Hiring a private chef in Miami

Personal chef or caterer?

Florida’s Division of Hotels and Restaurants says a person hired to prepare food in a personal home, where the client and guests eat it, is a personal chef who does not need a license from the Division.Source: myfloridalicense.custhelp.com, checked Oct 24, 2026

Personal chefs use privately owned, onsite equipment, do not prepare or store food before or after the event, and do not bring anything with them or take anything away.Source: www2.myfloridalicense.com, checked Oct 24, 2026

Preparing food outside the home where it is eaten, or delivering prepared food to the home, requires a catering license.Source: myfloridalicense.custhelp.com, checked Oct 24, 2026

Florida law prohibits running food establishment operations, including catering, in a private home.Source: www2.myfloridalicense.com, checked Oct 24, 2026

Food-safety certificates

Every DBPR-licensed food service establishment must have at least one certified food manager, and managers have thirty days after employment to become certified.Source: myfloridalicense.custhelp.com, checked Oct 24, 2026

A Florida food manager certification is valid for five years, after which the manager must be re-examined.Source: myfloridalicense.custhelp.com, checked Oct 24, 2026

Business tax and sales tax

Miami-Dade County says anyone providing services to the public, even through a one-person or home-based business, must obtain a Local Business Tax Receipt; businesses in a municipality need a receipt from both the county and the city.Source: secure.miamidade.gov, checked Oct 24, 2026

Florida’s sales tax rule on prepared food covers caterers, and treats the place where catered meals are served as the caterer’s premises.Source: flrules.org, checked Oct 24, 2026

How Florida taxes a personal chef who cooks a client’s own groceries in the client’s home: Not published in the rule pages we checked.Source: flrules.org, checked Oct 24, 2026

What Miami households spend on food

Miami-area households spent an average of $5,331 a year on food at home and $2,064 on food away from home in 2023–24.Source: bls.gov, checked Oct 24, 2026

Official lookups

• Florida DBPR license search(myfloridalicense.com)
• Florida business search (Sunbiz)(dos.fl.gov)
• DBPR Guide to Catering Establishments (PDF)(www2.myfloridalicense.com)
• Miami-Dade Local Business Tax Receipt FAQ(secure.miamidade.gov)

NetChefs in Miami

NetChefs (our own service)NetChefs offers private chef events across the Miami metro: Miami Beach, Brickell, Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Wynwood, Aventura, Key Biscayne and the broader South Florida coastline.Source: netchefs.net, checked Oct 24, 2026

NetChefs (our own service)NetChefs Daily weekly meal prep is available in Miami now.Source: NetChefs (stated by its owners), checked Oct 24, 2026

NetChefs (our own service)NetChefs describes Daily as weekly meals from a dedicated private chef, now in New York, the Hamptons and Miami.Source: netchefs.net, checked Oct 24, 2026