Here's a dinner table I see more and more in Singapore. One child with a nut allergy. A parent cutting carbs. A teenager who announced last month that she's vegan. A grandparent who's been told to watch the salt.
Whoever does the cooking ends up making three dinners a night, or one compromise dinner nobody really enjoys. Usually both.
This is one of the most common reasons families call us. So here's how a private chef handles special diets, and what to ask before you trust anyone with yours.
The diets we cook for most
- Allergies: nuts, shellfish, dairy, eggs, sesame
- Gluten-free, whether for celiac disease or by choice
- Low carb and keto
- High protein, for training or longevity goals
- Vegetarian and vegan
- Low sodium or low sugar, often following a doctor's advice
- Religious and cultural requirements, such as no pork or no beef
Very few families have just one of these. Most have two or three under the same roof. That's where a chef earns their fee.
Allergies: where there's no room for error
A preference can be bent once in a while. An allergy can't. When a family tells us about a serious allergy, it changes how the whole kitchen works:
- It goes in the brief first. Before the menu, before anything else. Every chef who cooks for you, including a replacement chef, sees it.
- Labels are read every time. Sauces, stocks, spice blends and bakery items hide allergens more often than people think.
- Separate preparation. Separate boards, utensils and pans where needed, and the allergy-safe dish cooked first.
- One menu where possible. The best approach is often to make the whole meal allergy-safe, so the child isn't eating something different from everyone else.
A private chef also isn't a doctor. If an allergy is severe, we follow your doctor's guidance and ask you to tell us exactly what's safe and what isn't.
One table, several diets
The skill isn't cooking keto, or cooking vegan. Any decent recipe book covers that. The skill is cooking one dinner that works for everyone.
In practice, that usually means building the meal around a shared base and adjusting at the end. Grilled fish, roasted vegetables and a big salad for everyone. Rice or bread on the side for those who want it. A plant-based main made so well that the meat-eaters ask for it too. Sauces served separately, so each person controls what goes on their plate.
Nobody gets a sad plate. Nobody is made to feel like the difficult one.
Making it taste good is the real job
Most people who start a new diet give up because the food is boring. Plain chicken, steamed broccoli, repeat.
My background as a longevity coach taught me that the best diet is the one you can stick to for years. So our chefs treat a restriction as a creative brief, not a limitation. Different cuisines, different techniques, real flavour. If you're eating low carb for health, your dinner should still be something you look forward to.
You can read more about this in our article on how a private chef supports your family's health and longevity goals.
What to ask before you hire
- How do you handle serious allergies in the kitchen?
- Will a replacement chef know about our dietary needs?
- Can you cook one meal for different diets, or will it be separate dishes?
- How do you keep restricted diets interesting week after week?
- Can we see a sample weekly menu built around our family?
If the answers are vague, keep looking.
How it works with Le Petit Marché
We start with a detailed brief: every person at the table, every allergy, every goal, every food they love or won't touch. We match you with a chef who's comfortable with your family's diets, and the menu is planned with you before the first meal.
Every placement starts with a one-day or one-week trial, so you can see how the chef handles your family's needs in your own kitchen before committing.
A full-time private chef is SGD 10,500 to 12,000 per month, and a part-time chef three days a week is around SGD 6,000 per month. Food cost is billed separately, at cost, with receipts.
If feeding your family has become a daily puzzle, tell us who's at your table. We'll take it from there.
Meet Our Private Chefs | Request a Chef
Le Petit Marché is Singapore's private chef concierge agency, founded by Chef Nicolas Reynard and Kai. We match families, family offices, and private offices with chefs we've trained, vetted, and genuinely stand behind.
