Our booking policy is flexible, so don't worry if these details change. Our chef services are available in 

, though many Culinista® chefs are happy to travel. For services outside of these areas, 

The Culinistas’ Ultimate Guide to Hosting

7 Postpartum-Friendly Dishes For Your Fourth Trimester

How to Make Pizza in the Oven

How to Sear Steak Like a Chef

Having an Italian Dinner Party? Here's What to Serve.

How to Pick the Perfect Dinner Party Dessert

This Steakhouse Menu Brings the Sizzle Home 

How to Make Paella at Home

How Tos & Inspiration

10 Totally Unique Dinner Party Menus

Set your Alarm for these 8 Brunch Menus 

10 Menus for Traveling the Globe Without Leaving Your Kitchen

10 Gluten Free Menus That Everyone at the Table Will Love

Menu Ideas

You bring the jazzy playlist. We’ll handle the rest.

Everything you need to know to cook and host with ease.

Please enjoy $100 off gatherings of 12 people or more. Discount automatically applied. 

Gatherings

Meal Prep

A Season or Long Term

Cooking Classes

Chef Services Overview

The Culinistas is a resource that gives everyone the freedom and confidence to connect around a meal.

Our optional drinks service includes up to 2 drinks plus waitstaff who will arrive 1 hour before guests and provide 4 hours of service. Additional time will be billed at $60/hour. The Culinistas will provide ice and non-alcoholic ingredients. The host is responsible for providing alcohol.

Dairy

Eggs

Fish

Nuts

Gluten

Sesame

Beef

Alliums

Consider these five factors, and you’ll never stress about the last course. 

Stop refreshing your reservation app and kickstart your day from the comfort of home with these cozy menus. We’re playing the hits with fluffy ricotta pancakes, veggie-laden frittatas, granola butter for your toast, and a Calabrian egg salad. Round up your sleepy-eyed friends or make it a family affair: we think these spreads will please any crowd. What’s better? Only waking up to a 

. Two hour wait time—we don’t do that anymore.

Yes, you should be having fun at your own party.

No place at the table for gluten? These menus are up for the challenge.

We are tired of gluten-free meals that fall flat. These menus reset the bar, relying on aromatics, spice combos, and creative substitutions so they don’t need gluten to stand on their own. Creamy dips and colorful crudités steal the show; herb-laden dressings take grain bowls to new heights, and desserts use alt flours to enhance textures. Try your hand or 

, but either way, you’re in the clear to invite your pickiest eaters and pasta-loving friends.

Pick your next trip or reminisce about your most recent one with these menus. An expanded palate is a way to expand the mind so we collaborated with chefs whose regional expertise guided each dish. Unique ingredients, flavor combinations, and methods make themselves at home when cooked from your own kitchen, either by you or 

This is placeholder DEK copy for a menu listicle hero card.

Don’t be intimidated: this Spanish classic can be conquered at home, even without a paella pan.

, but you don’t know what to cook. Our menus go beyond the classics (though there’s nothing wrong with a roast chicken, and we’ve got a menu for that). Our goal is to make a gathering memorable by making the intangible element of delicious food completely tangible. We choose food by season, region, or culture to create a cohesive menu. We know how to balance flavors as well as the pacing of the night through the dishes we select and the dining format that we suggest. Get adventurous yourself, or 

 one of these lineups. Either way, these spreads are destined to impress and leave you and your guests dreaming of one more bite.

You’ll be slinging pies like a pizzaiolo in no time.

Caramelized, juicy, and perfectly tender every time

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, mangiamo!

Gail Simmons

Top Chef

Dana Cowin

Food & Wine

Gwyneth Parltrow

Goop

Low Carb

Low Sugar

High Protein

Vegetarian

Vegan

Gluten Free

Dairy Free

Low Fat

High Fat

Meatballs Marinara

Breakfast Burritos

Berry Bowl

RGC (Roasted Garlic Chicken)

Morning Glories

Power Green Salad

Sticky Salmon & Broccolini

Zucchini Nuggets

Prior to cooking, toasting grains helps to intensify its flavor

Boost Your Grains

All cooked in one vessel, efficient with minimal clean up

One Pot Wonder

Nut + herb + citrus + olive oil, all you need for a perfect pesto

Pesto Equation

All great dishes start with an aromatic base to develop flavor

Build A Foundation

A dish that alchemizes three bold and distinct flavors to hit sweet, sour, savory, salty, and bitter notes

Trifecta

Creating delicious flavor combinations using both cooked and fresh ingredients

Pizza Topping Equation

Herbs that thread flavor throughout a recipe and garnish

Infusing Oil

Browning your protein (crisping the exterior while softening the interior) will help to intensify its flavor

