Sample Yacht Chef Menu

Writing a well balanced 7 day yacht chef menu can seem daunting. But it doesn’t have to be. You already have all of the skills to write the meal plan, because you do it already.

With a yacht chef menu, you need to show your creative flair through words. You need to ensure your meal plan is cohesive enough, yet varied in ingredients and techniques to show your wide reaching abilities.

The Superyacht Chef covers both head chefs and crew chefs, so we have provided you with two examples. If you applying for a crew chef role, you must still submit a meal plan to show you understand the needs of a diverse crews palate and that you are capable of cooking a range of meal styles.

A 7 day Crew menu

A yacht chef menu for crew should be diverse and be peppered with plenty of comfort foods. Crew work long hours in a season and enjoy the comfort food of home. Meals that crew love still include pasta, pizza or sandwich days.

It can be helpful to know in advance if the yacht you are applying for has dietary requirements on board. You can then tailor your basic 7 day crew meal plan to include these options.

A current crew chef wrote the example yacht chef meal plan. It is written with the expectation of moving onto a boat with 20+ crew.

A 7 day Guest menu

Planning your menu for guests can be difficult without knowing what your guest’s tastes and preferences are. The best thing to do here is plan out your food using your best dishes. You want the menu to be cohesive, while still showcasing your talents.

You may be asked to submit a seperate buffet-style menu. Here is a very brief version of that as an example. It would depend on the size of the boat you are applying for, and also if the yacht charters or is private. Again, guest preferences would always come first, so you really just want to show off your skills and cooking vibe.

Do’s and Don’ts of writing your yacht chef menu.

• Keep your yacht chef menu clean and simple to read.
• Make sure it is written in English.
• Not all captains are foodies or know too much of the chef jargon used, so do try to keep it minimal and use English words where you can. Creating half a menu in French to make it seem fancy, may just make your application look unapproachable.
• Do ask for preferences when you apply for a boat, you can then amend your yacht chef meal plan to suit.

It’s important to note, many private yacht owners want nice food cooked well, but more often than not, they are looking for some simplicity too.

I can’t tell you how many menus are from years ago, everyone just keeps the same menu all the time. In those past years, you have evolved so much with your skills, techniques, passions, what and who has inspired you and developed your repertoire, and indeed your own palette has changed too. Your menu should reflect that, be current and reflect what you love and represent.

Justine Murphy CEO of mymuybueno.com

Hopefully, you now have all of the correct yacht certificates in hand, and you are now ready to dockwalk and contact crew agents.