Chef Nia creates an intimate five to six course tasting menu in your home, thoughtfully crafted around your celebration, your guests, and the flavors you love. From sourcing every ingredient to the final dish washed, every detail is handled personally so you can remain exactly where you belong — at the table.
Beginning at $900 for up to 8 guests
The chef’s service fee includes menu design, ingredient sourcing, in-home preparation, professional plating, service, and complete kitchen cleanup. Food and ingredients are billed separately at cost, with no markup.
Limited Monthly Availability
To ensure every dinner receives Chef Nia’s full attention, only a select number of private dining experiences are accepted each month.
The Intimate Table
4:30
Long before the doorbell rings, your menu has already been designed around your occasion. Every ingredient has been sourced, every course planned, every detail considered. There are no grocery lists to finish. No recipes to follow. No last-minute errands. You welcome your guests. Everything else is already in motion.
Custom menu · Every ingredient sourced
6:15
While conversation fills your home, each course is prepared fresh in your kitchen and served at exactly the right moment. Perhaps the evening begins with house-made pasta. Maybe it's pristine seafood, slow-braised meats, or peak-season produce sourced specifically for your menu. Every plate is composed, finished, and served with intention. You aren't checking timers. You aren't washing dishes between courses. You're simply enjoying the people you invited.
Cooked fresh, on-site, for up to 8
7:00
The pace is never rushed. The next course arrives when conversations naturally pause. Glasses are refilled. Guests settle into the experience without anyone wondering what's happening in the kitchen. It feels less like hosting dinner — and more like having one of Chicago's finest restaurants reserved exclusively for your table.
Course pacing handled from the kitchen
9:45
The final plates are cleared. The cookware is washed. The counters are wiped. Your kitchen is left exactly as it should be — clean, organized, and ready for tomorrow. The only thing left behind is the memory of the evening.
Complete kitchen cleanup
All night
That is the experience. Not simply having dinner prepared for you, but having every detail handled so completely that your only responsibility is to enjoy the people gathered around your table. A limited number of private dining experiences are accepted each month.
The Intimate Table · Beginning at $900 for up to 8 guestsNia takes a limited number of tables each month.
The Intimate Table is designed for those who want more than a meal — they want an evening their guests will remember.
Perhaps you’ve hosted before and spent the entire night cooking, refilling glasses, and cleaning while everyone else enjoyed the evening. This time is different. Your guests feel cared for. Every course arrives with intention. And you remain where you belong — at the table, fully present for every conversation and every toast.
Every menu exists for one evening only. Designed around the occasion, the guests, and the season, each dinner is created exclusively for the people gathered at that table. Here are a few recent experiences.
Birthday Celebration · 8 guests · Wicker Park
Anniversary Dinner · 4 guests · Gold Coast
One thing we enjoy doing is supporting great local businesses, and Chef Nia is someone we’ve had the pleasure of working with several times now.
She’s prepared meals for just the two of us and for gatherings with friends, and every time the food and experience have been outstanding. This year she handled our Valentine’s Day dinner at home and it was absolutely perfect.
Chef Nia Spencer exceeded every expectation! From the moment the dinner started, everything felt so intentional and elevated. The food was absolutely incredible, beautifully presented, full of flavor, and every course felt like an experience of its own.
What I loved most was being able to enjoy a fine dining experience from the comfort of my own home without having to worry about a single detail. Chef Nia brought the restaurant experience to me, and honestly, I’m still thinking about that meal!
What $900 actually means
For up to 8 guests, a $900 evening is roughly $113 per person — menu design, all the shopping done for you, a private chef in your kitchen, and full cleanup when the evening is done. Food and ingredients are billed separately, at cost, with no markup — your estimate comes with your proposed menu.
Your evening begins long before I arrive. The $900 chef’s fee covers everything from designing your custom menu and sourcing the ingredients to cooking, serving, and leaving your kitchen just as I found it. Ingredients are billed separately at cost with no markup, and you’ll receive a detailed estimate with your proposed menu before confirming your dinner.
A private dinner at home is a different kind of experience. Instead of choosing from a restaurant menu or coordinating the details yourself, everything is built around your occasion. From the first conversation to the final course, every detail is planned with your guests in mind. I handle the menu design, ingredient sourcing, cooking, service, and cleanup, so you can simply enjoy the evening with the people you’ve invited.
Request your table with the short two-step form below — your date, occasion, guest count, and any dietary notes.
Chef Nia reviews your details and sends you a proposed five to six course tasting menu built around your evening — with your quoted fee and a food estimate — within 48 hours.
You approve the menu direction and the food estimate, then pay a 50% deposit to hold your date.
Three to five days before the event, Chef Nia confirms the final menu and arrival time, and collects the remaining balance plus the ingredient cost.
Chef Nia arrives, executes the full dinner, and cleans up before she leaves. You showed up at your own table. That is the whole process.
If something comes up, you can reschedule with at least 72 hours notice and your deposit moves to the new date. Cancellations inside 72 hours forfeit the deposit — that covers the shopping and prep already in motion by that point. Most rescheduling requests are not a problem.
Experiences begin at $900 for up to 8 guests — your exact fee is quoted with your proposed menu and locked once you book. It covers the whole experience: the menu consultation, a fully customized five to six course tasting menu designed around your occasion, all the shopping, on-site cooking in your kitchen, course pacing through the evening, and a full cleanup before she leaves.
Food and ingredients are billed separately, at cost — Chef Nia sources everything fresh and passes it through with no markup, so you only pay for what your menu actually needs. Your food estimate arrives with your proposed menu, before any deposit, so there are no surprises on the night.
Your proposed menu comes with a food estimate and the dinner agreement, all on your private menu page — you approve the menu and accept the terms right there, before any money changes hands. Then a deposit of half your quoted fee holds your date. The remaining balance plus the ingredient cost is collected three to five days before the dinner, when the final menu is locked. If you need to reschedule with at least 72 hours notice, the deposit simply moves to your new date.
Two to three weeks ahead is the comfortable window — it leaves room for the menu conversation and sourcing. Shorter notice is sometimes possible depending on the calendar, so it never hurts to submit your date and ask.
Yes — that is what the dietary notes field on the form is for. The menu is designed around your table from the start, so allergies, dislikes, and preferences shape the courses rather than being worked around at the last minute.
Almost certainly. Chef Nia cooks in ordinary home kitchens — that is the format. She brings what she needs and works with what is there. If anything about your space would affect the menu, it comes up in the inquiry conversation before anything is confirmed.
Chicago — homes across the city. If you are in a nearby suburb, mention your neighborhood in the form and Chef Nia will confirm whether your date and location work together.
Yes, and it makes a memorable one — birthdays and anniversaries are the most common occasions at the table. Check the gift box on the form and Chef Nia will coordinate the details with you rather than spoiling the surprise.
Nia takes a limited number of tables each month.
