, 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.

10 Totally Unique Dinner Party Menus

Dinner Test

Our booking policy is flexible, so don't worry if these details change. Our chef services are available in the NYC metro area, the Hamptons, LA, the D.C. metro area, Austin, and S.F., though many Culinista® chefs are happy to travel. For services outside of these areas, 

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.

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

This Steakhouse Menu Brings the Sizzle Home

Commence the sipping, snacking & socializing.

6 Cocktail Party Theme Ideas

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

How to Pick the Perfect Dinner Party Dessert

Every year, the autumn harvest commands our attention with its abundance of apples, squash varieties, and cruciferous veg. Make the most of the bounty and (it’s that time!) break out the Dutch oven again—or 

 do the honors. Whether you’re clinging to the last gasp of summer or commencing braising season, there’s a menu here for you.


Missing a night on the town? No FOMO here.

10 Fall Dinner Party Menus For Cozy Nights In

7 Postpartum-Friendly Dishes For Your Fourth Trimester

You deck the halls, we’ll set the table.

A Christmas Dinner Menu to Make the Holidays Bright

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.

Set your Alarm for these 8 Brunch Menus 

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

The Culinistas’ Ultimate Guide to Hosting

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.

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

10 Gluten Free Menus That Everyone at the Table Will Love

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 

10 Menus for Traveling the Globe Without Leaving Your Kitchen

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

How to Make Paella at Home

What to get your favorite food lovers this year? Glad you asked.

The Culinistas’ Gift Guide for Every Home Cook & Host on Your List

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

How to Make Pizza in the Oven

Caramelized, juicy, and perfectly tender every time

How to Sear Steak Like a Chef

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

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

Falling snow, wood-burning fireplaces, and steaming mugs of whatever warms you most. Welcome winter with feasts that celebrate its bounty. Plunge into our Winter al Mare menu, and taste why now is prime time for seafood. Or tuck into Big Braise II, the strongest antidote we have against the chill. Sleigh winter with these 

, because you don’t need a holiday to have a dinner party—though we have 

12 Menus for Festive Winter Gatherings

Menu Ideas

How Tos & Inspiration

Gail Simmons

Top Chef

Dana Cowin

Food & Wine

Gwyneth Parltrow

Goop

Upcoming

In Season

Favorites

Cocktail Hour

Vegetarian

Vegan

Gluten Free

Dairy Free

Healthy Chicken Tenders

Spinach & Garlic Cauli Rice

Rigatoni Bolognese

Power Green Salad

Sticky Salmon & Broccolini

Zucchini Nuggets

Dishes that give tips on how to utilize leftover ingredients or components

Leftover Mise

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

Ageless Favorite 

All great dishes start with an aromatic base to develop flavor

Build A Foundation

Herb or Spice + Sugar + Water, flavor enhancing simple syrups fit for drinks or desserts

Aromatic Simple Syrup 

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

Utilizing floral components for their taste & aroma

Cooking with Flowers 

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

One ingredient used multiple different ways in a dish to celebrate it's flavor

Single Ingredient Multiple Ways 

Cooking or pickling fruit changes the complexity of the flavor and enhances the flavor of the dish

Hot Take on Fruit

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

Alt Thickeners

Ingredient replacements and tool swaps so you can cook with what you have.

Make it Your Own

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

Infused Broth

Utilizing alternative sugars like dried fruit, honey, agave, maple syrup, to impact sweetness on the dish

Alt Sweeteners 

The Power of Zest

A blend of spices that impart flavor without the heat

Spiced, Not Spicy

Adding a seed, nut or crunchy vegetable to a dish to impart more texture and flavor

The Crunch Factor

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

Meet us by the hearth for a spread designed to keep out the cold. Our Cassoulet Blanc is a thyme-infused chicken stew that’s both rich and inviting. If that doesn’t make you feel cozy, our Bubbles Bar of timeless champagne cocktails certainly will.

Fireside Chat

Seasonal Shabbat

Light the menorah and take out your tekhelet table runner. On the menu are Crispy Latkes with Applesauce (non-negotiable), and our new, festive Caviar Plate with a build-your-own-blini set-up. We recommend pairing this one with our Fall & Winter Sangria Bar. 

Latke Party 

Bring home the warming flavors and aromas of Moroccan cuisine with this robust menu of favorites, like Spiced Lamb with Couscous and Eggplant & Cauliflower Tagine. 

Moroccan Feast

Break out the champagne flutes and write your toasts. This is a wintry soirée you’ll want to dress up for: Burrata Bar x Bubbles Bar. We bring the best nibbles (figs, bresaola, sliced apples) and peak celebratory cocktails like Kir Royale and French 75. Cin cin!

Holiday Cocktail Party

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

Steakhouse Classics

A toast to the year ahead calls for luxurious bites of caviar blinis and Peppercorn Crusted Filet Mignon with Gremolata. Nothing is more classic than this pairing except a kiss at midnight. And we recommend that as well.

New Years Eve

Snag the decorative rosehips and leave the rest to us. Our Christmas menu brings cheer in the form of a welcoming Charcuterie & Cheese Board, and leaves you returning to the buffet for seconds of Braised Short Ribs. Need another reason? Read on about our favorite festive dishes here.

Christmas

Fall Farmstand 

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 

This menu creates a festive mood from start (Bagna Cauda & Crudités) to finish (Chocolate Olive Oil Cake), but our Cacio e Pepe will almost certainly steal the show. 

Cacio e Party

If you’ve ever wondered what autumn in Tuscany looks like, look no further. Gorgonzola Grapes start the party, clearing the way for a stunner of a main: caper-studded Veal Piccata. Buon apetito!

Tuscan Table

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. 

There's always a reason to host. Get inspired by our sample menus, then choose one to make it your own.

Browse more of our seasonal, global, and year-round favorites.

Homepage menus

Menus for Gathering

Curbed

Bloomberg

Forbes

Marquee

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

Featured In:

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.”

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