The Chef’s Agreement
Please Read Carefully
Who are we?
We are Dineindulge.
Dineindulge is the largest private chef service in Europe. Our service is designed to bring our clients a restaurant quality experience, at a restaurant price but in the comfort of their own home or holiday accommodation.
Our chefs can cater for all types of occasions and our clients typically book fine-dining, intimate dinner parties.
Our clients are required to provide the crockery, cutlery, cooking equipment and the kitchen space for you to work with. This allows you to fully focus on the food and service.
We offer over 20 different menus for our clients to choose from when they book. These range from simple sharing menus, right up to a 10-course tasting menu.
Each menu has been designed by our Food Development Team to ensure they can be replicated in a domestic kitchen.
Your Mission
With the help of our dedicated Event Coordinators, you will be required to source ingredients, pre-prepare the main elements of the menu before the event, travel to an event location to cook and serve the menu and then clean down the kitchen before you leave.
You will do everything that is needed to provide a unique, personal, and unforgettable dining experience for your clients. In return, you will be rewarded with a great rate of pay, flexible working hours and in most cases, very generous tips!
We have an easy to use, fully integrated online portal that allows you to view, accept and manage your events to ensure you keep organised.
Skills Required
A Dineindulge private chef must display a number of key skills to be successful in this role with us:
- You must be personable, friendly, and confident. This is a client facing role and you are required to interact with your clients while you are cooking.
- You must be organised and punctual. Your client will set an eat-time when they book, and we expect our chefs to consistently deliver the service on time.
- You must be able to correctly interpret our menus and plan for your events accordingly. This includes accurately purchasing the correct quantities of each ingredient based on the number of covers. A food budget will be given to you for each event, along with guidance notes for each menu. We expect you to purchase quality ingredients and provide receipts on request.
- You must be able to produce every menu to a high culinary standard. Each dish must be a tasty and well-presented.
- You must be reliable with great communication We expect prompt responses to all our communications and 100% reliability when you accept work from us.
- We require all our chefs to be trained to a minimum of Level 2 Food Hygiene as per the Food Safety & Hygiene Regulations, and we will request proof of a current certificate. Please note that refresher courses are required every 3 years to retain your Food hygiene certificate.
Accepting Events
Once you are signed up to the Dineindulge Chef Portal, you will have access to all remaining available events in your area over the next 16 weeks. You will be given all necessary information about each event for you to feel confident when clicking ‘Accept’.
Please note, the number of events and types of menus you have access to will be monitored by our Staffing Team, based on your experience, skills and overall client review score.
A lot of event requests we receive are for dates less than 16 weeks away, in these cases we will send you a direct invitation via text and email with a link to review the job on the portal before clicking ‘accept’ or ‘decline’
Please NEVER accept an event if you are not 100% sure you can commit to it.
Reliability is the number 1 requirement for a Dineindulge Chef, once you commit to an event, we expect you to place it in your diary and guarantee your attendance. There should be no reason for pulling out of an event other than emergency extenuating circumstances or illness. We only work with reliable chefs and those who pull out of events will not be offered further work.
Please note, the online portal contains personal information about our clients, such as their address, name and contact details. You must keep this information safe and never share it with third parties. You must not contact your clients after an event has taken place, and you are required to delete the client’s contact details from your phone after each event.
Reporting Emergencies, Extenuating Circumstances & Illness
If a situation arises where you may not be able to deliver an event you must CALL the Staffing Team immediately on 0330 111 0361 to make them aware.
DO NOT communicate emergencies via text, these can easily be missed. If you cannot get through on the phone then you must email chefs@dineindulge.co.uk and ask the team to call you back urgently.
Our team will do their best to help you resolve any issues and we expect you to do the same. If you are cancelling your attendance for an event that is less than 1 week away, be aware that there is a good chance this event will have to be cancelled. This will likely result in compensation being paid to the client which will impact any monies owing to you.
Transportation emergencies such as your car breaking down are not reasons not to attend an event. If this happens, we expect you to arrange alternative transportation such as a taxi to ensure you can attend the event. As long as you attend the event, these issues can be dealt with afterwards.
