How much do private cooking lessons cost?
You can take private cooking classes to have fun, to learn a new skill, to improve your health, to bond with your partner, to enjoy a playful first date or to have a unique birthday party experience. Nationally the average cost of private cooking lessons ranges between $100 and $150. Prices can vary, depending on where you live, the type of cooking class you’re taking, the ingredients the chef provides, and the reputation of the chef. Cooking classes with Anthony Bourdain will clearly cost more than classes with a local restaurant owner. The number of people in the class will also affect the cost, with group lessons often priced per person to account for the cost of ingredients. For example, for group lessons, a brunch workshop may cost an average of $70 per person, a steak dinner with sides could cost an average of $80-$85 per person, and a sushi lesson could cost an average of $100 per person. Ingredients play a major role in cost, as the chef will pre-purchase the food you will be working with. Weekday classes will usually cost less than weekend classes.
How much should catering cost per person?
Catering prices can range from about $10 per guest on the low end to $150 or more per person on the high end. Catering costs represent the quality of food, presentation, variety, ingredients and service. But catering prices are more than the cost to cook the food that will be at your party; they also include the cost for the company to do business. Here is a simple breakdown of catering prices:
- Menu: The food you serve your guests will directly affect the price per person. Organic ingredients, complex recipes, elaborate presentations, or high-ticket items like lobster or filet mignon all add to the cost.
- Service: Buffet, family style, plated dinners — how you serve the food affects the cost per person. For example, a true plated meal can cost about twice the price of a staff-assisted buffet because of staffing costs. Hiring waiters, bartenders and cleanup crew will all be calculated into the per-person catering price.
- Drinks: Providing beverages and alcoholic drinks for guests greatly increases your catering budget. Hosting an open bar can cost as much per person as the meal.
- Rentals: Seating, plates, glassware, etc., will all have an effect on the cost per person for catering. For example, a plastic conference table that seats 10 costs about $6 to rent on average, while a wooden farmhouse table is about $80 to rent on average.
- Business costs: Any catering cost will also include the cost for the company to do business such as insurance, employee wages, commercial kitchen space and more.
How much does it cost to hire a caterer?
Catering prices depend mainly on how fancy you want the food and service to be and how many guests you’ll have. When you’re first looking to hire a caterer for your event, consider how many guests you’ll have and your total food and drink budget. The national average for event catering is $340, but catering prices can range into the thousands depending on your menu, guest count, and service.
Event catering is a broad term that covers everything from fully prepared, ready-to-eat food that the hosts plate and serve themselves to full-service, multicourse meals, including rental of linens, glassware and other items, with service staff organized by the catering company. Usually a caterer will determine cost based on the type of event you’re having, how many guests will attend, the level of service you desire, and what type of menu you’d like to have. For example, if you have a set catering budget, say $1,500, and you plan to have 50 people attend, that means you have $30 per person for food. If you have the same budget with 100 people, you have $15 per person for food. In this way, the number of people you want to attend your event and the level of food you want to serve them determines how much catering will cost.