What is your opinion on being a chef?

If dining out and hiring a private chef for the evening were the same price?  What would stop you from hiring the chef?

• I'm curious to get everyone's opinion about something. Let's say their was a service where a normal person could rent one of the Bay Area's best chefs to come and cook dinner for you and a group of your friends. For as little as $25 up to $300 a person, the chef would come to your home, buy the ingredients, cook and serve the meal and then clean up. This service could be a really great alternative to dining out. It would allow a group to enjoy a high quality prepared meal in their own home. Also, it could sidestep some of the problems one encounters when going out to eat: long wait times, crowded noisy restaurants, bad service, over priced wine, etc. This service could also be a really great way to plan and participate in an unforgettable dinner party, the kind your friends would talk about forever. What I'm curious to find out is if their are any factors, whatsoever, that would make someone not use this service in lue of dining out. Meaning, what are the tangible and intangible apprehensions that anyone has to allowing for and choosing this type of dining experience?

• Answer:

  I am not sure if I would use this service frequently if at all as an alternative to going out. A part of the dining out experience is the "out" portion. As much as I love my home, it is nice to go out amongst my fellow hive members sometimes. The city where I live is about five years into a foodie renaissance so there are tons of places to go for good food, but our favorite places, the ones we go to over and over, not only have excellent food but also have an enjoyable ambiance that lures you out of your comfy home. I might use it as an alternative to preparing my own food when entertaining at home, but I rather enjoy the cooking part (not so big on the cleaning up afterwards though).