Private Chef · Santa Teresa & Mal País
A Private Chef for Your
Villa in Santa Teresa
One memorable dinner, or every meal of a two-week stay. Cooked in your kitchen, on your schedule.
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The Idea
Your Table. Your Rhythm.
A private chef experience should fit naturally into your time in Costa Rica. SOMA creates personalized in-home and villa dining ranging from a single memorable dinner to complete culinary service throughout a stay.
Menus are designed around your preferences, schedule and dietary needs while drawing from the best ingredients available locally. Our cuisine is fresh, vibrant and ingredient-driven, with an emphasis on seasonal produce, responsibly sourced seafood and thoughtful nutrition without sacrificing pleasure.
Chef James and the SOMA team have cooked privately for internationally recognized athletes, artists, musicians, actors, business leaders, public figures and families. The same principle guides every engagement: listen carefully, prepare meticulously and make the experience feel effortless.
- Private Dinners
- Full-Stay Chef Service
- Family Dining
- Wellness & Nutrition
- Celebrations
- Villa Dining
Ways to Work Together
Choose the Amount of Chef You Want.
Most stays land somewhere between a single dinner and everything. Both are normal.
- 01
A Single Dinner
One evening, planned properly: a menu built for your group, shopping and prep done in advance, and a kitchen left cleaner than we found it.
- 02
Full-Stay Chef Service
Breakfasts, lunches, dinners and the things in between for the length of your stay, with menus that adjust to how the week actually goes.
- 03
Family Dining
Food children will genuinely eat, served at the hour they need it, without a separate menu that feels like an afterthought.
- 04
Wellness & Nutrition
Menus aligned with training, recovery or specific nutritional goals — an area James has worked in closely and at a high level.
- 05
Celebrations at Home
Birthdays, proposals and anniversary dinners in the villa, with service staff and beverage service where you want them.
- 06
Provisioning & Arrival
A stocked kitchen and a first meal waiting when you land, arranged with your villa manager before you arrive.
Dietary Planning
Tell Us Everything.
Allergies, intolerances, training plans, religious requirements, a child who only eats four things, a guest who does not eat fish. Send all of it.
Restrictions are built into the menu from the start rather than worked around at the table, so nobody at dinner is eating a lesser version of the meal.
We will also tell you honestly what is and is not available locally in a given week. That is usually more useful than a promise.
For Villa Managers & Assistants
One Contact. Clear Answers.
If you are arranging this on behalf of a guest or a principal, you will deal with one person who knows the properties, the suppliers and the logistics of this coast.
We reply quickly, put the plan in writing, flag anything that needs a decision, and do not escalate small problems to you when we can simply solve them.
Private Chef Questions
Booking a Chef, Answered
What guests ask before booking a private chef in Santa Teresa or Mal País.
- Does the chef cook in our villa kitchen?
- Yes. Almost all private chef work in Santa Teresa happens in the client’s own villa or rental home. We shop, prep, cook and clean in your kitchen, and we scout it in advance so the menu is written for the equipment that is actually there.
- How many guests can you cook for in a private home?
- Two to roughly thirty in a villa setting, depending on the kitchen and the style of service. Above that a private dinner becomes a catered event, with extra kitchen and service staff brought in. Larger events and weddings
- Can we book a private chef for an entire stay?
- Yes — full-stay chef service covers breakfasts, lunches, dinners and the things in between for the length of your stay, with menus that adjust as the week goes. A single dinner is equally normal.
- Will you provision the kitchen before we arrive?
- We can arrange a stocked kitchen and a first meal waiting when you land, coordinated with your villa manager before arrival. It is one of the most useful things a private chef in Costa Rica can do for a late flight.
- Do you travel to Mal País and elsewhere on the Nicoya Peninsula?
- Santa Teresa and Mal País carry no travel surcharge, and we regularly cook in Cóbano, Montezuma, Manzanillo and Tambor. Work in the wider Puntarenas Province is quoted individually. All service areas
Inquire
Let’s Plan Your Stay.
Send your dates, the villa or area, how many people are eating and anything we should know about the group.
