Marvin Lim is the founder and CEO of TheKitchenTable, a private chef booking business. (BusinessDen Illustration)
When Marvin Lim founded TheKitchenTable, he didn’t expect to be taking on a publicly-traded titan.
His website, which launched in September, facilitates the booking of private chefs at a cheaper cost than the usual $100 to $200 price tag.
Earlier this month, Airbnb announced a similar add-on to its short term rentals. With a renewed focus on services and experiences, the company now offers hiking tours, photo sessions and, of course, private meals.
But Lim doesn’t seem too worried.
“It validates our idea for this,” the Malaysia-native said. “At the same time, they are a competitor now.”
To him, Airbnb is transposing the traditional private cook model of expensive, set menus to the world of short term rentals. TheKitchenTable, on the other hand, offers more customizable lineups starting at $40 a head.
“We are the only platform that asks you how much you want to spend,” Lim, 25, said. “And then we’ll match you with a chef based on what you want.”
TheKitchenTable diners can request as broad or as specific a lineup as they want. Customers can ask from anything to family style barbeque to a fine dining microdish lineup rather than settle for a fixed option.
That meal is then crafted by TheKitchenTable’s arsenal of cooks, who have served the likes of professional athletes to presidents, racking up Michelin Stars and James Beard awards in the process.
Anthony Smith, former executive chef at Bigsby’s Folly Craft Winery in RiNo, said this format allows chefs to be more creative than a typical restaurant job. As of now, TheKitchenTable is only meant to be a “side-hustle” for cooks, Smith said
“The only name you hear about is the executive chef,” he added. “You don’t hear about the 20, 30, 40 people behind them. This is a good opportunity to build your own brand.”
Anthony Smith
Since 2021, he’s been a high-end private cook, making meals like the Manning family’s Thanksgiving dinner or crafting dishes for the Pittsburgh Steeler-owning Rooneys.
With TheKitchenTable, he wants to make that type of dining accessible to the average family.
“It doesn’t need to be this super crazy high end experience,” he said. “The simplicity of having someone in your own home or vacation rental is a pretty elevated experience in and of itself.”
TheKitchenTable is currently available to short-term rentals, like Atomic Vacation Rentals in Colorado, or apartment buildings like Sentral Union Station above Whole Foods.
Vacationers get access to the service by booking at those properties. At complexes, TheKitchenTable chefs cook up dishes for large community events.
Lim said those are the only ways customers can access it now, but he hopes to roll out to individual apartment units this year. Within the next two, he expects TheKitchenTable to be available to regular households.
It’s live in 10 cities across the country, with the main focuses being Denver, Houston and Chicago.
Since launching in September, Lim said his team, which comprises 16 chefs, has cooked nearly 4,000 dishes and served 800 guests.
The chef comes up with the menu, price and buys their own ingredients while TheKitchenTable takes 8% of the cost.
By the end of the year, he expects to be at $150,000 in revenue from 3,500 customers.
“There’s a lot of companies that do things like us,” Smith said. “But not on a scale that’s affordable to everybody, and that’s because of our model.”
Lim, who moved to Colorado a couple of years ago, moved to the United States to attend Washington State University in 2019. There he studied data analytics and eventually landed a job at T-Mobile.
He’s putting those chops to use with TheKitchenTable. So far, he’s put in $15,000 of his own money. He plans to raise a $1 million round by the end of the year to build out his sales and marketing team.
“Restaurants are struggling, so how can I help chefs? How can I help them grow their business, grow their income?” Lim asked. “All of them are stuck in a box, and they want something to help them out. But all the other private chef platforms out there want to do fine dining and charge $150 per person.”
Marvin Lim is the founder and CEO of TheKitchenTable, a private chef booking business. (BusinessDen Illustration)
When Marvin Lim founded TheKitchenTable, he didn’t expect to be taking on a publicly-traded titan.
His website, which launched in September, facilitates the booking of private chefs at a cheaper cost than the usual $100 to $200 price tag.
Earlier this month, Airbnb announced a similar add-on to its short term rentals. With a renewed focus on services and experiences, the company now offers hiking tours, photo sessions and, of course, private meals.
But Lim doesn’t seem too worried.
“It validates our idea for this,” the Malaysia-native said. “At the same time, they are a competitor now.”
To him, Airbnb is transposing the traditional private cook model of expensive, set menus to the world of short term rentals. TheKitchenTable, on the other hand, offers more customizable lineups starting at $40 a head.
“We are the only platform that asks you how much you want to spend,” Lim, 25, said. “And then we’ll match you with a chef based on what you want.”
TheKitchenTable diners can request as broad or as specific a lineup as they want. Customers can ask from anything to family style barbeque to a fine dining microdish lineup rather than settle for a fixed option.
That meal is then crafted by TheKitchenTable’s arsenal of cooks, who have served the likes of professional athletes to presidents, racking up Michelin Stars and James Beard awards in the process.
Anthony Smith, former executive chef at Bigsby’s Folly Craft Winery in RiNo, said this format allows chefs to be more creative than a typical restaurant job. As of now, TheKitchenTable is only meant to be a “side-hustle” for cooks, Smith said
“The only name you hear about is the executive chef,” he added. “You don’t hear about the 20, 30, 40 people behind them. This is a good opportunity to build your own brand.”
Anthony Smith
Since 2021, he’s been a high-end private cook, making meals like the Manning family’s Thanksgiving dinner or crafting dishes for the Pittsburgh Steeler-owning Rooneys.
With TheKitchenTable, he wants to make that type of dining accessible to the average family.
“It doesn’t need to be this super crazy high end experience,” he said. “The simplicity of having someone in your own home or vacation rental is a pretty elevated experience in and of itself.”
TheKitchenTable is currently available to short-term rentals, like Atomic Vacation Rentals in Colorado, or apartment buildings like Sentral Union Station above Whole Foods.
Vacationers get access to the service by booking at those properties. At complexes, TheKitchenTable chefs cook up dishes for large community events.
Lim said those are the only ways customers can access it now, but he hopes to roll out to individual apartment units this year. Within the next two, he expects TheKitchenTable to be available to regular households.
It’s live in 10 cities across the country, with the main focuses being Denver, Houston and Chicago.
Since launching in September, Lim said his team, which comprises 16 chefs, has cooked nearly 4,000 dishes and served 800 guests.
The chef comes up with the menu, price and buys their own ingredients while TheKitchenTable takes 8% of the cost.
By the end of the year, he expects to be at $150,000 in revenue from 3,500 customers.
“There’s a lot of companies that do things like us,” Smith said. “But not on a scale that’s affordable to everybody, and that’s because of our model.”
Lim, who moved to Colorado a couple of years ago, moved to the United States to attend Washington State University in 2019. There he studied data analytics and eventually landed a job at T-Mobile.
He’s putting those chops to use with TheKitchenTable. So far, he’s put in $15,000 of his own money. He plans to raise a $1 million round by the end of the year to build out his sales and marketing team.
“Restaurants are struggling, so how can I help chefs? How can I help them grow their business, grow their income?” Lim asked. “All of them are stuck in a box, and they want something to help them out. But all the other private chef platforms out there want to do fine dining and charge $150 per person.”
