Published prices
The fee stack, on its own lines.
Every myCHEF Kauaʻi quote shows the same fee stack on its own lines. This page is the long version of those lines — what they are, why they exist, and how they compare to the island’s norms.
The lines, verbatim
20% service charge and Hawaiʻi GET up to 4.7120% always appear on their own lines (GET valid through 12/31/2030). 50% deposit locks the date. Signature dinners: food inside the band. Stay Chef: groceries at cost with receipts. Gratuity is always voluntary.
That footnote appears on every quote and every rate card on this site. It is not marketing copy; it is the fee policy.
The 20%, compared
Island venues and resorts commonly charge 23–25% service; at least one Kauaʻi caterer adds 25% gratuity across all food and drink. Our 20% is lower, and it is itemized — on a $10,000 event week, the five-point difference is $500 you can see.
What it covers: coordination, menu writing, site and kitchen checks, the crew’s logistics, and the office that answers within a day. What it is not: a gratuity. Tips are voluntary, always, printed as such.
GET, honestly
Hawaiʻi’s General Excise Tax applies to services including catering. We itemize it at the applicable rate — up to 4.7120%, valid through 12/31/2030 per current state guidance — rather than burying it in “prices.” If the law changes, the line changes; it will never be hidden.
The 50% deposit
The deposit locks the date only after you have the written quote. Kauaʻi runs inquiry-first — we never hold a date we can’t crew — so the deposit conversation only happens when the quote and the crew both exist.
Questions, answered
No — it covers coordination and operations, itemized on its own line. Gratuity is always voluntary and never assumed.
Check the fee lines: 25% gratuity across all food and drink, bundled “service,” and grocery allowances are where the difference hides. Compare totals line by line — ours are built for it.
Booking terms render as proposed until counsel locks them: the 50% deposit locks dates; balance timing is stated in your quote. Terms page carries the cancellation and force-majeure details.
Keep reading
- pricing The Kauaʻi rate card.
- pricing What a Kauaʻi wedding week costs.
- pricing What a private chef costs on Kauaʻi.
- pricing What a chef week costs, worked.
- pricing Travel zones, published like everything else.
- pricing The Kauaʻi estimator.
- pricing Both shores, one written quote.
- guide Chef at the house, or the dining room?
Get a written quote
Kauaʻi runs inquiry-first: you tell us the table, we send a written quote — and that quote is the confirmed total. We never hold a date we can’t crew.