the same team, a different shoreline
We travel to Lake Geneva, Williams Bay, Fontana, New Buffalo, Harbor Country, Saugatuck and Douglas, South Haven, and St. Joseph throughout the year.
Our Philosophy
For the hosts we serve in Chicago and across the North Shore, the getaway home is where the most personal hosting happens. The summer house in Lake Geneva. The cottage in Harbor Country. The family weekend in Saugatuck. Birthdays that gather everyone. Anniversaries marked without fanfare. Long weekends with the people who matter most.
Vendador is a Chicago-based private dining company offering full-service private chef and premium catering experiences across the Lake Michigan region. We bring personalized menus, complete restaurant infrastructure, plateware, glassware, silverware, and professional service staff directly to your lake home.
The same standards we deliver in your primary residence travel with us, so the experience your guests have at the getaway feels like the experience they have at home.
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 dock, to the beach, to the garden, 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.
For the hosts we serve in Chicago and across the North Shore, the getaway home is where the most personal hosting happens, and the experience your guests have at the lake should feel like the experience they have at home.
So the entire operation travels. 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. Every chef and sommelier we send into your lake home brings that same level of fine dining experience. We never use staffing agencies.
Every staff member who walks into your home, whether in Chicago or at the lake, has signed an NDA before the booking is confirmed. The privacy you have come to expect from us at home does not change when we cross a state line into Wisconsin or Michigan.
We arrive with the entire operation: Riedel stemware, ceramics, flatware, and the service team to run the night. Whether your kitchen has marble countertops and a wine room or a single propane stove and a lake-facing porch, 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. A summer cocktail dinner on the dock looks nothing like an October anniversary in the dining room, and the menu reflects that every time.
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. Read more about our fully licensed beverage program.
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 at the lake almost always come to us through a neighbor whose Chicago or North Shore home we already know.
Word of Mouth
five stars & over 300 reviews on Google
“Chef Francis and his team traveled to our home in Michigan and executed an unforgettable six-course dinner inspired by our family’s Swedish and Polish heritage for 56 guests. Canapés, cocktails, the whole experience. Every course was better than the last. The food was extraordinary, the service was a joy, and my kitchen was spotless by the end of dessert. This was the best reunion we have ever had. Vendador will be back next summer, and every summer after that.”
“Chef Francis helped me throw an absolutely fabulous fiftieth birthday party for my husband at our Wisconsin house. A lovely mixologist hosted a cocktail class and Chef Francis paired delicious passed appetizers with each drink. One other note: they seemed to be having fun too. Working their tails off, of course, but in great spirits and really enjoying the night.”
“We hosted a kitchen counter dinner for 10, and it was truly a unique and beautiful experience. Chef was able to curate the perfect plant forward menu that even the meat eaters couldn’t stop raving about. Our sommelier was so knowledgeable and was able to perfectly pair wine or whiskey with each course. We cannot wait to have them over again!”
Lake Geneva · Williams Bay · Fontana · New Buffalo · Harbor Country · Saugatuck & Douglas · South Haven · St. Joseph
Across the eight communities we serve, we cook for anniversary dinners, milestone birthdays, summer weddings on the water, holiday weekends, family reunions, graduation celebrations, holiday gatherings in cooler months, and the long, unhurried weeknight dinners that define a great getaway.
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.
Yes. Wisconsin and Southwest Michigan are two of the regions we serve most often. Lake Geneva, Williams Bay, Fontana, New Buffalo, Harbor Country, Saugatuck and Douglas, South Haven, and St. Joseph are all part of our regular service area, and we work in lake homes across these communities throughout the year.
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. Lake house and getaway hosting tends to be more relaxed than primary home hosting, and we are built to flex with that. We serve elevated buffet service, food stations, raw bars, passed canapés, dock-side 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.
Yes. Travel fees for drives 1.5 hours or more from our kitchen begin at $300 and vary based on distance, season, crew size, and whether the event requires overnight accommodations. For multi-day events, clients cover any associated lodging. Specific pricing is confirmed transparently during your consultation.
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.