Private Chefs & Culinary Experiences
Organic. Seasonal. Intentional. Educational.
Featured Chefs
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Cuisines, formats, and dietary specialties our chefs cover.
A chef for your event.
Book a private chef for a dinner party, weekly meal prep, a class, or a custom experience. They cook, you host.
A seat at a chef’s table.
Buy a ticket to an upcoming public experience — a pop-up dinner, a cooking class, a farm-to-table evening.
New to the Network
See all →Chelsey PeCoy
Original Lighthearted Kitchen Chef
Austin Green
Organic Game Night Dinners
Maya Ellison
Coastal California dinners, cooked in your kitchen.
Brittany Beau
Traditional & Family-Style Italian Experiences
Beverly Tico
Seasonal + Nutrient-Dense Latin Cuisine
Chelsey Harlien
Founding Chef of Lighthearted Kitchen
Areas We Serve
6 chefs · 17 cities · 2 states
Tap a state to zoom in and see the cities our chefs cover.
More countries coming soon.
A trusted network connecting intentional chefs with intentional hosts.
Lighthearted Kitchen is a vetted network of private chefs across the United States. Every chef is hand-approved and trained on a single standard: seasonal, organic, intentional, educational.
We connect you with chefs who match your needs. From there, you’re working directly with them — their menu, their team, their timeline. We take a small fee for making the introduction and standing behind the standard. We don’t manage the event.
How it worksBook a chef in 3 easy steps.
- Tell us about your event — date, city, guest count, theme, occasion, etc.
- We match you with one of our approved chefs in your area, hand-picked to fit your event.
- You finalize the menu, price, and event details directly with them. We ensure the Lighthearted Kitchen standard is delivered.
Join our small, vetted network.
- Apply with your bio, background, experience, and credentials.
- Interview with our team — to ensure our values, sourcing practices, serving and cooking styles align.
- Complete the Lighthearted Kitchen onboarding course, receive final approval, and start getting booked by like-minded clients in your area.
Every LK chef upholds our 4 cooking standards: seasonal, organic, intentional, educational.
If a service doesn’t deliver on at least three of these words, the chef can’t be in our network. That’s the standard.
Read the StandardFour-step approval.
Apply, interview, course, final approval. Every chef passes the same gates.
Independent providers.
Chefs are independent providers, responsible for their own insurance, licenses, and food-safety. Lighthearted Kitchen doesn’t provide insurance or guarantee coverage.
Clear, simple fees.
A small service fee for the host. A small platform fee for the chef. No surprises.
A monthly letter from the founder.
Be part of a community of people who are slowing down, embracing change, and finding themselves along the way.
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