The Pass

Holiday inquiries move faster when Hosts can quickly understand what you offer and what it costs.

If you haven’t already, build at least one prix fixe and/or à la carte holiday menu for the season. Give Hosts a clear starting point instead of making every inquiry begin from scratch.

Think through your:

• prix fixe option

• à la carte additions and upgrades

• holiday-specific dishes

• minimums and pricing

• options that can satisfy a family of 4-6 and scale for larger groups

The goal isn’t to lock every Host into one menu. It’s to make the buying decision easier.
We encourage you to continue collaborating with your Host after booking. Route all upsells and additions through our Concierges for invoicing and payment collection. This documents the agreement between you and the host on what has been agreed to and will be delivered.

Another course isn’t always the upgrade a Host values most. Sometimes the better upsell is simply one less thing for them to manage.

That could mean pre-arrival fridge stocking, bartender service, rental coordination for plating/linen/tables/chairs, breakfast or lunch left-behind, or even the added flexibility of a third entree choice.

Private dining already solves a convenience problem. Look at your service add-ons through the same lens.

After offering more food, ask:

What else is the Host still responsible for that I could take off their plate?

That answer may be worth more than another course.

Don’t undermine the platform. Language matters.
When a Host hears:

• “Unfortunately, we can’t exchange phone numbers.”
• “Unfortunately, the system won’t let us…”

…it can make the platform sound like an obstacle. FFK isn’t broken. The guardrails are intentional.

We are a chef-driven, chef-led platform designed to protect one of your most valuable resources: time. Keeping communication and viable leads within FFK helps us support the booking, protect the relationship, and step in when something needs attention.

Instead of leading with what the platform can’t do, explain what it does. 
You can:

• build a Host experience by ways of menus and add-on services
• adjust your radius and protect your margins for travel
• control your calendar

And if you’re logged in to your mobile or desktop web browser, the Host you’re chatting with can make a call through their dashboard directly to you. This protects your personal information until a confirmed booking is made.

We’re running our annual holiday Gift Cards and Gift Experiences Promotion to Hosts throughout October–December, and chefs can earn on qualifying sales too.

With your personalized chef code, sales of $400+ qualify for:

• A $25 gift card for the Host with the qualifying purchase

When You Get Paid
Chef commissions are paid during the first week following each month of sales:

• October sales → week of November 1
• November sales → week of December 1
• December sales → week of January 1

FFK will also provide a personalized holiday flyer which you can share on social media and print out to leave behind.

A Natural Time to Mention It
If a Host tells you they enjoyed their experience, that’s a great opportunity to share the holiday offer.

Valentine’s Day isn’t far behind, and spring brings bachelorette parties, graduations, and plenty of reasons to gather. A Gift Card or Gift Experience lets Hosts plan ahead, take care of a future occasion now, and check one more thing off their list.

If you’re available for Thanksgiving and holiday drop-off meals, make sure you’re on our list.

When FFK partners and Hosts reach out looking for drop-off options, we’ll know exactly which chefs to contact.

Reach out to Jackson on Slack to sign up!

We’re building a new Chef Life series, and we want to show more of what the work actually looks like.
Join the #social-media-posts channel in SLACK. Post your reels and videos. 

Prep. Shopping. Plating. Service. Behind-the-scenes moments. A packed table. A finished dish. The small details that make a reservation come together

The more usable content we have, the more opportunities we have to put FFK chefs in front of Hosts and show what this community actually does.

Review some best practices here.

Before a Host reads your bio or studies your menu, they see your photo.

Make that first impression count.

Your profile image should make it immediately clear who the chef is.

Best practices:

• Use a clean headshot or close professional portrait.
• Keep yourself prominent in the frame.
• Minimize visual noise in the background.
• Avoid wide shots where you disappear into the scene.
• Choose an image that feels current and professional.

A beautiful catering spread doesn’t help if the Host has to search the photo to find you.

We’re seeing more chef-facing work that has clearly gone straight from an AI tool to submission without a final review. AI can help you brainstorm a menu, clean up your formatting, adjust recipes, or get past creative block. But you still own the final product. We’re also running into AI-generated menu imagery being flagged and rejected. More importantly, Hosts want to see your actual food, not the concept.

The same rule applies to the words in themselves. Before you submit anything AI-assisted, cross-reference payout suggestions with the cost of goods. Review the ingredients, descriptions, formatting, and whether the menu is something you would confidently execute.

Use the tool. Review the work.

Trend reports can turn into long lists of ingredients pretty quickly. The more useful question is: What are diners actually moving toward?
According to the Datassentials 2027 Trend Report, folks are moving toward three bigger themes:

Bolder flavors.
Guests continue looking for food that feels distinctive and less predictable.

More regional specificity.
There’s growing interest in food tied to a specific place, tradition, or point of view rather than broad cuisine labels.

More human experience.
As technology becomes more common behind the scenes, memorable human interaction becomes even more valuable.

For private chefs, that creates room to experiment without chasing every hot-button trend.
Try the unexpected ingredient. Tell the regional story. Introduce the Host to something they haven’t had before. Welcome them into your wheelhouse.

Download the Datassaential 2027 Trends Report here.