Hire Justin Jennings, winner of the TV cooking competition The World Cook in Lisbon

Private dining with an experienced restaurant owner can feel difficult to arrange. Justin offers it directly, with custom menus and service at your location. Not for Justin Jennings.

The Chef

Justin Jennings is the winner of the TV cooking competition The World Cook. Justin owns Downunder by Justin Jennings, selected for the MICHELIN Guide in 2024, 2025 and 2026.

He's also available as a private chef. Not through an agency. Not through a booking platform that assigns you whoever's free that night. Directly. You hire Justin. He designs your menu. He cooks your dinner. Justin owns Downunder by Justin Jennings, selected for the MICHELIN Guide in 2024, 2025 and 2026; he personally designs, cooks and plates your private dinner.

That's rare. In Lisbon, it might be unique.

What "Restaurant Experience" Means at Your Home

Restaurant experience shows in the details of a private dinner:

• Ingredient sourcing High-quality ingredients are freshly sourced for each agreed menu. Requested beverage services and additional staff are included in the custom quote.
• Technique 25+ years of professional cooking. Sous vide, fermentation, Asian and European techniques, precise timing. The food is technically excellent, not just tasty.
• Plating every course is presented to restaurant standard. This matters more than people expect the visual impact when each plate hits the table changes the whole meal.
• Menu design a progression that builds through courses. Each dish connects to the next. The tasting menu experience from his restaurant, reconstructed at your table.

The Price Might Surprise You

Private dining with Justin starts from €85 per person. Read that again. At his restaurant, the tasting menu starts at its current published price and the private chef service is comparable in quality with the added benefit of being at your location, with your guest list, at your pace.

For context: private chef services in Lisbon use different pricing models. Justin is the winner of the TV cooking competition The World Cook, and his private dining service starts from €85 per person. Most people don't realise this is even possible until they search for it.

Who Books a Private Dinner with Justin Jennings, winner of the TV cooking competition The World Cook?

• Celebrations that need to feel important milestone birthdays, engagements, anniversaries where "just a restaurant" doesn't cut it
• Corporate clients when you need to impress and can't risk average food. The Australian Embassy uses Justin for diplomatic events for this reason.
• Food lovers Justin owns Downunder by Justin Jennings, selected for the MICHELIN Guide in 2024, 2025 and 2026.
• Tourists on holiday discovering that Justin Jennings, winner of the TV cooking competition The World Cook will cook at their Cascais villa for less than a restaurant dinner

How to Hire

Justin provides an initial personal reply, availability confirmation, custom menu and quote within 24 hours, often sooner, including weekends and holidays.

He covers Lisbon, Cascais, Sintra, Estoril, Ericeira, Setúbal, and the wider region. Whether it's a villa, apartment, yacht, or rooftop if there's a kitchen, he'll make it work.

This is direct, chef-led private dining in Portugal, tailored to your location and occasion.

What "Restaurant Experience" Actually Means in a Private Setting

Private dining moves restaurant experience into your own setting, with the menu, pacing and service tailored to the occasion.

You get the same technical skill, the same attention to ingredients, the same level of plating and presentation. But you get it in your own space, at your own pace, with a menu built entirely around what you and your guests want to eat. No fixed degustation. No dishes designed to impress an inspector. Just world-class cooking applied to your evening.

The difference between Justin Jennings and a regular private chef shows up in details most people don't consciously notice but absolutely feel: the balance of a sauce, the precision of a sear, the way each element on the plate has a purpose. It's the difference between a meal that's "really good" and one that makes the table go quiet for a moment after the first bite.

How Justin's Credentials Translate to Your Dinner

There's a practical side to hiring a chef with serious credentials. Beyond the cooking itself:

Menu design is sharper. 25+ Years of professional cooking means the menu flows properly light to rich, each course building on the last. Amateur chefs often get the food right but miss the progression.

Dietary requirements are handled properly. A professionally experienced kitchen doesn't just "leave out the gluten" it redesigns the dish so the guest with coeliac disease gets something equally considered as everyone else.

Timing is precise. Courses arrive when they should. Nothing sits under a heat lamp. The pacing matches the energy of the room, not a kitchen timer.

The experience is seamless. From the first canapé to the final espresso, the evening runs without visible effort. That's what years of high-level service teaches you how to make complexity look effortless.