Private Chef Chris LaVecchia — Local services in City of Long Beach

I do not normally write reviews, but this time it is different. I had to look long and hard for a very special Chef for a private dinner for my wife’s 50th Birthday. I wanted to surprise her with something special. Since my wife cooks dinner all the time, she deserved a day off that didn’t involve take-out. This is a hard undertaking because my wife is an amazing cook which makes her hard to impress when it comes to another's cooking. I performed a great deal of research over the course of a few weeks. Many chefs did not have either great reviews or there was just something missing. I contacted Chris and he was extremely easy to deal with. He made me feel comfortable that he was going to take care of it all. After my initial interaction with Chris and after he sent me multiple options for dinner and plates for each course, I believed he was the perfect Chef so I decided to hire Chris LaVecchia. He promised a gourmet 5-course meal & to give us the experience of a lifetime. I was given a list of different foods to choose from. He made customized table menus, brought the food, plates and all cooking equipment. All we needed was our appetite. Now that the event is over, I can say, without hesitation, that it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Chris and his team brought everything. The food was absolutely amazing. It looked great, smelled great, was presented great and the service was of the best I have ever had at any restaurant. When he left our home, I noticed that Chris was in our kitchen for over 5 hours and he left our kitchen spotless. It was obvious that Chef Chris took pride in his work…and it showed in his work product. I would wholeheartedly, without any reservation, recommend hiring Chef Chris LaVecchia for your next private dinner event. You WILL NOT be...

We booked Chris for dinner for a girls night we hosted this weekend in Southampton, and he and his colleague were fantastic! This was my second experience with Chris after a positive dinner he cooked for another group a few years ago, and when the time came for this year's dinner I knew we had to have him back!

Chris was super responsive to email leading up to the event, and took into account our eating preferences easily. He created an impressive, creative menu leveraging local ingredients, and included high-end options that addressed all of our favorite foods at a great price.

On the day-of he was on time, efficient, and personable. He was aware we were dealing with a very particular renter for the house, and went above and beyond cleaning the kitchen to perfection even taking some extra steps regarding garbage disposal to help us manage our renter/owner relationship more easily.

THE FOOD!!!!!! Was so good, our all of our guests raved about the amazing smells coming from the kitchen as we waited, and he did not disappoint! He and his teammate shucked a ton of fresh oysters for us which were perfectly handled. Everything else was cooked and seasoned in just the right way. In particular the summer (homemade!) pasta primavera, which on any other menu could be a little muted, was PACKED with flavor!

The next course was also a crowd pleaser with flawlessly poached lobster tails and crispy juicy crab cakes. Again we were all so impressed at how tender the lobster was.

The group devoured everything, including the phenomenal s'mores dessert and we enjoyed.

All of our guests were really impressed with him, and it was one of the highlights of our weekend.

We thank him again and highly recommend him to...

5 stars is absolutely not enough! I am so incredibly grateful to Chef Chris LaVecchia and his fantastic team, Brianna, and Mary, for giving our family and dear friends an unforgettable, magical 30th birthday celebration and culinary experience in our home. We could never have had this quality of food wrapped with so much love and attention to detail in any restaurant or venue.

Chef Chris and his dream team are the real deal! His food and artistry embody Michelin star fine dining. Our delicious passed hors d’oeuvres and five course dinner menu were a mastery of fresh quality ingredients, harmony of flavors and Chef Chris’s years of cooking skills and artistic techniques. The stunning dinnerware and printed menus were the icing on the cake, elevating our table settings to another colorful level!

I started planning our very special evening with Chris about 3 months ago, he is such a pleasure to work with, very responsive, professional, friendly, and super helpful with all the details in curating the final menu while also working around dietary restrictions.

Chris arrived 6 hours before our guests and transformed our kitchen into a meticulous culinary laboratory. It was wonderful as well to talk with him about his passion for wine and personally designed labels.

Our table was beautifully set by Mary, and we discussed the flow of our celebration, their service was awesome, anticipating our guests’ every need throughout the evening, everyone was blown away by the incredible food. All the dishes exceeded our expectations. The wonderful, boxed leftovers and my super clean kitchen was greatly appreciated.

Thank you, Chris, for our...