Before you set off for each event, make sure that your phone is fully charged, you have the event address written down and you have a copy of the emergency number – 0330 111 0361.
If you need help with any issues that you come across, then call the team, they will be more than happy to help you resolve a situation.
Once you are confirmed onto an event
Accessing job information:
Once you have accepted an event, the full event details will be displayed on your dashboard for you to review at any stage leading up to the event. You will be sent email reminders leading up to your event but the most up to date, live information will always be on your dashboard.
We aim to have all event details confirmed no later than 7 days before the event date (menu choices, information on dietary requirements, group sizes etc). Please be aware that our clients are able to amend their event details up until 14 days before an event.
Some clients book within 7 days, in this instance, please wait until the menu choices are showing before you start provisioning. If you need to shop for your event and the menu choices aren’t showing, please contact a member of the Staffing Team and they will do their best to get the choices as soon as possible.
You have access to comprehensive menu guidance notes if you need any clarification or assistance. If you have any questions regarding the job information, you must contact the Staffing Team to discuss.
The Food Budget
On each event, you will see the allocated food budget. This is calculated by the complexity of the menu and the number of covers in the group.
We deliver thousands of events every year, which allows us to provide accurate food budgets that are enough to cover the cost of ingredients on each event. We also allow a 10% maximum leeway on food budgets should you go over. We will cover the cost up to 10% over as long as you can provide itemised receipts.
For large bookings, you can request the food budget upfront. However, to apply for this you must have completed a minimum of 3 events for Dineindulge and the value of the food budget(s) must exceed £250. With prepaid food budgets you are personally liable for the money so should you spend it and are unable to attend the event, you are required to pay the money back in full within 24 hours.
You must always be able to provide receipts on request.
Buying the Food
As we work nationwide, we require our chefs to source and purchase the ingredients prior to each job. This is included in your food budget and in the allocated hours within your wage.
You are welcome to shop wherever is most convenient, within budget and of good quality. This can include local butchers, greengrocers, supermarkets etc.
You are welcome to interpret the menus how you feel best, but full ingredients lists can be found in the menu guidance notes if needed.
Prepping for the Event
The majority of Dineindulge menus will require you to do some prep ahead of the event. Doing pre-prep will make your job easier as although our clients have fully equipped kitchens, you will be working in an unfamiliar environment.
Preparing in advance will also cut down your time on-site and will help you be more efficient; most of our chefs prep for multiple events at the same time.
Please note than any pre-event food preparation, as with all food handling throughout the event process must comply with the safety regulations enforced by the relevant authority; The Food Standards Agency (UK). To ensure that you are compliant with legislation and for relevant tools, visit the Food Standards Agency website link – https://www.food.gov.uk
The menus are designed to be cooked using basic kitchen equipment, which can be found in any self-catering accommodation or home. However, you may want to bring along some of your favourite tools to ensure the food is as delicious and well presented as possible. For best practice, we encourage chefs to take along a first aid kit, a branded Dineindulge apron, your own knives and cleaning equipment.
For your first event, we offer a £50 starting bonus to help with these initial set up costs of becoming a Dineindulge chef. You can use this £50 wherever you see fit (containers, cleaning equipment etc)
Please note that this starting bonus may occasionally be waivered for events where a premium has been added to the original wage.
When preparing for the job, we also ask that where applicable, any branded or supermarket food is transferred into suitable, non-branded containers before travelling to the event. Having branded packaging on site may impact the client’s impression as they are influenced by the brand, rather than your skills.
All food should be packaged and chilled to satisfactory food safety standards for transportation to the event, so please factor this into your event preparation.
We expect our chefs to arrive at the clients’ home wearing smart-casual clothes and to get changed into your chef whites/jacket on arrival. Please ask for suitable place to get changed.
We strongly recommend you wear chef grip shoes and that your chef whites are clean and ironed. Dineindulge will also provide you with our own branded apron for you to wear at the event.
Chef check ins
Due to the high volume of events that we do each day, and the number of chefs working for us at any one time, we use a simple check-in system to make sure our team are ready and set for all their events.
