alone does not establish a premium.
Range context & sources
Indicative cash pay in USD, reviewed September 2026. The offer should specify hours, overtime treatment, benefits, travel and housing. Placement fees are separate.
The role may be right when
Your culinary service requires team leadership, substantial entertaining, or coordination across residences.
Household Cook
What the role encompasses
A household cook prepares everyday meals to an agreed standard, often including shopping, pantry care, and kitchen cleanup. The emphasis may be familiar family food, batch preparation, or consistent meal routines rather than formal entertaining.
Compensation range
NC & U.S. cook/housekeeper examples
- Household cooking
- $30–$40 / hour
Everyday meals, shopping and kitchen care. Local evidence includes combined housekeeping appointments; dedicated cooking schedules require a tailored brief.
Range context & sources
Indicative cash pay in USD, reviewed September 2026. The offer should specify hours, overtime treatment, benefits, travel and housing. Placement fees are separate.
- Charlotte's Best Nanny Agency via Talent.com — Executive Housekeeper/Cook in Cotswold (Starting at the End of December) (opens in a new tab)
- Pavillion Agency — Job Listing 18812 — Part-Time Housekeeper/Cook (opens in a new tab)
- Morgan & Mallet — Household Staff Salaries — Annual Report 2025/26 (opens in a new tab)
The role may be right when
Your priority is dependable everyday cooking that suits the family’s tastes and routine.
Travel Chef
What the role encompasses
A travel chef accompanies the household or supports periods in other residences, adapting meals to available kitchens, suppliers, equipment, and itineraries. Planning ahead is central: reliable sourcing and safe food handling must continue when the setting changes.
Compensation range
NC/Florida example with U.S. travel-chef context
- Full-time appointments
- $150,000–$250,000 / year
Full-time employed travel chefs. Agree time away, rest days, accommodation and expenses separately; short assignments need their own daily quote.
Range context & sources
Indicative cash pay in USD, reviewed September 2026. The offer should specify hours, overtime treatment, benefits, travel and housing. Placement fees are separate.
The role may be right when
The family moves regularly and wants culinary continuity without rebuilding its food arrangements at every destination.
Defining private chef responsibilities
Discuss how menus are approved, who shops, the level of table service expected, and how dietary requirements are communicated. The best culinary match involves temperament and adaptability as well as cooking: the chef works within a home, where plans and appetites can change. Full-time, part-time, live-in, and live-out describe how the appointment is structured, not the standard or breadth of culinary service.
Settle these details first
- Meal schedule, cuisine preferences, and dietary requirements
- Family and guest numbers, entertaining, and service style
- Shopping, kitchen support, budget, and travel
Defining estate chef responsibilities
The brief should identify menus, staffing, procurement, inventories, budgets, equipment, and coordination with butlers or household managers. Ask how the candidate organizes service across overlapping demands and maintains consistency when the principal moves between homes.
Settle these details first
- Kitchen teams and service responsibilities
- Entertaining calendar and movement between residences
- Budgets, procurement authority, and menu coordination
Defining household cook responsibilities
Be specific about cuisine, dietary needs, the number of meals, and whether food is served immediately or prepared ahead. If the role combines cooking with housekeeping, allocate time and agree which duties take priority. The distinction is one of scope, not care: dependable food, cleanliness, judgment, and discretion still matter.
Settle these details first
- Daily meals and preparation-ahead requirements
- Shopping, storage, and kitchen cleanup responsibilities
- Any combined housekeeping duties and time allocation
Defining travel chef responsibilities
Agree destinations, notice periods, time away, accommodation, rest days, and how travel affects the ordinary work schedule. Yacht or aviation service may introduce additional operational requirements that should be coordinated with the relevant crew.
Settle these details first
- Expected destinations, trip length, and notice
- Kitchen access, sourcing, and dietary continuity
- Travel logistics, accommodation, and duty schedule
The right culinary appointment begins with the table: who eats at home, what they enjoy, the dietary requirements, and how often guests join them. A family’s everyday meals and a formal entertaining calendar can call for different experience.
Private Chef, Estate Chef, Household Cook, and Travel Chef describe service needs that sometimes overlap. Use the selections below to define the work before deciding which title belongs in the search.
A more useful brief
Build the culinary brief around real service
Meals, people, and occasions
Specify family meals, staff meals, guest numbers, meal preparation versus service, and the frequency of entertaining. Clarify whether one chef can cover the schedule or whether additional support is needed.
Dietary requirements and sourcing
Describe preferences, allergies, and any dietary plan already set by an appropriate professional. Discuss purchasing, supplier access, storage, kitchen equipment, and how menus are agreed.
Kitchen boundaries
Separate cooking, table service, dishwashing, inventory, and general household duties. Include preparation and cleanup time in the schedule, along with travel between residences where relevant.
Schedule and appointment structure
Set out weekday and weekend service, preparation and cleanup time, entertaining, travel, and time off. Full-time, part-time, live-in, and live-out describe how the appointment is arranged; the actual culinary scope still needs to be defined.
The Founder’s Office
From the right brief to a considered introduction.
Within a private household, culinary skill is only part of the appointment. We define the household’s daily rhythm, dietary requirements, entertaining calendar, kitchen systems, and travel before assessing experience, references, discretion, adaptability, and fit. A paid working trial, where appropriate, can show how a chef plans, communicates, and works in the family’s actual environment.
How we assess households and candidates →Compensation & conditions
Plan the whole culinary appointment
Discuss compensation alongside the service schedule, evening and weekend coverage, purchasing, events, travel, accommodation, and any kitchen or service support. Candidate compensation and employment costs are separate from Silverthorne’s search and placement fees.
Client fees & placement terms →Looking for work? View available positions.
Before you decide
Questions worth asking.
Private households throughout North Carolina.
From Charlotte and Lake Norman to Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill; across the Triad, the Blue Ridge, and the coast. Tell us where the work happens, including travel or additional residences. Location, commuting expectations, and relocation needs belong in the brief from the beginning.
Explore the appointments
The rest of the household.
Explore responsibilities, compare related roles, and clarify the support your home needs.