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Well Prepped Life — Service
How to Hire a Personal Chef (and What Happens After You Do)
By the time someone types "hire a personal chef," they've usually already burned an evening on it: a directory that wants your phone number before showing a price, a thread of chefs quoting by the hour, a booking platform built for dinner parties when what you need is Tuesday through Friday handled. Here's the shortcut. I'm Justine Sanidad, a ServSafe-certified personal chef in Mountain View, and hiring me is one 15 minute phone call. We talk through who's eating and what the week needs to look like; your first delivery usually lands within a week of that call. No contract, no signup fee, week to week — if it isn't working, you stop.
What Hiring Actually Involves
Three steps. First, the free 15 minute call: household size, preferences, restrictions, and which plan fits — $180/week chef's choice, $250/week choosing from my rotating menu, or $490/week where you author the menu with me, with as much variation as you'd like. Second, the first menu: I draft it, you edit it. Third, delivery day: I shop that morning, cook everything fresh in my commercial kitchen, and drop 6 portioned, labeled meals at your door in a cooler. Delivery and groceries are one flat $50 a week on top — one number that never moves with the season.
Questions to Ask Anyone You're Hiring (Including Me)
Are you food-safety certified, and where do you cook? (ServSafe-certified; my own commercial kitchen — nothing cooked in a home kitchen you can't inspect.) Is the menu actually custom, or a rotation with substitutions — and do substitutions cost extra? (Custom, and no; some Bay Area services charge $25 per substitution.) What happens when a dish misses? (Tell me; it's reworked or gone by the next menu.) Who shops, and what's the markup on groceries? (I shop, and it is covered by the flat weekly fee.) How do you handle two different diets in one household? (Both get cooked — that's most of my client base.) Any chef worth hiring answers all five without flinching.
What It Costs Compared to the Alternatives
The market, honestly: session chefs who cook in your home run $200–$500 per visit plus $50 a week for delivery and groceries, rebooked every time. Full-time and live-in private chefs run $2,000–$4,000 a week. Staffing platforms add placement fees on top. My plans are flat weekly rates — $180, $250, or $490 — plus $50 a week for delivery and groceries, and the full breakdown lives on the [pricing page](/pricing) and in the [personal chef cost guide](/guides/how-much-does-a-personal-chef-cost). For most families, the Personal Chef plan lands at a fraction of what "hiring a chef" costs anywhere else in the Bay Area.
Who Hires Me
Busy working families who want week-night dinners off their plate — the [family personal chef service](/services/personal-chef) walks through that arrangement. Households with dietary restrictions where the cooking has to be engineered: diabetic, low-sodium, renal, gluten-free, soft textures, often several at once. Adults with training macros (see [high-protein meal prep](/services/high-protein-meal-prep)). And adult children hiring on behalf of aging parents — for that, start at [personal chef for seniors](/services/personal-chef-for-seniors), where the playbook includes family reports and clinician-plan cooking.
Book the Call
Call (415) 971-3464 or book the free 15 minute consultation at wellpreppedlife.com. Weekly delivery routes cover the Peninsula and South Bay from Mountain View — Palo Alto, Los Altos, Menlo Park, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Santa Clara, San Jose, Redwood City, San Mateo — with San Francisco and East Bay case by case. Limited Personal Chef slots; week to week, cancel anytime.
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What clients are saying
“Such a satisfying meal after my workout! Packed with flavor and exactly what I was looking forward to. Well Prepped Life made my post-workout meal something to get excited about—I can’t wait to try more!”
“Nutritious meals don’t have to be boring! As someone who loves to eat and doesn’t have a lot of time to cook, I am a client of WLP and am constantly amazed at Justine’s creativity with nutritionally dense meals. Justine is able to deliver on my nutritional needs. She is focused on ensuring my health goals are met by accommodating to my health idiosyncrasies. I LOVE her attention to detail and her ability to make nutritious and delicious food! thank you 💜”
“Well Prepped Life (WPL) has been such a blessing for my mother, who was recently diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. With her strict dietary restrictions, finding meals that are both kidney-friendly and enjoyable has been a challenge, especially because my mom is a very picky eater. The meals are thoughtfully prepared to fit her dietary needs without sacrificing flavor. Most importantly, my mom actually enjoys the food—and that means so much to us. I’m truly grateful to WPL for helping make this difficult transition a little easier and more enjoyable for my mom. I highly recommend Well Prepped Life.”
Free price guide · PDF
What does a personal chef for seniors really cost?
The complete Bay Area price guide — real rates, what's included at each level, and the delivery-and-grocery cost nobody quotes. One email, no spam.
Want to talk this through with the chef?
Leave your name and number and Justine calls you back to talk through your parent's diet and what a week would look like — usually the same day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Medicare does not cover general in-home meal prep or personal chef services. Some Medicare Advantage plans cover short-term medically tailored meals after a hospital discharge. Most families spend less per month on Well Prepped Life than a single day in a skilled nursing facility.
Pricing depends on the service, schedule, and level of customization. Every client situation is different. Call (415) 971-3464 for a free 15 minute call — we'll give you direct pricing for your situation, no obligation.
We typically have availability within the week. Book a free 15 minute call and the first meal prep session is usually scheduled within 7–10 days.
Yes. Well Prepped Life carries full liability insurance and holds a current ServSafe Food Handler certification. Documentation is available on request.
The San Francisco Bay Area — Mountain View (home base), Palo Alto, Los Altos, Menlo Park, Atherton, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Saratoga, Los Gatos, Campbell, San Jose, Redwood City, San Mateo, Burlingame, Milpitas, San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Fremont, Walnut Creek, and Marin County.
Ready to Get Started?
Book your free consultation today. We’ll learn about your needs and show you exactly how our how to hire a personal chef (and what happens after you do) service can help. Call us at (415) 971-3464 or schedule online.
Love your first week or we re-cook it free.
Or call us directly at (415) 971-3464