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Chef Preparing Dish

Chef & Kitchen Jobs on Chicago's North Shore, $25 to $50 an Hour

Cook for the North Shore's best events. $50 an hour for chefs and $25 for cooks, prep, and kitchen assistants, in kitchens from country clubs to private homes, with demand so strong we're booking every kitchen role we can find.

Why Kitchen Pros Choose That Special Event

$50 per hour

Kitchen pay in writing, at the same rate as our captains. We’re one of the only event staffing companies anywhere in Chicagoland that publishes its rates.

Your Skills are in Demand

Chefs, cooks, prep, and kitchen assistants: we book every one of these roles constantly, which means the availability you open actually fills.

Flexible scheduling

You submit your availability; we book you for events that match. No minimum shift quota, no penalty for busy weeks.

A 25-year Name Behind You

Family-owned, Northbrook-based, and trusted by clients and venues across the North Shore since 1999.

Catering Plating Detail

What the Job Looks Like

Depending on your role: prep and mise en place, cooking and execution, plating for service, and the clean hand-back that ends every TSE event. You might run a plated dinner out of a country club kitchen one weekend and execute a backyard wedding from a private home kitchen the next. You’ll work alongside our captains and service team, on one timeline, to one standard.

What Makes a That Special Event Kitchen Pro

Culinary experience is required in advance for chef and cook roles. Here’s the rest:

Real culinary experience

Chefs and cooks arrive with proven kitchen experience; this isn’t a training role. Prep and kitchen assistant roles support the pros.

An Illinois Food Handler certificate

You don’t need it to apply; you have 30 days after joining to complete it at your own cost, and we’ll point you to the course.

Adaptability across kitchens

Venue, home, or caterer’s kitchen: you walk in, size up the space, and execute.

Clean and organized under pressure

Event kitchens run hot and fast; your station stays sharp anyway.

A team-first temperament

You work the captain’s timeline, communicate clearly, and hand back the kitchen cleaner than you found it.

That Special Event Professional chef and kitchen team posing in a restaurant.

Apply Now. It Takes Under Two Minutes.

No resume required. A real person from our Northbrook office will contact you. That Special Event welcomes team members of all backgrounds.

From Application to Your First Event in 3 steps

Step 1

Apply in under two minutes

Name, contact, role, experience, availability. No resume needed to start, and you can do it from your phone right now.

Step 2

A real person calls you

Jerry’s office reaches out quickly for a short conversation about your experience and your schedule.

Step 3

Orientation, then your first event

New-team orientations are held weekly at our Northbrook office. Complete yours, and you’re on the roster and bookable for events that match your availability.

Chef Cooking Vegetables

Ready to Cook for the Best Events?

$50 an hour. Two minutes to apply. Orientation Tuesday. Then kitchens across the North Shore that need exactly what you do.

Frequently asked questions

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