A Private Chef at Your Villa near Rethymno
You booked a whole house with a kitchen, and most evenings you will use it. But there is usually one evening in a week when nobody wants to cook, nobody wants to drive, and everybody wants to eat well.
That is the evening a cook is worth arranging.
By Argyris Skordilis, owner and host · Updated
What Actually Happens
A cook arrives at the villa in the afternoon with what the meal needs. They cook in your kitchen, or outside at the wood-fired oven when the menu and the weather suit it. You eat at your own table, on your own veranda, at the hour you chose. Afterwards the kitchen is left clean.
Nobody stays to serve you through the evening unless that was agreed. This is a cook coming to a house, not a restaurant moving in.
The Evening Most Guests Choose
Three evenings come up again and again. The first night, when the flight landed late and the supermarket is the last place anyone wants to be. A birthday or an anniversary, where the point is that nobody in the group has to work. And the evening in the middle of the week when the driving has caught up with everyone.
If you are travelling as a group across two or three villas, one long table on one terrace is usually better than three separate dinners.
What to Tell Argyris
The more of this he has at the first message, the fewer messages it takes:
- your dates, and which evening you have in mind;
- how many adults and how many children, and roughly how old the children are;
- anything nobody eats — allergies first, then dislikes;
- whether you want to eat inside or outdoors;
- whether this is an occasion, and whether anyone should know about it in advance.
Allergies
Say it early and say it plainly. An allergy is a question we put to the cook before anything is agreed, not a note passed on at the door. If the answer is that a particular allergy cannot be handled safely in a home kitchen, you will be told that, and the evening can take another shape.
We do not promise a kitchen free of any particular ingredient. We promise that the question reaches the person cooking, in writing, before you travel.
What We Do Not Promise
- We do not run the kitchen. The cooking is done by an independent local cook, not by Amazing Villas in Crete.
- The experiences on request are not included in the villa price. A chef evening is arranged and paid separately, directly with the provider.
- Availability is confirmed for your dates. High summer and holiday weeks fill first, so ask early rather than on arrival.
- There is no set menu on this page, and no price. Both are agreed with the cook for your group and your evening.
If You Would Rather Cook
Every villa has a full kitchen, and all four have a BBQ and a traditional wood-fired oven outside. A chef evening is worth it for the evening you want off, not as a replacement for the kitchen you paid for. Many groups do one chef dinner and cook the rest of the week themselves.
The question I am asked most is what the food will be. I cannot answer that here, because it depends on the month, on what is good that week, and on who is cooking for you. What I can tell you is that the meal will be Cretan, that it will be cooked in your kitchen and not carried in from somewhere, and that you will still be at the table long after the plates are empty.
Argyris Skordilis · Owner and host, Amazing Villas in Crete
Facts checked against our four villa pages · Last reviewed by Argyris Skordilis, owner of Amazing Villas in Crete.
Frequently asked questions
Can a private chef be arranged at every villa?
Yes, at all four villas. Tell Argyris your dates and he will check it for you. Nothing is booked or paid on this page.
Is the chef included in the villa price?
No. Nothing on the Experiences pages is included in the villa price. A chef evening is arranged and paid separately, directly with the provider.
How far in advance should we ask?
As early as you can, and certainly before you travel. High summer and holiday weeks fill first. Asking at the same time as you book the villa is never too early.
Can the chef cook for an allergy?
Tell Argyris the allergy when you first ask, and it goes to the cook in writing before anything is agreed. If it cannot be handled safely in a home kitchen you will be told so, rather than reassured.
Can one chef cook for a group across several villas?
That is usually how it is done for larger groups: one long table on one terrace rather than three separate dinners. Tell Argyris how many of you there are and which villas you have.
Do we have to be there when the chef arrives?
Someone from the group should be, so the kitchen can be handed over. Beyond that, the afternoon is yours.
One Evening Nobody Has to Cook
Tell Argyris your dates, how many adults and children are travelling, which evening you have in mind and anything nobody eats. He will check what is possible for your dates and come back to you.
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