You will receive 3 different texts the week of any event with a link in that you need to click and then press ‘Confirm’ on. This takes 10 seconds for you to do and lets our Staffing Team know that you’re all good to go on your event.
- 5 Day Check In
- 24 Hour Check In (+ arrival time)
- Event Day Check in
Check-in texts are sent at 8am each day, please make sure you check in promptly when you receive these.
We can’t understate the importance of checking in. If you fail to check in for an event and our Staffing Team can’t get in touch with you, they will have to start allocating a replacement chef to deliver the event and your attendance will be cancelled.
Contacting your client
Dineindulge will cover most communication with your client before and after each event. Having said that, the day before the event you will be asked to confirm your arrival which is then sent to the client. At this point, your client’s phone number will appear on the dashboard.
If for any reason you are delayed and are not going to arrive at the given arrival time, you must call your client to keep them updated. If you’re stuck in traffic or running late, a quick call to your client can make a huge difference as turning up late with no communication can cause your client to panic.
If you cannot get through to your client, then you must call the out of hours line to speak with someone in the Dineindulge office.
For Sunday events, there will be a requirement for the team to pass on your contact number and name to the client for direct contact if needed. A text message notifying you of this will be sent to you on the Saturday. By signing this handbook, you are agreeing to allow us to share these details in these circumstances. For any other instances, we will always consult with you before sharing any personal details.
Finally, for data protection purposes, we require all client date shared with you to be deleted post event, and we ask that you never contact a client directly after an event has taken place. If for any reason you need to contact a client after an event (e.g., you have left something at the venue) then please call Dineindulge directly.
On the Event
On arrival at the venue, please ensure you request an initial tour of where you will be working, including dining area, kitchen, changing and washing facilities
The Dineindulge Dynamic Risk Assessment document must be completed on arrival at the site. You must also take photos of the kitchen on arrival and again before leaving the client’s house. This is so we can monitor and compare the condition of the facilities before and after use.
Any damages notices by you on arrival must be politely pointed out to the client and a photograph taken to document them. Please email these images to chefs@dineindulge.co.uk so we have the information to hand should we be contacted by the client.
Despite any issues, as an event professional, we expect you to be adaptable and do your very best to provide a great service for your client.
Once all guests have arrived, make sure that you double-check any dietary requirements, and you are confident about where any guest with allergies is located. Double-check serving times with the clients, and make sure that there is fluid and easy communication with the guests.
Guests may want to stand and talk to you whilst you are preparing food so please be accommodating. If you are getting distracted from your prep then please politely advise that you must concentrate if the meal is to be served on time.
You will, on occasion, need to improvise with the preparation equipment and plates/service that are within the venue/home and we expect you to do so without any fuss. If you feel you are short on anything, then please request this from the client calmly and professionally.
When cooking and presenting each dish we welcome creativity, so please don’t hesitate to put your own stamp on a dish as long as it matches the description of what the client ordered.
On rare occasions and for larger groups, we may allocate extra budget for you to bring an assistant to help you prep, run food, and clean down, but bear in mind that in most cases the event will be delivered just by yourself and that the clients expect you to run and introduce each dish to the table.
Keeping food hot whilst plating and serving on your own is own of the challenges for a private chef, and for that reason we strongly recommend you to heat plates when possible, as this will help to keep your dish hot until it gets to the client.
You will be required to also take pictures of each dish served, and you may be asked to provide these pictures by our Staffing Team, This will serve our Staffing Team and our Food Directors to monitor the quality of the food served, and if needed, to provide constructive feedback to you.
Always make sure that all the guests have finished any course, and that you clear the plates from each course before serving the next one. We estimate that a gap of 20/25 minutes between courses is a good reference, but this time may vary and you must adapt to the pace of each client.
Once you have served the final course you are free to clear down and finish; Please ensure, at the very least, that the dishes are scraped and put into the dishwasher, with pots and pans put away and the countertops and floor as clean or if not cleaner than you found it.
Finally – always make sure you leave with a friendly goodbye and make the overall experience you are providing the excellent right to the end. Finishing on a friendly note ensures very happy clients, which equates to lots of recommendations from the group and therefore more bookings for yourself. Our chefs are, on average, tipped £30-£40 per event but it is related directly to your performance and the overall experience you provide.
