Terms and conditions

01Who we are

Forking Chefing is the trading name of [Forking Chefing Ltd], a company registered in England and Wales, company number [to follow], registered office [to follow]. In these terms we, us and our mean that company, and you means the person making the booking.

We send vetted, self-employed chefs — and, if you book them, front of house or a mixologist — to cook with you in your own kitchen in Plymouth. We take the booking, take the payment, carry the insurance and are responsible to you for the session under these terms. Your chef is not our employee, but your contract is with us, not with them.

02Booking

1. To book, email us with a menu you like, two or three dates that work, how many people are eating and your postcode. A booking is a request until we have confirmed the date and the chef in writing and you have paid the session fee. Then it is a contract between you and us.
2. You must be 18 or over to book. Sessions are for two to eight people. More than eight is sometimes possible with a second chef; ask.
3. At booking you must tell us about any allergies, intolerances or dietary needs of anyone eating; anything about your kitchen a chef would want to know (a photo is ideal, and small is fine); how to get in and where to park; and whether children or pets will be about.
4. Before the session your chef will call you for about ten minutes to settle the menu, then send you a shopping list to approve.
5. You can ask for a particular chef and we will hold their diary where we can, but we cannot promise them. If your chef becomes unavailable we will offer a chef of the same standard. If you would rather not go ahead with someone else, you can cancel without charge.
6. The same goes for anyone else you book — front of house, a sommelier, a mixologist, a nutritionist. You can ask for a particular person, we ask them first, and they can say no. Everybody keeps their own diary. If somebody becomes unavailable we will offer somebody else and tell you who; if you would rather not go ahead with them, that part comes off and you pay nothing for it.

03What you pay for

1. The session fee. A flat fee for the tier you book, as shown on our site when you book. It covers your chef’s time, the teaching, the plating, service to the table where the tier includes it, and the washing up. It covers the number of people stated for the tier; more people than that is by arrangement and may cost more. We are not registered for VAT, so no VAT is added and the price you are shown is the price you pay. If that changes we will say so here, and it will not affect a booking you have already made.
2. Your crew. Front of house, a sommelier and a mixologist are each a fixed supplement on top of any tier, as shown on the site when you book; adding more than one costs the sum of them. A session takes one drinks specialist — a sommelier or a mixologist, never both. A nutritionist comes with The Week Ahead and with no other session, as a fixed supplement shown on the site when you book, and The Week Ahead takes no other crew.
3. Food you keep. On The Week Ahead, most of what you cook is cooled, labelled and put into your own freezer before we leave. From then on it is yours to store and to reheat as labelled. If a label is missing or unclear, ask us before you eat it.
4. Gifts. A session bought for someone else is a booking held in their name, not a voucher and not a bearer instrument. You pay the session fee at the time you buy it, we confirm it to you in writing, and the person you name arranges their own dates with us. They pay nothing. There is no code to redeem and losing the card does not lose the session. It must be used within 6 months of purchase. A session we donate as a charity auction lot works the same way, held in the winner’s name and running [12 months] from the auction, except that the ingredients on the night are the winner’s to pay and we say so in the catalogue wording before anyone bids. If the person you name is outside PL1 to PL21 we will tell you before taking payment. Ingredients and any travel or morning supplement are settled with whoever books the date, and we will say which of you that is before the session.
5. Morning sessions. A session that starts in the morning carries a fixed supplement on top of the tier, shown on the site beside the prices, because your chef shops the day before and starts before the markets open.
6. Travel. There is no travel charge for PL1 to PL7 and PL9. PL8 and PL10 to PL21 carry a fixed travel charge, shown on the site. We do not currently take bookings outside PL1 to PL21.
7. Ingredients, at cost. Your chef sends you a shopping list; you approve it; they buy it; you pay exactly what it cost, and you get the receipts. Approving the list is your authority to spend up to that amount. The ranges quoted on our site are typical, not a cap. Anything left over stays with you.
8. Drinks. We do not sell or supply alcohol, and we will not buy it on your behalf or add it to any bill. On the mixologist levels you must supply the spirits, wine and beer yourself, and the ice; your mixologist brings glassware, mixers and bar kit, all included in the supplement, and builds the drinks. Only people aged 18 or over will be served, and your mixologist may decline to serve anyone who appears to be under 18 or to have had enough. That is not up for negotiation on the night.

