'>Dineindulge vs Dining Out
Comparing the cost of hiring a private chef and eating out in a restaurant
When it comes to enjoying a meal, there are few experiences that can match the ambiance and variety of a restaurant. However, with the rise of personalised services, hiring a private chef has become an increasingly popular alternative. But how do the costs compare?
Eating Out in a Restaurant
Eating out at a restaurant is about more than just food; it’s about the atmosphere, the service, and the experience of trying new dishes. In 2017, we reported that the average cost of a three-course meal at a restaurant was approximately £28.59, excluding drinks and gratuity.
In the last 7 years we have seen an explosion in the cost of eating out, heavily driven by covid and the impact it had on the hospitality sector. In March 2020, covid lockdowns shut down the UK hospitality sector putting many restaurants out of business and forcing chefs and other hospitality workers to consider alternative careers. In addition to this, despite Brexit, foreign workers from across Europe make up a large proportion of the workforce in the hospitality sector and during lockdowns many of these workers returned home.
This meant that the availability of chefs and other hospitality workers reduced and when restaurants reopened, less workers created a higher demand for those remaining and therefore higher wages. These wages were driven up further by the temporary 5% VAT rate offered to the hospitality sector which allowed them to invest more into the salaries of their workforce to attract the best candidates.
When the 5% VAT rate increased to 12.5% and then back to the normal 20%, workers weren’t willing to accept pay cuts and so the cost of eating out spiked. This was compounded further by the rate of inflation, which was heavily driven by increased food costs due to international issues such as the war in Ukraine.
As a result of this, the £28.59 figure to eat out in restaurant has exceeded £40.00. For a more upscale dining experience, prices can soar to over £100 per person and in London, these costs can be even higher due to the premium location. The average per head price of eating in a 1 Michelin star restaurant for example, is £98.
But this is just the price of the meal, what about the other costs? With increased salaries and inflation, restaurants have increased the cost of their drinks substantially to try and balance out the impact of these rising costs and find better margins elsewhere. We look into some of these other costs below…
Full Cost Estimation of Eating Out
Meal Cost: Lets just take the average cost in 2024 for a 3 course meal at a mid-range restaurant somewhere in the UK. Around £50.00 per head.
Service Charge: Many restaurants add a service charge, which is around 10% to 15% of the meal cost. Let’s take an average of 12.5%, which would be about £6.25.
Taxi Fare: The average taxi fare in the UK can range from £1.20 to £3 per mile. Assuming a 5-mile round trip, the cost could be between £12 and £30. Let’s take £20 divided by two and presume you are sharing with at least one other, so £10.
Babysitting Cost: The average babysitting rate is about £9.85 per hour. For a typical evening out, let’s consider 4 hours, which would be £39.40. But let’s presume this is split between a couple so £20.
Drinks: Depending on your choice, drinks can add £5 to £20 or even more to your bill if you’re having a boozy night out. We’ve been very conservative here and chosen a figure of £12.50 per head.
Total Estimated Cost
Meal with Service Charge: £50.00 (meal) + £6.25 (service charge) = £56.25
Transportation: £10 (taxi fare)
Babysitting: £20.00
Drinks: £12.50
Grand Total: £56.25 + £10 + £20 + £12.50 = £98.75 / person
Hiring a Private Chef with Dineindulge
Hiring your own personal chef to cook for you is perceived as the most exclusive dining experience available and one traditionally viewed as something only accessible to the super rich. This is due to the idea that one chef is dedicating all of their time to you and your needs rather than cooking for a restaurant of people over the course of the evening.
However, what is the reality of the cost of hiring a chef to cook for you at home for an evening?
The most popular Dineindulge menu is our Deluxe Signature, which is 5 courses. This menu comes in at £74.99 per head for a party of 6 (our average head count for an event is 10.5).
When we compare this to the average meal cost when dining out, it is more expensive although you do receive two more courses. However, even just taking into account the cost of drinks/alcohol and the fact that when you hire a private chef, you can buy your own, the costs now become a lot more comparative.
If you then consider there are no taxis or babysitters then suddenly a private chef becomes very comparative. So this exclusive concept of hiring in a highly skilled private chef to cook for just you and your friends is not unachievable, in fact, it might well be cheaper than eating out in 2024.
Don’t believe us? Browse through some of our menus and get an instant quote using the form below…
