the Chicago suburbs we know best
Hinsdale · Naperville · Barrington · Oak Park · River Forest · Burr Ridge
Our Philosophy
The dinner party that turns into a long evening. Twelve people around a dining room table that was built to seat twelve, in a kitchen designed for the cook to actually use it.
Vendador is a Chicago-based private dining company offering full-service private chef and premium catering experiences across the Chicago suburbs. Personalized menus, complete restaurant infrastructure, plateware, glassware, silverware, and professional service staff arrive at your door, so the only thing you bring to the night is your guests.
For generous leaders balancing demanding careers with meaningful relationships, we bring an entire fine dining ecosystem to your home. Our Michelin-trained chefs and sommeliers are NDA-protected, so you reclaim time and stay fully present without lifting a finger. Vendador works in private homes across Hinsdale, Naperville, Barrington, Oak Park, River Forest, and Burr Ridge.
From intimate tasting menus for six to lavish estate gatherings for eighty, we offer private dining, sommelier-led wine service, licensed craft bar programs, and canapé service: a complete culinary experience that arrives at your door and disappears without a trace.
A chef-driven journey through 5 to 12 seasonally inspired courses, plated with precision, and presented with passion and elite hospitality. Every detail is provided, curated plateware, Riedel glassware, silverware, and linen napkins, so you never need to worry about having the right amount of anything. Each menu is custom-designed for you and yours, never repeated.
Reserve a tasting menu
From cellar curation to night-of pairings, our certified sommeliers and licensed craft bartenders bring the full beverage experience to your event. Choose from our rotating seasonal cocktail menu, a premium open bar, or three tiers of wine pairings. Every pour is intentional, every cocktail crafted by experts.
Explore bar & sommelier services
Elegant, high level bites designed for entertaining. From the garden to the great room, our canapé service sets the tone from the first moment guests arrive and keeps the energy alive all evening long.
Explore canapés & food stations
Abundant, beautifully composed, and anything but ordinary. Our buffet presentations bring the same Michelin-caliber ingredients and philosophy to a format that flows naturally for open houses, cocktail receptions, and events where conversation moves as freely as the food.
Explore buffet diningNot sure which format fits your event? Tell us what you’re planning. We’ll build something just for you.
The hosts we work with in the suburbs are not looking for catering. They are looking for a team that can match, and exceed, the standard they would set themselves if they had the time.
Most catering companies operate on volume. Vendador was built on the opposite principle. Hover or tap the red markers to explore.
Chef Francis trained at Japonais by Morimoto, was on the opening team at Momotaro, and was Sous Chef at Roister of the Alinea Group. With the time and kitchen space the suburbs allow, that training shows up across every course, not just the highlights. We never use staffing agencies.
Every staff member who walks into your home has signed an NDA before the booking is confirmed. In tight suburban social circles, the guest at your table this week may be hosting their own dinner next week. Our core team is small and consistent, so repeat clients work with people who already know their home.
Suburban homes range from architecturally significant estates to family homes built across decades of additions, and we have worked in both. Whether your kitchen has marble countertops and a wine room or a single oven and a butcher block island, our chefs are trained to operate cleanly within the space we are given.
Nothing about your menu is pre-built. We design every course around your guests, the dietary realities at the table, the season, and the energy of the weekend. From a summer cocktail dinner in the garden to a November family reunion, the menu reflects that every time. We do not use sample menus or catering packages.
You can choose from one of our three wine pairing tiers, build a beverage program around your existing cellar, or hand the night to our sommelier and let us source it for you. Cocktail programs, full bar service, and licensed bartenders are all part of what we bring with us.
Since 2021, Vendador has grown to over 400 clients and over 300 five-star Google reviews entirely through word-of-mouth. The hosts who hire us in your suburb almost always come to us through a neighbor whose home we already know.
Word of Mouth
five stars & over 300 reviews on Google
“Vendador, you absolutely knocked it out of the park for us! It is safe to say you totally wow’ed all our guests with your beautiful and delicious dishes. As a culinary event producer, you blew me away with your and your team’s incredible hospitality and professionalism. The entire staff on site was warm, welcoming, friendly, calm, cool, attentive... the whole package.”
“I asked Vendador to do a private dinner for my husband and I’s first anniversary and they delivered. Their process is seamless. They bring all of their own equipment, pots, pans, plates, silverware, wine glasses, and leave everything spotless after they are finished. The food was true fine dining restaurant quality. Chef Francis even did a special rendition of our strawberry mousse wedding cake for dessert.”
“Chef Francis and his amazing team created the most delicious and incredible dining experience for my father’s 85th birthday celebration. Every dish was thoughtfully done and the whole dinner was seamless and stunning! We are all still talking about the fresh scallops days later. We can’t wait for you to come to our home again.”
Hinsdale · Naperville · Barrington · Oak Park · River Forest · Burr Ridge
Across the Chicago suburbs we serve, we cook for anniversary dinners, milestone birthdays, holiday gatherings, family reunions, graduation celebrations, engagement and rehearsal dinners, summer garden parties, and the long, unhurried evenings around the dining room table that suburban homes were built for.
Dine With VendadorWe design culinary experiences for groups of 2 to 200. Our flexibility is dependent on the style of dining and we are open to discussions about events larger than 200 guests. We serve seated dinners to a maximum of 120 guests. Beyond plated fine dining, we offer canapé service, food stations, grazing tables, buffets, open bar service, seasonal cocktails, and more.
No. The Chicago suburbs we serve fall within our standard service radius, and travel fees do not apply to events in Hinsdale, Naperville, Barrington, Oak Park, River Forest, or Burr Ridge and nearby towns.
We arrive approximately two hours before your guests to set up. All menu elements are prepped in our Chicago commercial kitchen and finished in your home. Once we arrive, you become a guest at your own event. After service, we pack up and clean efficiently, leaving your kitchen more spotless than when we arrived.
Yes. We provide all plateware, silverware, serviceware, cooking equipment, and linen napkins for your dining experience. Our inventory includes hand-selected ceramics and Riedel stemware if purchasing a beverage package. For specific plate styles outside of our collection, we can arrange rentals from a local company on your behalf for a procurement fee.
No. Suburban hosting often calls for a mix of formality and ease, and we are built to flex with that. We serve elevated buffet service, food stations, raw bars, passed canapés, outdoor cocktail receptions, and casual family-style dinners alongside seated tasting menus. Wine and cocktail classes or cooking demonstrations can also be added as a pre-meal experience.
Though we do not personally provide decor and styling for events, we often collaborate with local florists and event stylists. We have a trusted network of vendors who we would be happy to connect with on your behalf to design your table. We can order and pick up simple floral arrangements and add them to your invoice.
We operate with an event minimum of $2,000, and tasting menu experiences begin at $300 per person. Final pricing is curated jointly during your consultation, since no two events are alike. These figures apply to private dining experiences and are separate from our corporate catering packages, which are detailed on our corporate catering page.