Modern Mama

Birthdays are extremely important in our house. We always go over the top with fancy dinners, trips, or experiences to mark the occasion so I was a little nervous this year since our little one was only six months old and I wanted to make sure she could also be a part of our celebration. That’s when it hit me. Why couldn’t we just stay in the comfort of our home and bring the fancy Birthday dinner to us.

While my husband is a great cook I really wanted to do something different and also allow him to enjoy the day so we started looking into having a dinner catered. Luckily in our area there were a ton of options online that connected you to different local chefs or cooks that would bid on your proposal so that you could see the menus and prices before selecting who you would like to go with. This was great because I was able to share my food preferences and exactly what I was looking for on my special day and then I got to see all of the creative ideas that the chefs came up with. I absolutely loved reviewing the different menus and comparing all of the possible options so that when I picked a chef I knew exactly what I wanted. It also helped that you could see all of the chefs reviews so that you could get a feel of what type of experience they offered.

The next part that was pretty cool was getting to communicate directly with the chef. You get to make your choices from what they put together (for my proposals they usually gave 2-4 options for each course) and request any changes you’d like. The chef we selected was amazing from the day we picked her through the entire event. She was constantly reaching out making sure everything was just right and making sure we knew when she was coming so we could plan out the evening with our guests.

Another thing that made this experience extra special is that our family really likes food and cooking so from the moment she arrived until dessert was done we asked her questions non-stop. If this sounds like you than this is definitely an experience you should look into. It felt like a Chef’s table but from the comfort of our own home so as a new Mom I was able to really enjoy the dinner since our little one could be there and enjoy the festivities without me constantly worrying about disturbing others.

The meal I got to personally select was a three course meal complete with my birthday cake (one of my absolute favorites – homemade tiramisu!!). Every course ended up being delicious and since we couldn’t possibly finish everything there were even leftovers that lasted us through the next week. And the chef even did the dishes so when she wrapped up there was no mess so on top of the great company and food there was no clean up to worry about after the party was over.

While we did spend about $300 on this meal there were several options so you didn’t have to go so fancy or if you really want to go all out you can definitely find proposals that had more courses or even fancier options to fit your taste and your budget so I would highly recommend at least looking into it and seeing what your area offers. Worst case scenario you get some really cool insight into your local food scene and what the chefs in your area have to offer and best case you get an incredible at home restaurant experience where you can sit back, enjoy with your family and friends, and not have to worry about waiting for your reservation or cleaning up dishes at the end of the night. This could even be a cool surprise for a loved one who has always wanted to do a chef’s table or just loves personalized food experiences. So cheers to great times and another amazing year!