Chaia Cucina Catering and Consulting

There are basically 3 types of pricing for my services based on what we're doing; i.e. canapé - style appetizers, buffet, plated meal, or some combination of the three. They are as follows..... 1) canapés $2 per individual piece regardless of the style, more expensive for more exotic/pricey product 2) buffet $13-$15 per person per dish for each protein, $7-$9 for each starch or veggie "side"/accouterments, $7-$9 for each dessert 3) plated/coursed meal or tasting menu $17-$18 per course per head - other charges are all broken out individually and itemized on the invoice including my time the night of the event and the inclusion of any other service staff (servers, bartenders, cooks) - I happily do pairing of wines, cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages and charge no margin on these items....I simply pass on the straight cost I pay directly to my clients. Similarly, I charge no margin on any rentals or specialty items required to produce/execute the event. The straight cost just gets passed on to my clients and I front that cost and deal with all of the ordering so all of the charges end up on one single invoice. - gratuity, while always appreciated, is never presumed nor included as a "charge". It is always left completely to the discretion of my clients. - the only alteration to the pricing schedule described above would be if a client requested a very high end or exotic product - in that instance, pricing would increase accordingly and be discussed with the client prior to the event

The process can always start with email communication, but ultimately, because my menus are customized to each of my clients' tastes and needs, the best method for building an event is a phone call. Usually one good call is all it takes to establish the real nuts and bolts of any particular event. After that, there may be a few quick phone chats or emails to hone finer details, but the first call (usually about 45 minutes or so...) is the most important one.

First and foremost, I have an AOS Professional Chef's degree from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. I graduated from that program with Honors in October 1999. Equally as important in terms of both "training" and "education", is the time I've spent traveling, particularly abroad. Having lived in Italy in 3 different short stints, and having traveled to about 30 other countries over the course of the last 25 years, I've had the phenomenal opportunity to supplement my hands-on cooking knowledge, training, and tutelage under other chefs, with real-world experience eating and understanding the food relationships prevalent in other cultures. All of these things inform how I cook, and more generally, how I think about and respect food/food culture.

A lifelong love of food and eating exploded when I was studying architecture and living abroad in Florence, Italy during my junior year in college. Since that time my love of food has grown exponentially, but more importantly, my reverence for and understanding of what cooking is as a skill AND an occupation has really expanded. Ultimately when I decided not to go into architecture as a profession, the cooking had been lurking in the background for some time. All I had to do was embrace it and the rest has been a great journey over the last 23 years.

There really is no "common" type of job per say. I do 8-10 person in-home tasting menus and cooking classes. I do weddings. I do fun parties ranging from benefits for non-profits to coursed dinners for 80-100 to large-scale events for 300-400. The span of what can be done is broad and exciting. I have yet to have a client come to me with a request that I haven't been able to somehow manifest.

I did a farm dinner that was a celebration for the 10th anniversary of Daybreak, a community in the south end of the valley. We put together a menu based on my clients' request with a Southern-inflected theme and set of flavors. For 120 people, we did 4 passed appetizers and 4 specialty cocktails in a model home, then shuttled everyone to two long communal tables set in the middle of a bridge at sunset and did 3 fully - plated courses with wine pairings. The entrée was a version of "chicken and waffles": hard-spiced duck confit with a chickpea flour and sage belgian waffle, honey-apricot gastrique, pickled sweet onion and duck cracklin. All of the food turned out perfectly. I was really proud of what we pulled off because there were major physical/logistical challenges to putting out the food we did in the place we did it.

My services are very specific in that they intimately address my clients needs and desires from minute one. Be prepared to engage with me in the process of developing your event right at the beginning. If we spend some good dedicated time at the outset and really ask good questions to truly figure out what you want out of your particular event, you'll find that the rest of the process is a breeze and that you'll get exactly the product you were looking for.

They will find in me someone whose passion for food and cooking is as great and dynamic and real as anyone they will ever meet. My favorite aspect of my career choice is getting people as excited about food as I am. Is that the type of caterer/chef you'd like to work with? If so....really think about what flavors, textures, ethnicities, etc. are of interest to you. Think about how adventurous and exciting you'd like the food to be for you and your guests. I will ask my customers those questions when we connect, regardless of whether they've already done so themselves. But if they've already given those subjects some thought, it makes the process of building their event even that much easier!