For Family Offices, Estate Managers & Owners Representatives
Montclair Chef works with family offices, estate managers and owner's representatives to place dedicated full-time private chefs for UHNW households. Discreet shortlist in 14 days, carefully vetted candidates, and up to 6-month replacement support.
When you recommend a partner into your principal's life, your name is attached to the outcome. A private chef stands closer to the family than almost anyone else on staff. The hire has to be right the first time, and the process has to be invisible.
Montclair Chef was founded by Chris Demaillet, a Michelin-trained chef of 25 years, including 19 years as a private chef to billionaires. Because we have worked inside the environment we now recruit for, we understand the standards, discretion, personality fit and operational pressure involved in placing a chef into a principal's home.
We are a lean, founder-led team, which is why we move fast: enquiries are answered most days of the week, shortlists arrive within 14 days, and when a chef leaves suddenly, we treat it as the emergency it is. Every candidate is personally vetted and matched to your household's specific requirements, across all of our chef placement services.
We work with family offices, estate managers, chiefs of staff, owners representatives, household managers, executive assistants, and trusted advisers acting on behalf of UHNW principals. You are not hiring a chef for yourself. You are recommending one into someone else's home, and the recommendation carries your name.
Family offices want deliverables, not promises. Every engagement includes: an initial confidential consultation, a role brief and salary guidance benchmarked to your market, a curated shortlist of personally vetted candidates within 14 days, candidate profiles with relevant private-service experience, reference verification, a structured paid trial day before any commitment, offer support, and up to 6 months of replacement support on Executive placements.
For how trial days are structured, see our private chef trial guide. For current compensation ranges by market, see our private chef salary guide.
Placing a chef in a private household is a significant responsibility. Our vetting process is rigorous, refined through years of firsthand experience in UHNW private service.
Every chef goes through full employment-history review and direct reference verification with previous UHNW households when possible. All candidates can sign an NDA before any introduction.
Video interviews assess professionalism, temperament, and responses under pressure. We evaluate personality fit, not just skills.
Every portfolio is reviewed by our culinary team for plating style, creativity, and technical skill, ensuring alignment with UHNW standards.
We do not just call listed references. We leverage our network of family offices and estate managers for confidential, honest assessments.
A paid trial day in the household before any commitment, and we stay involved through the trial period, ensuring smooth integration with your existing staff.
The best private chefs are rarely applying to public job advertisements. Most are already inside private households or long-term placements and will only consider a move through a trusted relationship. Our founder built and still runs the largest online communities of private chefs and yacht chefs, a network developed over 25 years in professional kitchens and private service. Most of the chefs we place are Michelin-trained, and we approach them discreetly, peer to peer, before they ever reach the open market.
Most of the households we serve run more than one residence: London with the Cotswolds, New York with the Hamptons, Monaco with the Alps, Dubai with Europe. These families move fast and expect the standard to travel with them. We place chefs experienced in running several kitchens across residences and seasons, and we brief them on each property's staff structure before day one.
We stand behind every placement. On our Executive placements, if a chef is not the right fit within the first 6 months, we find a replacement at no additional placement fee. No questions. No hassle.
Combined with our vetting process, your principal's investment, and your recommendation, are protected.
Every enquiry is treated as confidential from the first conversation, and we never disclose a household's identity to candidates before it is necessary. All candidates can sign an NDA before any introduction, and our chefs are pre-screened for a proven record of discretion in private service.
Every chef goes through full employment-history review and direct reference verification with previous UHNW households when possible. All candidates can sign an NDA before any introduction. We also review portfolios for technical standard, run behavioural interviews for temperament and fit, and confirm right to work where applicable.
A curated shortlist of personally vetted candidates within 14 days, candidate notes, salary guidance for your market, a structured paid trial day before any commitment, interview support, and up to 6 months of replacement support on Executive placements.
Fast. We are a lean, founder-led team with our finger on the pulse of the private chef network globally, and we answer enquiries most days of the week. When a chef leaves a household suddenly, we treat it as an emergency and begin the search immediately.
On Executive placements, if the chef is not the right fit within the first 6 months, we run a replacement search at no additional placement fee. No questions, no hassle.
Yes. Multi-residence placement is one of our specialties. We place chefs experienced in running two or more kitchens, adapting to each property's staff structure, and travelling with the family between residences and seasons.
Yes. We provide salary guidance benchmarked to your market, role complexity, travel requirements, and specialism, and we structure a paid trial day in the household before any commitment. See our private chef salary guide and private chef trial guide.
Both. Many principals contact us directly, and just as many searches run entirely through a family office, estate manager, or assistant, with the principal's name disclosed only when necessary. We adapt to whichever structure protects the household best. Schedule a consultation.
Every chef personally vetted · Up to 6-month replacement guarantee · Complete discretion
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