Guides
How to hire, without regret.
The Big Island chef market is mostly “call for a quote.” Here is how to hire well inside it — whoever you book.
What to check
- Published prices — a number you can audit before you inquire
- The fee stack — service charge and GET on their own lines, at real rates
- Insurance and food-safety certification, stated plainly
- A written quote before any deposit — never the reverse
What to ask
Ask about the kitchen requirement, the travel policy (on a 4,028-square-mile island, everyone has one — most just do not publish it), what happens if the chef is sick, and when the menu is written. The answers tell you whether you are hiring a business or a favor.
Red flags
Prices that arrive only after a deposit, “service included” with no rate stated, review walls with no names, and anyone who says the east side is “no problem” without mentioning the drive.
Questions, answered
Two to four weeks normally; six-plus for December–March and Ironman week. The deposit locks the date only after you have seen the quote.
Keep reading
- guide Chef at the villa, or a table in town.
- guide Private or personal?
- guide Direct hire, or the network.
- guide Resort or estate: the arithmetic.
- guide Guides and field notes.
- guide How it works, end to end.
- guide The kitchen gate.
- guide Signature dinners: food in the band. Stay Chef: groceries at cost.
Get a written quote
The button is not “Book now.” You tell us the table; we send a written quote — and that quote is the confirmed total.