Private Chef in Miami
A private chef in Miami cooks a restaurant-grade dinner in your own kitchen — menu designed for your guests, ingredients sourced that morning, every course cooked from scratch. With The Staver, the chef's fee is $200 per guest and groceries are billed separately — most dinners land around $250 per guest all-in, with a $2,000 event minimum. Chef Marina Staver is at the stove for every event, and your custom quote arrives within 24 hours.
- Chef Marina Staver cooks in your home — Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach
- Michelin-level dinners, cooked from scratch, sourced the morning you dine
- $200 per guest — the chef's fee; groceries billed separately
- Most dinners land around $250 per guest all-in · $2,000 event minimum
- One home per evening — Marina is the chef at every dinner
- Custom quote within 24 hours, no deposit until you approve it
- 74 Google reviews — a 5.0 rating
Hiring a private chef in Miami should feel like the easiest part of the evening. You set the date and the table; Marina handles the menu, the sourcing, the cooking, and the kitchen afterward.
What is a private chef, and how is it different from a restaurant?
A private chef cooks a full, multi-course meal in your own kitchen, built around your table — not a fixed restaurant menu, and not trays dropped off and reheated. At The Staver, that means Chef Marina designs the menu for your guests, sources the ingredients the morning of the dinner, and cooks every course from scratch on-site while your evening unfolds.
The difference from a restaurant is the room. A restaurant gives you a great meal among strangers, on the kitchen's clock, with a drive home at the end. A private chef gives you a tasting-menu evening at your own table, paced to your conversation, with a menu that bends to every allergy and preference — and a kitchen left cleaner than it was found. For a milestone night, Michelin-level cooking in your own home is the version your guests remember.
How does a private chef dinner with Marina Staver work?
A dinner with Marina runs in five steps, from your first message to a spotless kitchen the next morning. You don't manage any of them — that's the point.
- Tell us about the evening.The date, the headcount, the occasion, every allergy and preference, and the kitchen you'll be cooking in — at home, in a vacation rental or Airbnb, or on board.
- Marina designs the menu.A three-, four-, or five-course menu written for your specific table, in the format that fits the night.
- Sourcing that morning.Ingredients are selected the day of the dinner, for one event — not bought in bulk, not held over.
- Cooking in your kitchen.Every course is cooked from scratch on-site and plated as the evening moves, so each one arrives warm from the pan to the table.
- Cleanup.The kitchen is returned to order before the night ends. You wake up to it the way you left it.
What occasions does a private chef in Miami cook for?
Marina cooks for the evenings that have to land — at home, in a rental, or at the dock. The most common bookings:
- Dinner parties — from an intimate dinner for two to a table of thirty, the host at the table instead of the stove.
- Anniversaries, proposals, and date nights — a full dinner-party menu scaled to one table for two.
- Holiday tables — Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Eve, the December stretch, family visits to a vacation home.
- Birthdays and milestones — a private menu for the people the night is actually for.
- In-territory stays — vacation homes, villas, and yacht charters across South Florida, for residents and visitors alike.
See how a dinner party comes together → private chef for a dinner party · Planning a yacht or villa evening → yacht chef in Miami
What's included, and what does a private chef in Miami cost?
A private chef dinner with The Staver starts at $200 per guest — the chef's fee — plus groceries billed separately, with a $2,000 event minimum. Most dinners land around $250 per guest all-in, and the fee covers the complete evening, not just the cooking. Included in every booking:
- Menu design — written for your table, the occasion, the season, and every dietary need.
- Sourcing — ingredients selected that morning, for one dinner.
- Cooking — from scratch, on-site, in your kitchen. Nothing pre-made, nothing reheated.
- Plating and service — courses paced through the evening, warm to the table.
- Cleanup — the kitchen returned to order before we say goodnight.
What's billed separately, so there are no surprises: groceries at cost, rare-by-request ingredients such as caviar at market price, and bartender or server staffing — when a larger table or more formal service calls for it — at $50–55 per hour per staff member with a five-hour minimum (about $260 per staff member for an evening).