04Paying

1. The session fee, any supplements and any travel charge are payable in full when you book, by card. Your booking is not confirmed until they are paid.
2. Ingredients and drinks are invoiced within [three] days after the session, with the receipts attached, and are due within [seven] days of the invoice.
3. If an invoice is still unpaid 14 days after it is due we will remind you, and we may decline further bookings until it is settled.
4. Tips are never expected. If you want to tip, give it to your chef directly. We take nothing from it.

05If you need to change or cancel

1. More than 48 hours before the start time. Cancel and we refund everything you have paid. If you have already approved a shopping list and your chef has already shopped (some menus, such as a brined pork belly or an overnight dough, need buying a day or two ahead), you pay for those ingredients at cost and we will get them to you.
2. 48 hours or less before the start time. We keep half the session fee and half of any supplements, because the people you booked have turned down other work and your chef has already shopped. Each of them is paid their own part of it. You pay for ingredients already bought, at cost, and we will get them to you. Any travel charge is refunded. If we never found somebody for one of the supplements you booked, you get the whole of that one back: nobody turned down other work for it.
3. Moving a date. You can move a booking once, free, if you ask more than 48 hours before the start time, to a date within [eight] weeks that your chef can do. Inside 48 hours a move counts as a cancellation.
4. On the night. If nobody is home, the kitchen cannot be used, or the session cannot go ahead for a reason on your side once your chef has arrived, you pay the full session fee and supplements, the travel charge if one applies, and the ingredients at cost. Your chef made the journey, so the travel charge is payable; it is only refunded where they never set off. A supplement we never found somebody for comes back to you here too — nobody came out for it.
5. Cancelling a gift. You can cancel a gift and get all of it back at any time before the person you named has agreed a date with us. Once a date is agreed the cancellation terms above apply to that date, and it is the person who agreed it who can move or cancel it.
6. Cooling-off. Because a session is a catering and leisure service booked for a specific date, the 14-day cooling-off period that applies to most things bought online or by email does not apply to it. The cancellation terms above apply instead. Your other legal rights are not affected.

06If we need to change or cancel

1. If your chef is ill, or cannot get to you (the Tamar Bridge does close, occasionally), we will offer you a chef of the same standard, or a new date, or a full refund of everything you have paid, including anything paid for ingredients you do not receive. You choose which.
2. If we have to cancel, that refund is what we owe you. We are not responsible for other costs that follow from it, such as your guests’ travel.
3. If no mixologist is free on the date you want, we will tell you before we confirm the booking, not after.

07Your kitchen

1. You provide a working hob, a working oven, hot water, a sink and enough clear surface to chop on. If something on that list is missing or temperamental, tell us at booking and your chef will plan around it. One hob ring and one chopping board is workable; a hob that trips the electrics halfway through is not.
2. Your chef uses your pans, knives, oven and utensils, and will treat them properly. Normal wear is on us. We are not responsible for equipment that fails because of its age or damage it already had.
3. Knife sharpening, where the tier includes it, is done on a whetstone with your permission. Sharpening removes a small amount of steel. That is what sharpening is.
4. Pets stay out of the kitchen while food is being prepared. That is a hygiene rule, not a preference.
5. Children are welcome to join in. Anyone under 16 must be supervised by an adult from your household, not by the chef. Your chef decides who handles knives, hot pans and hot oil, and when.
6. Safety. If your chef judges the kitchen or the situation unsafe (a smell of gas, faulty wiring, a guest too drunk to be near a hot pan, threatening or abusive behaviour towards anyone), they may pause or stop the session. If it is stopped for a reason on your side, the full fee is payable.
7. Access. Tell us in advance how to get in and where to park. Your chef arrives with knives, kit and the shopping and cannot carry them far. If a parking permit is needed, please arrange it.

