Private Chefs Varenna
Private Chefsin Varenna.
A single dinner, a week, or the whole summer.
Lake Como Province of Lecco
Varenna's trade base is real but small, and much of it lives inland at Perledo and Esino rather than in the village. Builders, gardeners and boatmen work the whole eastern shore between Lecco and Bellano, so availability is a question of scheduling across a stretch of coast rather than of finding someone locally.
On any renovation in the historic core, access governs the programme. Materials come up the stepped alleys by hand or by barrow, or in from the water, and there is no third option; scaffolding and waste removal are the line items that surprise people. Anyone quoting on a Varenna village house without having worked one before will be wrong on time before they are wrong on price.
For how this trade works across the whole lake, what to ask for, how the firms are chosen and what goes wrong, read private chefs on Lake Como. For the village itself, read our guide to Varenna.
Editorial note: we have not yet written up how this trade works in Varenna specifically, so this page is kept out of search until we have. The introduction itself is unaffected. Ask and we will make it.
On the network
14 cooks
Held across the lake rather than in one village. We introduce the two we would use ourselves for the job in front of you.
01What they do
Shopping and sourcing
The market morning, the butcher two villages along, the fish from the lake, and the supplier who will deliver to a jetty because they know the chef.
Cooking in a domestic kitchen
Menus built around one oven, no cold storage and a terrace on another floor, with whatever equipment the house lacks brought in.
Feeding a house, not a table
Staggered breakfasts, children early, a picnic for the boat, the staff meal, and dinner for whoever has actually turned up.
The dinner that is an occasion
Extra hands, hired glass and linen, service on the terrace, and a plan for what happens if the weather turns at seven.
Questions
How much does a private chef on Lake Como cost?
Chefs here price by the day or by the engagement, with food and any hired equipment or extra staff billed separately at cost. We do not publish rates.
What moves the figure is the number of covers, how many services a day, whether the chef is shopping as well as cooking, and whether they need to bring anyone with them. For a season, the arrangement is usually a weekly rate with days off agreed in advance. Settle the food budget separately and in writing, because that is where most disagreements start.
How far ahead should I book a chef for August?
By early spring for a full week or a season, and as far ahead as you can manage for a single dinner, which is the harder request.
The chefs with the strongest reputations take their season bookings first, and a single evening in mid-August is difficult to fill because it does not fit around anybody else's week. If your dates are fixed, ask early; if they are flexible, the shoulder months are a different world entirely.
Does the chef do the shopping?
Usually yes, and it is a substantial part of the day here, because the good suppliers are spread around the lake rather than gathered in one place.
Agree how the food is paid for before the first day: a float held by the chef, an account at the shops, or receipts reimbursed. Also agree who has the car. A chef without transport on this lake is far less useful than the same chef with a vehicle and an hour in the morning.
Written by The Como Private Desk
Elsewhere in Varenna
Private Chefs in other villages
For people who work on the lake
Are you the bestat what you do here?
The list we introduce from is short and grows slowly: by working with somebody, seeing how a job goes, and only then adding them. If that is the standard you hold yourself to, tell us who you are. We read every one. We check work before we introduce anybody, and no money passes in either direction.
Put yourself forward