A family week in a Tuscan villa: which nights to book the private chef

This page covers which nights to book, how to vary the dinners, what to know about breakfasts and lunches, and how to ask for the whole week at once. The single dinners are on the page for private chef dinners in Tuscany.

Can a private chef cook every meal for a week?

Not as a standard booking. Each day has one main service by default: a dinner, a lunch or a class. Dinners are the usual choice. A week with Roberto is a personal request, and he agrees to it only when he is free on those days. It is possible from the end of June to the beginning of September, when his calendar is open for both lunch and dinner. Outside that period, single dinners and classes can still be booked as usual, one date at a time.

Breakfast and lunch are not standard services. Within a multi-day stay they are details we agree with you case by case. Roberto sends a written proposal with the full price before you accept it, and nothing is charged until you do. The page for multi-day requests explains how that works.

Which nights of the week are worth booking?

The useful question is not how many dinners you can afford but which evenings you would otherwise spend cooking for the whole table. On a dinner night Roberto arrives in the afternoon with the shopping done, cooks in your kitchen, serves at your pace and leaves the kitchen in order. Dinner usually starts between seven and eight and runs about three hours.

Three nights are the easiest to justify:

• The first night. You have just arrived, the kitchen is unfamiliar and nobody wants to shop on the way in. A dinner booked before you leave home settles the first evening.
• One night in the middle. This is the night for a change of format: a private cooking class instead of a dinner, with everyone at the countertop. A class is a service in its own right, so by default it takes the place of the dinner on that day. The ingredients are included, and the class takes about three hours.
• The last night. The dinner that closes the week is the one to choose with the most care: four courses, or the signature dinner.

This is one way to read a week, not a package. Nothing obliges you to book all three, and a week with a single dinner is a perfectly good week.

What changes from one dinner to the next?

You choose the menu and the dishes for each night separately, so a week of dinners does not have to repeat itself. There are three dinners: the Tuscan dinner, three courses (La Tavola Toscana); the Tuscan dinner, four courses (La Cena di Roberto); and the signature dinner, four courses (Toscana d'Autore).

The difference between the first two is one course. The dishes are the same: La Tavola Toscana serves three, antipasto, first course and dessert; La Cena di Roberto adds the meat main. Same cooking, same evening, one course more. Toscana d'Autore has a list of dishes of its own, so it is a different dinner rather than a longer one.

For each course the table chooses one dish, the same for everyone, and sees every dish on the list. Over a week that can mean pici all'aglione, Siena's own pasta rolled by hand, on one night and risotto al Chianti on another, or a tagliata di vitellone one evening and a grigliata di carni e verdure the next.

Children eat what everyone eats, in a smaller portion, unless you tell us otherwise. If you want them fed earlier, say so and we will do that.

What about breakfasts and lunches?

They are not standard services. Inside a multi-day stay they are details we agree with you case by case, and only if Roberto is free. For lunches there is one more rule: weekday lunches are open in summer, roughly from the end of June to the beginning of September, which is also the period when a week with Roberto can be arranged. The rest of the year lunches are for weekends and public holidays. Single dinners are not affected by that rule.

Within a multi-day stay, a lunch and a dinner on the same day are possible for the same client. For breakfasts there is no standard format: describe what you have in mind in your request, and Roberto will tell you what he can do.

Who pays for the groceries on a week of dinners?

Roberto does the shopping for you, in your name. The groceries are not included in the price you pay online: on the day of the dinner you pay back what the receipts show, in cash or by bank transfer, at cost and with no mark-up. As a guide, the shopping usually starts at around €50 in total and often stays within €100; the exact amount depends on the menu and the number of guests.

Groceries are bought only for the day of the service, so on a week of dinners you settle the receipts on each dinner day. Before a service you can set a maximum amount in writing, and Roberto will not exceed it without your consent: it is in the terms and conditions. In cooking classes everything is included: Roberto buys and brings all the ingredients for the lesson.

How do you ask for the whole week?

Send one personal request with the whole week in it. Include the dates, the villa's location, how many adults and children, the services you are considering, including any lunches or breakfasts, the occasion if there is one, and any allergies or dietary needs. A photograph of the kitchen helps.

Roberto reads it, checks whether he is free and whether the drive works, and replies within one working day. If it is feasible you receive a written proposal covering the service, menu, full price, payment schedule and validity, and nothing is charged until you accept it. You can send a personal request from the page for multi-day services.

A single dinner is simpler: you choose the date, the location, the number of guests and the menu on the booking page, and you see the full price before you pay. A standard booking needs at least 72 hours' notice. For a week, ask as soon as your villa dates are fixed, because each date can be taken only once.

What does a week with Roberto cost?

For a single dinner the price is the public one: a rate per person that falls as the group grows, a service minimum, and a high-season supplement on the chef service on certain dates, shown as its own line before you pay. The costs page has the full price list and worked examples for single dinners. For a week, Roberto sends a written proposal with the full price, and you see it before you accept.

Common questions

Can we have a lunch and a dinner on the same day?

Not as a standard booking: each day has one main service. Within a multi-day stay it is possible for the same client, as part of the written proposal, and only if Roberto is free.

Do we need to be at the villa while Roberto prepares?

Someone needs to give him access and show him the kitchen. After that your group is free to carry on with the day. He is in the house about six hours in all, and you do not need to be there for those hours.

Can we serve our own wine?

Please do. Wine is not included and there is no corkage: open whatever you brought back from the estate you visited that afternoon. If you would rather someone else chose, tell us the menu you picked and we will point you at a producer nearby who will deliver and invoice you directly.

What about allergies in a large family?

Tell us when you book, not on the night. Allergies and dietary requirements are handled separately for each guest, and we confirm in writing what we can guarantee before the shopping is completed.