Most chefs have nowadays card-readers and phone apps that help them cash-in tips when clients don’t have cash. In any case, chefs are liable to comply with any VAT and tax implications for any tips given, either in cash or card.
Payment/Invoicing
There are two different hourly rates of pay available to our chefs starting from £22.50/hour + food budgets + mileage.
We have a fixed number of hours allocated to each event, based on the complexity of the menu and the number of heads. The allocated hours are to cover your time shopping for ingredients, prepping before the event and the service time at the client’s home (including the clean down of their kitchen).
Time spent travelling to and from each event is not included in the allocated hours, however, we do pay towards your fuel costs. You must make sure that you are able to commute to the client’s address before committing to an event.
The hours allocated to each event is set by our team of Development Chefs who deliver successful Dineindulge events week in, week out. You must work efficiently to deliver an event within this timeframe and the more Dineindulge events you do, the quicker you will work.
The different chef statuses and hourly rates available to our chefs are as follows:
- Non-Priority Chef £22.50/hour – All new Dineindulge chefs will complete their first 3 jobs at this rate. You will likely be invited to deliver our simplest menus which allows us to assess your skills before we move you to the bigger, more complex events.
After receiving 3 consecutive 5* reviews, you will be promoted to the Priority Chef status.
- Priority Chef £22.50/hour – Priority chefs have access to all menus and party sizes in their area. Therefore, they have access to a much higher volume of events and will be given the opportunity to accept the larger bookings. Priority chefs also receive their job invites 24 hours before Non-Priority chefs.
- Deluxe Priority Chef £25/hour – Out Deluxe chefs are among the best chefs in the country, they have demonstrated a high level of availability, reliability, quality, and loyalty to Dineindulge and our clients. You will have the opportunity to apply for this higher rate after completing your first 3 successful events at Dineindulge.
If you would like to be considered for our Deluxe Chef rate, please contact our Staffing Team and they will assess if you meet the criteria to apply.
In addition to your hourly rates, we also allocate an additional £50 First Event Bonus to you to use on your first event.We appreciate that the first event is always more challenging and that you may have to invest in some equipment and/or food stock before you start.
Travel Costs
You are expected as part of your allocated time to be able to travel within major cities OR for rural locations within a 5-mile radius of your home address before travel is paid.
Travel expenses are worked out at 35p per mile, from your home postcode to the event postcode and back, less than the 5 miles expected to travel.
Our mileage calculation system uses a Google API to calculate the most optimum route from your postcode to the event postcode. This API cannot always determine which exact route you will take, what time of day you will be travelling, traffic, diversions etc, and therefore, minor variations may occur with your travel calculations. Having said that, the allowance should be more than enough to cover the full cost of the petrol for your journeys.
Event Ratings
Most clients will review their chef after every event. You will be able to see your average review score and your review history in your Dashboard.
The current average review score for a Dineindulge chef is 4.93 out of 5, and any average score lower than a 4 may result in a performance review.
As an addition to the scoring system, clients are allowed to leave comments and feedback about their experience. Our Client Relations team will always read all the feedback provided by the clients, and they may contact you if they need to find out more information about any negative review or comment made by a client.
We expect all our chefs to be available and open to discuss with our Client Relations team any negative comments or complaints that they may receive, and to help us resolve them in a collaborative and efficient way.
If you believe that something didn’t go well at any event, or you think that the client wasn’t satisfied with the service or food that they received, please reach out to the Staffing Team as soon as possible to let them know what happened.
We expect you to be honest and transparent when dealing with any issues, as it will make the process much easier to resolve.
Health and Safety Information
We require all our chefs to be trained to a minimum of level 2 Food Hygiene, as per the Food Safety & Hygiene Regulations, and we will request proof of a current certificate. Please note that refresher courses are required every 3 years to retain your Food Hygiene certificate.
There are many fast and very affordable online courses available to get your qualification.
