Find a Chef: Learn from the Best, Teach What You Love
Explore our marketplace to book professional chefs for private lessons or offer your own culinary skills.
Whether you want to master a new technique before your next competition or share your signature dish with eager learners, Dine With Me has a feature built just for that. It's called Find a Chef, and it connects food lovers who want to learn with talented cooks who want to teach.
Here's everything you need to know about how it works — and how it can benefit you on both sides of the kitchen.
What Is Find a Chef?
Find a Chef is a marketplace within Dine With Me where users can discover cooking lessons offered by other members of the community. Think of it as a meeting point between people who love to cook and people who want to get better at it.
Chefs on the platform range from professional culinary experts with years of experience to passionate home cooks who have perfected a specific dish or technique. You don't need a culinary degree to teach — you just need a recipe worth sharing and the willingness to show someone how it's done.
Every chef listing includes ratings, reviews, cuisine type, difficulty level, and pricing — so you always know what to expect before booking.
How It Works
Finding and booking a cooking lesson is straightforward. Here's the process from start to finish:
Head to the Find a Chef page from the main navigation. You'll see a grid of available lessons with photos, prices, and ratings. Use the search bar to look for specific cuisines or dishes.
Narrow down your options using filters:
Click on any listing to see the full details: the recipe description, what you'll learn, available time slots, the chef's bio, and reviews from previous students. This is where you decide if it's the right fit.
Learn from Professional & Amateur Chefs
One of the best things about Find a Chef is the variety. You're not limited to one type of instructor:
Both types of chefs are valuable. A professional might teach you the technique, while an amateur might teach you the soul of a dish. Many users book lessons with both.
The best cooks aren't always the ones with degrees. Sometimes the most memorable lessons come from someone who learned their grandmother's recipe by heart.
Ready to discover chefs in your area?
Level Up Your Competition Game
If you're already participating in Dine With Me competitions, Find a Chef can give you a serious advantage. Here's how:
Book a lesson in the same cuisine you're planning to cook for your next competition. Even one session can dramatically improve your dish's taste, presentation, and creativity scores.
Turn Your Passion Into Income
Find a Chef isn't just for learners. If you have a dish you're proud of — whether it's your famous lasagna, a perfect pad thai, or an heirloom family recipe — you can teach it and earn money doing it.
Here's how becoming a chef on Dine With Me works:
You can list as many recipes as you want, so if you have five signature dishes, create five listings. Each one reaches a different audience.
Write a detailed, inviting description and include what students will learn. Listings with clear descriptions and good ratings get booked more often. Start with a competitive price and raise it as your reviews grow.
Getting Started
Whether you want to learn or teach, getting started takes just a few minutes.
Sign up for a free Dine With Me account if you don't have one yet.
Navigate to Find a Chef from the menu. Use filters to find lessons that match your interests, budget, and skill level.
Pick a time slot, complete the booking, and show up ready to cook. After your lesson, leave a review to help the community.