Char Goes Far

Using a sharp ingredient to cut the richness from heavier ingredients

Balancing Act

Large format & straightforward recipes that are ideal for crowds

Party Meal

Layering different types of the same fruit or vegetable to your dish for an extra level of complexity

Tomayto Tomahto

Using natural sweeteners in place of processed and refined sugar

Sweetness Substitute

The unexpected pairing of something sweet to a protein complements the dish

Sweet Ingredient + Savory Protein

Marinate for Flavor

Classics Redone

Creative use of soaked nuts, puréed veggies or dried fruit as your thickener to develop the right consistency

Alternative Thickeners

Use leftover herbs or vegetable scraps to strengthen the flavor in a dish and reduce food waste

Infused Broth

Using onion powder to enhance the onion flavor helps to save cooking time

Onion Powder Power

Using a multitude of soft stem herbs helps to brighten your dressings & marinades

All the Herbs

You’re here to cook, not do math. But knowing a few simple equations—like the 1:1:1 meatball ratio and the fruit salad formula—is the secret to kitchen freedom, and there’s no final exam.


Formula

Flavor keys include techniques from across the culinary spectrum (think: infusing, searing, marinating, pickling) but they all share the same goal: to maximize every ingredient’s flavor, every time you cook. 

Flavor

We’ll help you be efficient in the kitchen by strategizing prep, cook, and rest times, as well as cleaning along the way. 

Timing

A good meal is a feast for all the senses. Consider how you pair colors, textures, shapes, and sizes, and your guests will be impressed even before they take a bite.

Style

Our goal is that healthy cooking and consistent gathering around the table is a sustainable part of your life. That means supporting sustainable food systems and creating recipes that eliminate waste in your kitchen.

Sustainability

A generous attitude is the secret ingredient in any gathering. These keys ensure the mood is right, everyone feels comfortable, and the gathering is seamless. 

Hosting

Health starts with pure, unprocessed ingredients: fresh vegetables, whole grains, wild and grass-fed proteins.  We incorporate clean ingredients where you'd expect and also where you wouldn't expect, like using oats or nuts to create flours and blending veggies into sauces.

Health

Cleaning won’t feel like a chore if your recipes are structured efficiently (ours are), you clean as you cook, and you send your guests home with leftovers.

Less Mess

Cancel that reservation; the steak, and its beloved sides, are getting cooked up in-house.

Steakhouse Classics

Pub Food

Backyard BBQ

Menu From The Founders: Jill's

Marky's Caviar Party

Calling all tomatoes and peak season herbs (hello, basil); it’s your time to shine. This menu is bound to help you cool off and satisfy your hunger at the same time.

Summer Gluten Free

Menu from the Founders: Tiana's

Have a night at the cantina, with dishes like Chicken Tortilla Soup and Esquites, and your choice of tacos: we like carnitas, fish, or both. 

Taqueria en Casa 

Quintessential Culinista Summer

First Signs of Summer 

Salad Bar

Italian Trattoria 

As seen in The Wall Street Journal and Vogue, our chef platform matches vetted private chefs with households for weekly meal preps, gatherings, cooking classes, and a range of seasonal and long term needs.

Private Chefs

Our forthcoming content platform shares our complete library of recipes, menus, and culinary strategies for home cooks and hosts at every level. Consider these resources your support system, offering education, inspiration, and culinary services. 

Culinista Kitchen®

The Culinistas is a culinary resource that gives everyone the freedom and confidence to connect around a meal. 

So what’s stopping us from connecting more often? Is it lack of time or skill? Stress or intimidation? All of the above?

The Culinistas® started in 2006 when Jill Donenfeld set out to facilitate those joyful connections. A private chef herself, Jill spent a decade honing the concept of an in home chef services company, identifying  top culinary talent and connecting them with households across New York and Los Angeles. In 2017, Tiana Tenet and Jill co-founded what The Culinistas has become today. Bringing Tiana's fundraising experience, business background, tenacity, and initiative (as well as culinary passion) to The Culinistas, the women reimagined what was possible for the brand, expanding to new markets and building a technology platform that facilitates eating well in the home, from weekly meal prep to gatherings, through a high tech, high touch approach.

Together we believe that, with the right elements in place, everyone can feel at ease cooking, hosting, and gathering around food. Our goal is to free you from intimidation so you can genuinely experience the joys of being together, feel triumphant in your accomplishments, and be appreciated for all that you bring to the table.

