Private Chef Services and Premium Catering at Home in Chicago’s North Shore
Hospitality is not a service. It is devotion.
In our experience, the North Shore hosts who hire us are not shopping for catering. They are looking for a team that can bring a Michelin-quality restaurant into their dining room without losing the warmth and ease that makes a great evening feel like home.
That gap is what we built Vendador to close.
Here is what that means in practice:
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Chef Francis trained at Japonais by Morimoto, opened Momotaro, and was a Sous at Roister of the Alinea Group. Every chef and sommelier we send into your home brings that same level of fine dining experience. We never use staffing agencies.
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Every member of our team signs an NDA before stepping into your residence. Discretion is non-negotiable when serving public figures, executives, and high-profile families in the North Shore.
where Vendador also calls home
The North Shore is where we work most.
From Wilmette to Lake Bluff, the homes along this stretch represent the highest concentration of considered hosting in the Chicago region. The dinners here are invitations to the people who matter, made by hosts whose schedules rarely allow for the in-the-kitchen attention a great evening deserves.
That is what we are built for. Vendador is a Chicago-based private dining company that imports a Michelin-level restaurant directly to your home: chefs, sommeliers, service staff, plateware, glassware, and an NDA-protected team who treat your guests and your residence with the discretion you expect. You step away from the planning. We handle the night.
Our work concentrates in the same handful of zip codes year after year: Wilmette, Kenilworth, Winnetka, Glencoe, Highland Park, Lake Forest, and Lake Bluff. The North Shore host asks for a level of execution that few catering operations are designed to deliver. Ours is. Every detail of an evening, from the first canapé to the last pour, is built to disappear into the experience of the night.
What Sets Vendador Apart
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We bring the entire restaurant to you. Riedel stemware, fine plateware, silverware, linens, and a professional service team. Our team understands how to translate the precision of a restaurant kitchen into your residential space, with the care your marble, stone, and custom finishes deserve.
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Every menu is carefully built from scratch with you, your guests, your dietary needs, and the occasion in mind. Allergies and restrictions are integrated into the experience without compromise. We do not use sample menus or catering packages.
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Vendador has three tiers of curated wine pairings, plus cellar consultation, and beverage programs designed around your collection or sourced from ours for the evening.
Read more about our fully licensed beverage program.
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Since 2021, Vendador has grown to over 400 clients and 265+ five-star Google reviews entirely through word-of-mouth. Our work speaks for itself, and the people we have served continue to send us into the homes of their friends.
private chef services
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, Reidel 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.
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.
Canapés & Grazing Tables
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.
Elegant, high level bites designed for entertaining. From the drawing room to the garden, our canapé service sets the tone from the first moment guests arrive and keeps the energy alive all evening long.
Not sure which format fits your event? Tell us what you're planning, we make it just for you anyway
Buffet Bining
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
5 stars & 256 google reviews
“Every detail was thoughtfully executed. We're thrilled with the outcome.”
— Former Customer“Communication was top-notch and the final outcome was even better than we imagined. A great experience all around.”
— Former Customer“Their attention to detail and commitment to quality truly stood out. We’ve already recommended them to others.”
— Former Customer
Reserve Your Experience
Our Philosophy
Hospitality is not a service. It is devotion. Every detail of every evening we deliver is in service of one outcome: that you, our host, are fully present with the people you invited into your home.