Please carefully read our Heath & Safety Contractors Handbook, Chef Health & Safety Rules, Dineindulge Private Chef General Risk Assessment and Food Safety Guide (see links below). By signing this Chef Handbook/Agreement you are acknowledging your obligations to ensure that all safety measures are in place, and legal safety standards are met, when undertaking any activity for the preparation and delivery of Dineindulge events. By agreeing to these terms and contracting to our company you agree, as a freelance worker, to take full responsibility for all food safety and any repercussions will be your full responsibility and liability.
For the safety of yourselves and the guests, all chefs are required to complete a Dynamic Risk Assessment for your event workspace (referenced in section ‘On the Client’s Home).
Below are our food safety management guidelines for your reference:
Health & Safety Contractors Handbook
Dineindulge Dynamic Risk Assessment and Temperature Record
Dineindulge-Private-Chef-General-Risk-Assessment.pdf
Dineindulge-Chef-Health-Safety-Rules.pdf
Dineindulge-Private-Chef-Food-Safety-Guide.pdf
As a catering operator providing food services you are required to register your premises with the local authority for all food preparation and storage. If you need any guidance on how to get set up please click here for the Food Standards Agency where there is a comprehensive guide on steps to take to ensure you are compliant.
Drinking, smoking, and consuming or holding illegal drugs near or in the premises before or during your event is completely unacceptable.
If you smoke, please make sure that you get changed before the event and that your clothes don’t smell of tobacco when you get into the client’s house.
From our health and safety assessments, we have put together a ‘Chef Essentials Toolkit’ as a reminder of the kit you will be required to take on every event to help you operate safely. Please click HERE for this Toolkit.
Health Conditions, allergies or phobias – We also request that you advise us of any specific health conditions, phobias or allergies that could inhibit your ability to deliver events. This is so we can ensure that consideration is taken when we allocate you to events to ensure your health and safety.
Drugs and alcohol policy – whilst working for Dineindulge, you are not permitted to consume alcohol or recreational drugs. If you are on medication, please indicate this on your application when notifying us of any medical conditions. Any medicines must be kept locked in your vehicle or on your person throughout the duration of the event and must not come in contact with the food preparation area or left unattended.
The dynamic risk assessment should be completed on arrival and any potential hazards identified must be communicated to the client so that they can make the necessary adjustments to ensure your safety and theirs.
Your Liability
When you are booked on to a Dineindulge event, you are agreeing to abide by the terms of this agreement and to work to the standards upheld by our company.
Based on the information you have given us through our general selection process, our Recruitment Team have entrusted you to work for us as a freelance event chef. As a company, we are here to help and support you in the work you do for us and ensure you have the information you need to perform your role to the best of your ability.
However, we must remind you at this stage that it is important you are confident in your ability to meet the requirements of this role in full and on every event you accept with us as you will be liable for any costs associated with complaints against you by the client involving unprofessional behaviour, unsatisfactory service or damage where all reasonable skill and care has not been used.
Finally, please note that as a self-employed contractor you are required to have your own Public Liability Insurance to cover all your operations when preparing for and delivering events.
Media Disclaimer
Due to the nature of our events, pictures and videos may often be taken of the food, guests and possibly of you too by the client or by individuals working for Dineindulge Ltd. When booking Dineindulge, our clients are given the freedom to use this content across their personal media channels, and when working for Dineindulge, you are agreeing to allow the use of this material by the client. You are also agreeing to allow the use of any of this content by Dineindulge for promotional purposes.
As a Dineindulge chef, you may also be sent to PR, marketing and promotional events whereby the purpose of that event is to create content for the client or our own media purposes. When accepting to work on a Dineindulge event, you are agreeing to allow the use of any content taken at the event by either Dineindulge or the client for media and promotional purposes.
Useful Contacts
Finally, thanks for taking the time to go through this handbook and a warm welcome to the team – we look forward to working with you!
If you have any questions on any of the points above, call us and ask before committing to the role.
Dineindulge Switchboard/Emergency Line – 0330 111 03 61
Head of Staffing – Charlotte (07384 118 979 or chefs@dineindulge.co.uk)
Accounts Manager – Howard (invoices@dineindulge.co.uk)
Signing the Agreement
Please complete the below form to confirm your agreement of the handbook and our health & safety rules.