For the full breakdown — real dinner scenarios, the math, and answers to every pricing question — see our guide to private chef cost in Miami
Who is Chef Marina Staver?
Chef Marina Staver is a European-trained private chef with more than two decades of private kitchen experience for clients across Europe and now South Florida. She is the chef at every dinner — not a name on a roster, and not a substitution if a date gets busy. Because Marina cooks each event herself, The Staver books one home per evening.
Marina always works with a sous-chef — that is how a professional kitchen runs: Marina leads the menu and the pass, the sous-chef keeps the timing, and both are included in the chef's fee. The breadth of her menus comes from years of traveling across Europe, cooking alongside colleagues in their own kitchens and trading recipes with the people who wrote them.
Most new clients arrive by word of mouth, from another table Marina has already cooked for.
Private chef vs. personal chef — what's the difference?
The terms overlap, but in Miami they usually mean two different services. A "personal chef" most often refers to weekly meal prep — batch cooking stocked in your fridge for the week ahead. A "private chef" cooks a single complete event: one menu, sourced and cooked from scratch for one evening, plated and served at your table.
The Staver is a private-chef service. We design and cook one dinner at a time, for the occasion in front of us — not a recurring meal-plan or live-in arrangement.
There is also no standard restaurant menu behind Marina — no fixed list to pick from; every menu is written for the specific evening in front of us. One client put the difference this way:
“I'm hiring an artist who paints a picture on the table personally for your event.”
Where in Miami does The Staver cook?
The Staver cooks across South Florida — from Homestead through Palm Beach, in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. Dinners happen at private homes, vacation rentals and Airbnbs, villas, and on board.
Neighborhoods we cook in regularly include Brickell, Coral Gables, South Beach and Miami Beach, Coconut Grove, Key Biscayne, Bal Harbour and Surfside, Aventura and Sunny Isles, Fisher Island, and up the coast through Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Jupiter, and Palm Beach.
Private chef in Miami — frequently asked questions
The chef's fee is $200 per guest, with a $2,000 event minimum; groceries are billed separately, and most dinners land around $250 per guest all-in. That covers menu design, morning-of sourcing, cooking from scratch in your kitchen, plating, and cleanup. A dinner for ten guests starts at $2,000, and larger tables scale at $200 per guest. You receive an exact custom quote within 24 hours.
A personal chef in Miami usually means weekly meal prep — batch cooking left in your fridge. A private chef cooks one complete event: a single menu, sourced and cooked from scratch for one evening, then plated and served at your table. The Staver is a private-chef service, booking one dinner at a time.
The earlier the better, because Marina cooks one event per evening and dates are limited. Many dinners can be arranged on short notice; holidays and the October–April season fill first. Send your date and headcount, and we confirm availability with a custom quote within 24 hours. There is no deposit until you approve it.
Every menu is written from scratch for your specific table, so allergies and dietary needs are designed in from the start — not worked around at the last minute. Tell us what your guests can and can't eat when you reach out, and Marina builds the menu around it. Nothing arrives pre-made.
Marina cooks in private homes, vacation rentals and Airbnbs, villas, and on board — anywhere across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties with a usable kitchen. When you reach out, describe the space and any equipment limits, and the menu is planned around them. Setup, cooking, service, and cleanup are all handled on-site.
Yes — dinner parties are the most common booking, from an intimate dinner for two to a table of thirty. For larger tables or more formal service, bartenders and servers are available as an add-on at $50–55 per hour per staff member, five-hour minimum. Send your headcount and date for a quote within 24 hours.
We have our own plates and serveware and can bring them, depending on your guest count. For larger tables we recommend a rental service and coordinate the order for you. We can also design the table setting for your evening — we agree the direction with you and send a preview beforehand.
Book a private chef in Miami
Tell us three things — the date, the headcount, and what you'd like to celebrate. You'll have a menu direction and a custom quote within 24 hours. No deposit until you approve both.
Request your quoteWant the numbers first? See private chef cost in Miami · Or see how a dinner party with Marina comes together · Prefer to talk? +1 (954) 940-2459