TikTok is an encyclopedia of recipes and food-focused trends, from the viral baked feta pasta to a cookie and croissant hybrid, where ordinary treats are made even more delicious thanks to surprising ingredients and innovative cooking methods. One of the latest — and funniest — formats driving food content on the platform? Since the summer of 2023, a new wave of content creators is taking over feeds by pretending to be private chefs. 

To participate in the trend, influencers share a clip of themselves cooking a recipe for a “client,” who makes outrageous demands and decisions ranging from requesting that the chef spends thousands of dollars at the notoriously expensive grocery chain Erewhon to almost firing them for using pre-minced garlic. But as the videos progress, it becomes clear from the creator’s sarcastic tone that the purported “client” is either themself or a family member.

This trend has its roots in other popular content on social media. Real private chefs have been posting on TikTok for years, sharing the process of meal prepping or full days of cooking at their clients’ homes in lofty destinations such as the Hamptons or Beverly Hills. 

Creators like “Chef Bae” (known for customizing dairy- and gluten-free recipes for celebrities) and Jane Olivia (an Arizona-based private chef with a focus on holistic nutrition), among many others, have built up robust followings by revealing what their work looks like — so it’s no surprise that some users want to experiment with being a private chef in their own way.

Especially popular among lifestyle creators, the fake private chef trend is now something that many have adopted as a regular bit in their TikTok content schedule. Jess Linnea (@jess.billings) often posts videos of the meals she cooks as a “private chef for a high-profile man in his thirties” — in reality, the client is her fianceé, photographer Alex Stemplewski. 

Claudia Harrington (@claudia.harrington) has amassed 492,000 followers on TikTok, and her most popular videos are of her acting as a private chef for her parents, while creator Maiya (@lifeasmaiya) has started a series that depicts her pretending to be a private chef every day in the hopes she will eventually become a real one.

One of the most popular influencers pretending to be a private chef is Faith, a 25-year-old content creator who posts under the handle @faithsfresh. The avid home cook has amassed 2.5 million followers thanks to her creative dairy-free recipes, ranging from chocolate-dipped ice cream bars to vegetable soup with grilled cheese croutons. She first began posting last summer after being inspired by content from real private chefs. 

“I had never seen someone take on the private chef role, but for themselves. Every private chef on social media had actual clients, so I thought twisting it so that I’m the client would be funny,” she explains. “I also enjoy making fun of myself in the videos, because I feel like it allows more of my personality and humor to show while I still get to do what I love, which is cooking.”

The videos have proven to be a success, with one particular clip of Faith cooking crispy tuna rice bites racking up 29.6 million views to-date, and prompting other TikTok users to recreate the recipe. 

The majority of her audience understands Faith’s tongue-in-cheek videos, but she does receive the occasional hateful comment from accounts that don’t realize she’s joking. Playful remarks like “My client lets her cats walk on the counters, it’s kind of disgusting” or “I can’t remember the last time my client ate a vegetable” are the kind of lighthearted jabs that can be misunderstood. 

The content creator notes that “most of the people who don’t get it always feel the need to [tear me apart] in the comments for my ‘disrespect,’ which just makes me laugh because I’m literally talking about myself.”

Finding inspiration from social media and her favorite restaurants, Faith says that she develops a recipe as she goes along, adapting it to her and her husband’s needs. 

“Once I decide what I want to make, I just start going at it and hope it turns out [well]. Luckily 99% of the time it does. I also recently started doing a new series on my page where I cook food for my husband [another of Faith’s clients] who’s super picky, which has allowed me to get more creative in the kitchen and make meals I normally wouldn’t due to my intolerances.”

What do real private chefs think about this trend?

Curious about what professional cooks think of people pretending to be like them, I consulted Atilla Çetiner, a private chef at Kaya Palazzo Golf Resort Belek in Antalya, Türkiye. His duties vary from day to day and are largely shaped by his guests’ requests, dietary preferences, allergies, and nutritional needs.

Working as a private chef is rewarding for Çetiner, and he thinks posing as one can empower home cooks, commenting that “loving what you do and bringing energy into the kitchen is key for any chef, and role-playing as a private chef can be just as beneficial.”

Çetiner believes that the trend can help people further develop their cooking abilities, and that the content might encourage both creators and viewers to try more complex recipes and new ingredients. 

Faith is a perfect example of this — she’d never made focaccia before being challenged by friends to try it for her channel, and she often experiments with techniques or processes that some home cooks might be intimidated by, like making cashew milk from scratch or leveraging starches to add crispiness.

Why should home cooks pretend to be their own private chef?

Even if you’re not a content creator taking advantage of this trend to get views, playing as your own private chef can foster creativity at home.

As someone who lives alone in a small studio apartment with limited space and appliances — not to mention a busy schedule — it can be difficult to stay motivated to regularly cook a full meal. Consuming fake private chef content has helped bring back my love of cooking, and I’ve found that these creators usually develop recipes that cater to a variety of different skill levels, spaces, and time constraints. This, in turn, has inspired me to try out their different dishes, even on the days when I don’t particularly feel like making a meal from scratch. 

Cooking has been a great way to manage my own mental health, and Dietitian Nutritionist and founder of Wellness Intelligence Patricia Bannan confirms that the playfulness of the faux private chef trend can have psychological and emotional benefits.

“By elevating the dining experience, individuals can cultivate a deeper appreciation for their food and the effort that goes into preparing it,” she notes. “This mindful approach to eating may enhance the overall enjoyment of meals, reduce stress, and foster a greater connection to the food being consumed.”

Pretending to be your own private chef makes meal times more of an event and less of a chore, which in turn creates a sense of pride and a dining experience that’s focused on flavor, ingredients, and presentation rather than convenience. After working on a carefully curated meal, you’ll feel accomplished and like you did something for yourself (AKA, your client).

 For Faith, the main benefits of pretending to be a private chef include becoming increasingly proficient in the kitchen and testing out dishes or techniques that she might not be familiar with. It has helped her progress her kitchen skills and create a career out of something she is passionate about — even without formal culinary training. 

“When I first started to cook for myself in college, I would usually end up just throwing a bunch of stuff in the oven and then slathering it in mustard. I wish I was kidding, I’m obsessed with mustard,” she says. “But creating content is fun because it forces me to attempt to make new things, and I feel like aesthetically plating the food is just another creative avenue that I have fun playing with.”

Ultimately, the fake private chef trend is something that everyone can lean into, from experienced cooks to beginners, and people who have no interest in cooking but enjoy the humor behind the videos. It’s an accessible form of content that can be adapted to many skill levels, with a “fake it ‘til you make it” mindset that might encourage us all to be a little more adventurous.