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Morgan & Mallet, a luxury household staffing agency, places head chefs and executive chefs for high-net-worth families across the US and internationally.
These chefs are professionals who manage private household kitchens, coordinate between properties, and adapt to the type of meals the family wants each day.
We only place proven experienced head and executive chefs who understand how to work in private households.
10,000+
Placements
Since 2015
Over a decade of global household staffing experience across eight international offices.
Multilingual Recruiting
Team
Fluent in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, and Tagalog for sourcing candidates across global markets.
96%
Placement Success Rate
Industry-leading success rate in matching
families with compatible head chefs globally.
Full vetting and checks of all staff
We need documented, verified experience. We reference check multiple former employers and carry out full criminal background checks.
Why Families Choose Morgan & Mallet
We actively recruit from our 4,547 chef database, screened for private household experience specifically, and prepare candidates for your family before
trial days.
Laurine Mallet, our co-founder, trained at Ferrandi culinary school in Paris. She reviews every chef profile before placement. Morgan Richez worked as a butler coordinating household staff.
They built Morgan & Mallet because they knew what principals need from inside UHNW households.
Restaurant skills don’t always move across so easily to private household work. They can be very different roles with different expectations.
We’re here to make sure we place the right head chef for you.
How to Hire an Executive Chef
Hiring an executive chef has five steps: define the brief, set a realistic salary, use a vetted network, do a paid trial day, and put a detailed offer and contract in place.
1. Define the brief
Write down how many people the chef cooks for each day, if you want formal plating or family-style meals, how much travel between properties the chef will need to do, and every dietary need in the household.
One of our recruiters says: “The biggest thing is being clear on what you actually require from the private chef.
Do you want vegetarian, vegan or a mix of meat and fish? Are you looking for comfort foods or a structured healthy diet?.”
2. Set the salary range
Executive chef salaries go from $100,000 to $300,000+ per year in the US and £80,000 to £200,000+ in the UK, according to Morgan & Mallet’s 2025/26 Household Staff Salaries Annual Report.
Michelin-level training, multiple kitchens, and being live-in make pay higher.
3. Use a vetted, proven network
The best executive chefs are probably already cooking for someone else, so they don’t often come up on job boards.
We headhunt the best ones, and roughly one in four applicants makes it through our vetting.
One of our recruiters, filled an executive chef role in Cairo this way. “If we offer an attractive salary package, the chef will be willing to relocate,” he says. Because we have a big international network, we can search globally and find the right candidate.
4. Do a paid trial day
Pay the chef their normal day rate to cook lunch and dinner in your own kitchen.
Portfolios are easy to be edited, so the best way is to actually taste the food yourself and see how the chef goes about his job.
We think that everyone should do a trial day. It clears a lot of things up.
5. Structure the offer and contract
Put the full package in writing: base salary, hours, travel expectations, food budget, and accommodation terms if the role is live-in.
Morgan Richez, our co-founder, has noticed where contracts without the details don’t work: “It’s very important to detail the duties, the responsibilities, the hours as well, and of course the notice period, the trial period.”
Why Private Household Head Chefs Command Higher Salaries
Private household head chefs earn $100,000-$300,000 because they’re managing a lifestyle, not a business.
They cook breakfast for children with different needs, allergies, taste preferences or health needs. They prep lunch for the principal following keto diets.
They coordinate dinner ingredients between the Manhattan kitchen and the Hamptons kitchen while the family travels.
Then they source ingredients locally at each property, work with the nutritionist on meal plans, and adjust menus when the principal’s preferences change at the last minute.
35% of our global private chef demand comes from the United States.
How We Find Head Chefs Who Actually Want Private Household Work
Eric Rios, one of our recruiters, explained the challenge:
“Private chefs have a lot of different offers and they could go to a lot of different places. They’re doing trials. They’re more picky like that.”
Top chefs choose households carefully. They look at kitchen equipment quality, ingredient budgets, and whether family preferences work with their cooking style.
“Sometimes I have to chase them more than I did in my previous role,” Eric said. “I have to convince them to accept one of our roles.”
We don’t post jobs and wait for applications. We actively recruit chefs from our 4,547-candidate database and sell them on specific households.
We act like a Headhunter in this sense, looking for the best head or executive chefs that are out there.
When a chef has three offers, we explain why this family is the right fit: better kitchen setup, realistic ingredient budgets, principals who appreciate food.
What Separates Head Chefs from Personal Cooks and Private Chefs
How a family calls a chef can be important. Some families use “head chef,” others use “executive chef,” some say “private chef.” You can read more about how to hire a private chef here.
The role is most often the same: they run the household kitchen.
Personal cooks prep meals following family recipes. Head chefs create menus, source ingredients, manage dietary restrictions, and adapt to preferences.
A personal cook might work part-time, 20-30 hours per week. A head chef would normally work full-time, often live-in, managing all meal preparation and everything to do with the kitchen.
‘Head chef’ might be used as a term over private chef when they are managing other chefs too. Perhaps where there are different properties owned by the same family and the head chef runs all the kitchens.
We clear up any terminology in the first client conversation. When a family says “we need a chef,” we ask them what they need.
Is it menu creation or do they need to follow recipes? It it full kitchen management or meal prep only?
Trial Days Show
What Resumes Can't
Most private head and executive chef placements need to have trial days. Families need to taste the food before hiring.
We prepare chefs beforehand: family dietary needs, typical meal structure, kitchen equipment, plating expectations.
We might say to an executive chef: “This family doesn’t want restaurant plating.They want simple, delicious, family-style meals. The principal is keto, the children have nut allergies, and they prefer Mediterranean flavors.”
Why Our Co-founder’s Culinary Background Matters
Laurine Mallet, our co-founder,with her culinary training understands private household kitchens from the staff side.
She knows what families actually want versus what chefs think they want.
When we vet candidates, Laurine reviews chef profiles through a principal’s lens, not a recruiter’s lens.
Morgan Richez the other founder worked as a butler, coordinating between household staff including chefs. He knows which chefs integrate smoothly with house managers, drivers, and nannies.
This isn’t standard recruitment experience. Our founders lived inside UHNW households before building Morgan & Mallet.
Head/Executive Chef Salaries
Entry-level private household chefs:
$100,000-$150,000
Mid-level UHNW experience:
$150,000-$200,000
Senior Michelin-trained with 10+ years:
$200,000-$300,000
What Happens After Hire
We check in at 10 days, then every two weeks.
Three-month guarantee. If meal quality drops or dietary protocols aren’t followed, we replace the chef.
Ready to Hire a
Head Chef or Executive Chef?
We maintain relationships with 4,547 private chefs. Contact us to start the recruitment process today.