Our History

With vast experience as a private chef, caterer, cookbook author, and restaurant veteran, Jill Donenfeld is a hospitality expert with global perspective. In 2012, Jill was named to Forbes Magazine’s list of “30 Under 30” with Danny Meyer saying, “In whatever incarnation tomorrow’s generation has its Martha Stewart-like role, Jill Donenfeld is likely to play it.”  She has written four cookbooks, including “Better on Toast” (Harper Collins, 2015) and “Party Like a Culinista” (Lake Isle Press, 2011), as well as international cookbook titles in Madagascar and India. She has also written articles for Food & Wine, Men’s Journal, The Huffington Post, TimeOut, and National Geographic. 

Jill used to make Italian-style cured fish roe for restaurants in New York, and ran the kitchen at Villa Lena in Tuscany as well as worked in café kitchens in Japan and Sweden. As culinary and creative lead for The Culinistas, Jill works to inspire busy, urban households to value delicious, balanced, routinely home cooked dishes and the bonds that sharing a meal creates. Jill graduated from The Seven Hills School in Cincinnati, Ohio and Barnard College in New York City.

Jill Donenfeld

Blend soft herbs with oil to create a vibrant, flavorful drizzle or garnish.

By combining her business acumen, love of food, and entrepreneurial spirit, Tiana Tenet has brought structure and scalability to The Culinistas. Prior to The Culinistas, Tiana spent five years as a financial advisor at J.P. Morgan, watching firsthand as busy mothers struggled to get healthy, delicious meals on the table for their families. Tiana saw how to leverage and grow Jill’s private chef company into what The Culinistas is today, a digital gathering platform for services & content. Her business philosophy is centered on delivering the best high touch customer service and bringing her advisory experience to The Culinistas customer service model. She considers how tech can support a highly personal service, not diminish it. Prior to J.P. Morgan, Tiana spent a summer cooking in a Tuscan kitchen, assisted on the set of Giada at Home, and contributed to Food Network Magazine. Tiana is a mother of two and graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University and was named one of INC.’s 2019 30 Under 30 Rising Stars.

Tiana Tenet

A meal designed for times when sitting at the table may not be an option but you still want to gather.

Forkability

 Who We Are

Design Director

We're a team of food and hospitality obsessives who bring an earnest passion to everything we do. We promote a culture that values lifelong learning, making people feel special, gathering together, and having fun. We offer great benefits, too. Browse our open roles to learn more. 

Careers

Bloomberg

Curbed

Forbes

Marquee

About

Never stress about dinner again.

The Culinistas is a resource that gives everyone the freedom and confidence to connect around a meal. Our vetted private chefs are available for in-home:

Brunch, cocktail hour, dinner party, or barbecue? We’re here to help. 

Give us your kitchen for a couple hours, and we’ll leave you with meals for the week.

Weekly Meal Prep

Need a chef for the summer, a short trip, or a forever position? We’ll get you staffed.

Seasonal & Long Term Services

The Culinistas is a resource that gives everyone the freedom and confidence to connect around a meal. We connect you with vetted private chefs for in-home meal prep, gatherings, and seasonal and long term needs. Explore our services. 

No matter the season, there’s a reason to host. We have hundreds of menus for intimate parties and gatherings. Explore a few of our favorites.

Explore our library of seasonal, international, and year-round favorites. 

Homepage menus

Menus for Gathering

Let a Culinista chef handle the cooking this week. We’ll come to your home with groceries and leave your fridge stocked with vibrant meals—and your kitchen spotless.

See what’s new for this week's meal prep.

Homepage Dish Group

Press

Companies logos

Fan Mail

Learn the Culinista keys to cooking and hosting @

Let’s cook together

Homepage

"[Our chef] did an awesome job and was so incredibly efficient. I was totally impressed with his speed, skill and knowledge, and of course he was super friendly and easygoing. Plus, the food is all AMAZING! My daughter gobbled up the zucchini nuggets and turkey bolognese for dinner, we had salmon and broccoli salad, with a little of the lentil and quinoa salad too, and it was delicious. Such a luxury to have all this fresh, beautiful food in the fridge for the week and none of the stress of having had to shop for and cook it on a busy Monday.”

"I believe magic happens when we eat together. Which is why I fell in love with The Culinistas. You can imagine after having been spoiled by decades of eating out for work, I definitely want a break in the cooking schedule from time to time. The recipes are clean, uncomplicated and still interesting."

“I rely on The Culinistas to streamline an integral part of my family’s lives. We’ve had many an engaging conversation, lively discourse and spirited dialogue over Turkey Bolognese, at the dinner table, and I’m convinced we’re better humans because of it.”