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

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

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

Shellfish

Nuts

Gluten

Pork

Sesame

Beef

Alliums

Gail Simmons

Top Chef

Dana Cowin

Food & Wine

Gwyneth Paltrow

Goop

Low Carb

Low Sugar

High Protein

Vegetarian

Vegan

Gluten Free

Dairy Free

Low Fat

High Fat

Meatballs Marinara

Think & Drink

The Big Green Salad

Chimichurri Chicken

Vegetable Aioli

Skirt Steak with Arugula Gremolata

Tequila Bar

Cauliflower Steaks with Pomegranate

Pomegranate Salmon

Oysters on the Half Shell with Classic Mignonette

Chocolate Covered Fruits & Nuts

Berries & Whip

Beet Hummus & Crudités

Breakfast Burritos

Sautéed Greens

Vinegar Braised Chicken

Romesco Toast

Autumn Burrata Bar ($)

Charcuterie & Cheese Board ($)

Spinach & Cauliflower Salad

Steak with Onion Date Sauce

Berry Bowl

RGC (Roasted Garlic Chicken)

Confetti Shrimp

Apple Tarte Tatin with Whipped Cream ($)

Spicy Shrimp Cocktail

Broccoli & Kale Salad

Steak Tartare

Hivemind

Chocolate Olive Oil Cake

Green Beans with Olives

Morning Glories

Fig Pochette

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

So-Cal Citrus

Purely Shirley

Orzo with Cannellini Beans

Sicily Spritz

Crispy Baked Artichoke Hearts

Farro al Limone

Think Pink Pasta ($)

Brown Butter Fluke & Carrots ($)

Roasted Mushrooms

Radishes & Rocket

Pistachio & Pine Nut Cookies ($)

Black Forest Cookies ($)

Sirloin with Roasted Garlic Sauce

Power Green Salad

Sticky Salmon & Broccolini

Zucchini Nuggets

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Pickled Cherries

Martini Bar

Bubbles Bar

Spritz Bar

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

Yom Kippur Break(the)Fast

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

Steakhouse Classics

Greece’s most popular dishes, made in your kitchen. Crispy-topped Spanakopita is always a hit, and Fig Frozen Yogurt with Baklava Brittle is nothing short of decadence. 

Opa! Taverna

Menu From The Founders: Jill's

Endless Summer 

Burrata Bar 

Charcuterie & Cheese Board

To Start 

Brown Butter Fluke & Carrots

Think Pink Pasta

Family Style 

Apple Tarte Tatin with Whipped Cream

Black Forest Cookies

Pistachio & Pine Nut Cookies 

Dessert

Drinks

Valentine Vibes 

Menu from the Founders: Tiana's

Quintessential Culinistas Fall

Raw Bar

Thanksgiving 

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.

Get in touch

Service Inquiries

Partnerships

Press

Chef Inquiries