I work as a private chef on board a luxury yacht in the British Virgin Islands. Here’s what I make for my guests in a day.

I like cooking light and healthy food. So I do spreads, sometimes with homemade focaccia, and then a protein, depending on the guests’ preferences.

I also try to source most of my produce from local farmers and fishermen.

My homemade pasta is also generally a winner.

Sometimes, I make black pepper and truffle pasta with sauteed mushrooms and a big wagyu steak. People go nuts for that, so I must be doing something right.

We have an age limit of 12 on board the yacht. But at that age, many kids still have a limited palate, so food looks like chicken nuggets and chips or pizza all week. They generally only eat maybe two or three different meals.

Generally, mums communicate their preferences to me. So, I ensure that chicken nuggets and chips are stocked on board and heat them 20 minutes before meals.

After dessert, we clean up, stack the dishwasher, and prep for the next day. If I need to make focaccia dough or I’m doing cinnamon buns the next morning, I’ve got to make all the dough that evening.

After that, I can typically go to bed, which could be any time between 9:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.

Better than other restaurant jobs

Something I’ve enjoyed about the job is that I get to be a lot more involved with what’s happening outside the kitchen,

If you’re confined to working in a kitchen all day, you can feel detached from what happens outside it. And in a restaurant kitchen, you’re often making the meal you’ve been told to make, as opposed to getting to be creative.

That’s different on a yacht. I get to understand the guests and build relationships with them. And that’s my favorite part of the job.