08Food, allergies and safety

1. Allergies, intolerances and dietary needs must be declared at booking for everyone eating, and again to your chef on their call. We design the menu around them from the start.
2. Every chef holds Level 2 Food Safety and works to it. But your kitchen is a domestic kitchen we do not control, and we cannot guarantee that any dish is free of any allergen. If someone eating has a severe allergy, tell us before you book and we will say honestly whether we can cook safely for you. Sometimes the honest answer will be no.
3. You are cooking too. Follow your chef’s instructions around knives, heat and hot oil. They are there to teach you to do it safely, and they will tell you if you are about to do something daft.
4. Leftovers are yours. Your chef will tell you how to store them. Once they have left, storage and reheating are down to you.

09Teaching, recipe cards and photos

1. We teach technique. A session is not a qualification, and we do not promise a particular level of skill afterwards. That depends on what you do with it.
2. The card your chef leaves behind, and any recipes, are for your personal use. Cook from them as often as you like; please do not publish or sell them.
3. Your chef will not photograph you, your family or your home without asking. If you are happy for photos to be used on our site or social media, we will ask you separately, in writing, and you can say no or change your mind later.

10Our chefs and crew

1. Everyone we send holds a Basic DBS check (the level available for work in private homes) and has cooked or worked a trial service for us. Your chef also holds Level 2 Food Safety and is registered as a food business with Plymouth City Council, because your chef is the one cooking. Front of house, a sommelier, a mixologist and a nutritionist do not cook, and are briefed on your menu and the allergens in it. They are all self-employed. We remain responsible to you for the session under these terms.
2. Please book through us. Our insurance, our vetting and these terms cover sessions booked through us. A private arrangement made directly with a chef sits outside all of that, and we cannot help if something goes wrong.
3. Treat our people with basic decency and they will treat you the same. Abuse or harassment of anyone we send ends the session, and the full fee is payable.

11If something goes wrong

1. Tell us within 48 hours of the session at [email protected], with as much detail as you can. We will reply within two working days and, depending on what happened, put it right, refund part of the fee or refund all of it.
2. If a chef damages something in your home through carelessness, tell us within 48 hours, with photos. Every session is covered by £5m of public liability insurance.
3. We are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking these terms or failing to use reasonable care and skill. We are not responsible for loss that is not foreseeable, or for business losses. This is a service for homes.
4. Nothing in these terms limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else the law does not allow us to exclude. Subject to that, our total liability for a booking is limited to [the total amount you paid for that booking].
5. Nothing in these terms affects your rights as a consumer under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

12Your information

1. To run a booking we hold your name, contact details, address, kitchen details and photos, and the allergy and dietary information you give us. Allergy information is health information; we ask for it and use it only so we can cook safely for you. We share what your chef needs to know with your chef, what your nutritionist needs to know with your nutritionist if your booking includes one, and nothing with anyone else. Your chef, front of house, sommelier, mixologist and nutritionist handle your details on our instructions and under written confidentiality and data-handling terms.
2. We keep booking and payment records for [six years] for tax purposes. Allergy and dietary details are deleted within [30 days] of your session unless you ask us to keep them for a rebooking. Everything else is deleted when it is no longer needed. Our privacy notice sets this out in full.

13The legal bits

1. These terms and our written confirmation of your booking are the whole agreement between us for that booking. The version of these terms on our site when you book is the version that applies.
2. We may update these terms. Changes do not affect bookings already confirmed.
3. If any part of these terms turns out to be unenforceable, the rest still applies.
4. These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction over any dispute.
5. We write in plain English on purpose. If anything here is unclear, ask, and we will explain it rather than hide behind it.

14Contact

Forking Chefing, [registered address], Plymouth. Email [email protected].