Italian Chef at Home Cost: A Real Dinner for 4

A four-course Italian dinner, cooked at home by a professional chef for four guests, cost €268.79. That is €67.20 per guest. The chef and the platform fee came to €177. The groceries, on three supermarket receipts, came to €91.79.

Most price guides give you a range. Here is one real booking from 2 October 2026, with every number: the order, the receipts and the menu. You can use the same formula to estimate your own dinner. For general rates, see our guide to private chef pricing in Lithuania.

How the price is built

You pay for three things: the chef’s time at the chef’s hourly rate, the groceries at the price on the receipts, and a fixed platform fee. The chef in this example, Domenico Dell’Acqua, charges €30 per hour.

The booking: Italian Experience for four guests

The client chose the set menu Italian Experience: Italian antipasto, an Etna-shaped arancino, beef tenderloin with Barolo sauce, and vanilla panna cotta with red berry coulis. Four courses, four guests.

Item	Amount
Chef’s time: cooking and cleanup, 4 h × €30	€120.00
Chef’s time: travel and menu planning, 1.5 h × €30	€45.00
Platform fee (fixed)	€12.00
Chef and platform fee	€177.00
Groceries, three receipts	€91.79
Total for four guests	€268.79
Per guest	€67.20

You see the chef’s time and the estimated total before you confirm the booking. You know the price before the chef knocks on your door and walks into your home. Only the groceries are paid later, at receipt cost.

The receipts: where €91.79 went

The shopping was done in two supermarkets, PROMO Cash&Carry and MAXIMA, on 29 and 30 September. Here are all three receipts. Click a receipt to open it full size.

Grouped by what was bought:

Group	What is in it	Amount
Beef tenderloin	2 aged beef tenderloin medallions (€13.49 each)	€26.98
Cheese, cured meat, dairy	prosciutto crudo, burrata, Parmesan, butter, milk, cream	€18.26
Berries	strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, red currants	€11.08
Nuts	pine nuts, almond flakes, pistachios	€7.98
Pantry, herbs, sweets	round-grain rice, polenta, tomato purée, beef bouillon, gelatine, grissini, dark chocolate, rosemary, parsley	€15.95
Kitchen supplies	disposable gloves, sauce cups, bamboo picks, scourer	€11.54
Total		€91.79

The biggest single item was the beef: two medallions for €26.98, about one third of the food bill (€80.25). The menu you choose moves this part of the price more than anything else. Gloves, picks and sauce cups are there so the food can be cooked and plated cleanly in your kitchen.

What the same dinner costs for 2, 4 and 8 guests

The chef’s time for this menu is the same for one to four guests. Groceries grow with the number of guests. For eight guests we added one more hour of the chef’s time. The four-guest column is the real order. The other two are estimates, rounded up.

Italian Experience	2 guests (estimate)	4 guests (real order)	8 guests (estimate)
Chef’s time and platform fee	€177	€177	€207
Groceries	about €52	€91.79	about €173
Total	about €229	€268.79	about €380
Per guest	about €115	€67.20	about €48

How we estimated: the food on the receipts cost €80.25, about €20 per guest, so we scaled it with the number of guests. The kitchen supplies (€11.54) stay the same. For eight guests the chef’s time is 6.5 hours instead of 5.5, which adds €30. Your own total depends on the menu and on the shopping. For your date and group size, check the estimate on the booking page.

What the evening was like

A dinner at home is also the evening itself. In the review on Domenico’s profile, the client wrote:

“There were four courses, but somehow it never felt like too much food.”

The client also wrote that their picky son enjoyed the dinner, that the chef brought everything he needed, and that the evening was relaxed and informal. Cleanliness was rated 5 out of 5.

Who cooked: Domenico Dell’Acqua

Domenico Dell’Acqua is an Italian chef from Sicily. He has more than 30 years of professional experience, mostly in Luxembourg, where he cooked for private events, official receptions and banquets. His profile lists a Brevet de Maîtrise, an Italian professional diploma and a food hygiene certificate. He speaks Italian, French, English and some Lithuanian — his wife is Lithuanian.

He offers three set menus. Each estimate is for a group of one to four guests, and groceries are extra:

Set menu	Chef’s time	Estimate with fee
Italian Experience	5.5 h × €30	€177
A Taste of Sicily	6 h × €30	€192
A Taste of France	6 h × €30	€192

See his full profile, menus and reviews on Domenico’s Cheffy page.

How to book

1. Open the chef’s page and choose a set menu. The estimated total is shown.
2. Choose a date and the number of guests. Message the chef about allergies, children and taste.
3. Before you confirm, check the chef’s time and the total.
4. The chef sends a shopping list in advance, or buys the groceries himself and brings them to your home. Groceries are paid at receipt cost, on top of the chef’s price. If the chef does the shopping, his shopping time is added to the estimate.

New to the platform? Read how Cheffy works.

FAQ

Is the price per person or for the whole group?

For Domenico’s set menus, the chef’s part of the estimate covers the whole group of one to four guests. Groceries are extra, and a larger group needs more of the chef’s time.

Who pays for the groceries?

You do, at receipt cost, on top of the chef’s price. The chef either sends you a shopping list in advance, or buys the groceries himself and brings them to your home. If he shops, his shopping time is added to the estimate.

What if the dinner takes longer than planned?

The estimated chef time is shown when you book. If the evening needs more time, you pay for the extra time that was actually needed.

Can the menu be changed for allergies or children?

Yes. Domenico adapts each menu for children, allergies, gluten-free and vegetarian diets. Tell him before the dinner.

Can I talk to the chef before I book?

Yes. You can review chef profiles and discuss your request with the chef before you choose.

Does the chef bring his own equipment?

In this dinner, the client wrote that Domenico brought everything he needed. Ask your chef in advance what he will bring.

See Domenico’s menus and your own estimate

Open Domenico’s page, choose a menu, a date and the number of guests, and you will see the chef’s time and the total before you confirm. Or browse all chefs.