Christmas Buffet Catering: Private Chef Share Plates
$165.00
Christmas meal, shared around the table.
Christmas buffet catering, cooked fresh in your own kitchen or venue by a private chef and served family-style — seven share plates set down the middle of the table for everyone to help themselves. Book us for the office Christmas lunch, an extended-family gathering, or a Christmas get-together too big for a sit-down dinner, and your chef arrives with everything needed to cook the whole spread on-site: two mains, two sides, two salads and a dessert, all designed around a festive menu. It’s Christmas catering built for a bigger table — less formal than a plated dinner, more generous than a finger-food spread, and everyone serves themselves as much as they want.
Book in 3 easy steps:
- Select add to cart
- Enter event details
- Secure pay online
The price is per person, inclusive of GST, and is designed for no less than 10 guests. For smaller groups, please contact our concierge for a custom quote.
If you’d like to add service staff or additional items, simply add this package to your cart, then select any add-ons before checkout.
To explore other options, return to the main shop page to view our full range of packages.
What’s Included?
- Every booking covers the full share-plates service, cooked and served fresh at your event.
- 2 canapés and 7 share plates per person: 2 mains, 2 sides, 2 salads, 1 dessert — designed around a festive menu
- 1 private chef, travelling to your home or venue and cooking everything fresh on-site
- Premium, seasonal ingredients, sourced for your event
- Shopping, preparation, cooking, plating, service and full clean-up
Dietary requirements
Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and other dietary requirements are built into every menu at no extra charge — just tell us when you book.
Sample festive share-plate menus are just below.
Your menu will be fully customised based on your requirements by a Private Chef.
Example Menus
Traditional Christmas Menu by Chef Paolo Bravi
Canapés
Rosemary crisp, beetroot relish, Persian fetta, aged balsamic VG, V
Tassie freshly shucked oysters, lime, ginger granita and salmon pearls, Chardonnay vinaigrette GF, DF
Mains
Free-Range Turkey Roulade filled with sage, cranberry and herb stuffing, served with rich turkey jus and cranberry-orange sauce on the side
Oven-Roasted Tasmanian Salmon served with fennel and herb salad, grilled lemon and a classic lemon butter sauce
Sides
Duck Fat Roasted Potatoes with rosemary, confit garlic and sea salt
Honey Roasted Carrots & Parsnips finished with thyme and brown butter, served with maple mustard dressing
Salads
Baby Spinach, Pear & Parmesan Salad with candied walnuts and a white balsamic vinaigrette
Roasted Pumpkin Salad with Danish feta, pomegranate, baby herbs and a honey-lemon dressing
Dessert
Christmas traditional warm pudding, vanilla bean anglaise, fresh whipped cream V
Asian Fusion Menu by Chef Nick Guan
Canapés
Prawn cocktails, Australia king prawn, prawn cocktails sauce GF
Rock oyster, leche de tigre, togarashi DF, GF
Mains
Turkey roulade, apple, fig cognac, cranberry sauce GF
Grilled whole side of salmon, fresh apple fennel slaw GF
Sides
Charred cauliflower cheese bake V, GF
Duck fat potatoes, truffle, parmesan
Salads
Arugula, pear, macadamia, Comté
Beetroot & apple salad, raspberry dressing
Dessert
Sticky date pudding, vanilla chantilly, salted caramel sauce V
Modern Australian Menu by Chef Jeff Campbell
Canapés
Rosemary crisp, beetroot relish, Persian fetta, aged balsamic VG, V
Tassie freshly shucked oysters, lime, ginger granita and salmon pearls, Chardonnay vinaigrette GF, DF
Mains
Tomahawk, selection of mustard, trio of sauces: mushroom, jus, bearnaise GF
Crispy skin White fish, salt and vinegar crushed potatoes, sauce Veronique and delicate herbs!
Sides
Green leaves, roasted cauliflower, creamy pomme puree
Seasonal greens, broccolini, roasted potatoes
Salads
Heirloom tomato burrata salad, olive soil, white balsamic
Shaved slaw, fresh herbs, lemon vinaigrette
Dessert
Chocolate sponge, coconut ice cream, summer berry compote, chocolate sesame wafer
CHEFIN Booking process
Next Steps
- Secure your booking by paying in full. If using bank transfer/EFTPOS, please ensure you use the order number as a payment reference.
- CHEFIN will email you a booking confirmation and calendar invitation. This will include a form to collect your information and particular needs/requirements.
- Once you have filled in the form and sent it back to us, and your booking is sooner than in 3 weeks, we will assign a Chef based on your needs and desires.
- Your assigned Chef will design a unique menu tailored to your brief, event, dietaries and tastes.
- You can preview this menu, provide feedback, and advise of any menu & event changes along the way.
The questions we hear most often about Christmas party catering, answered directly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s included in CHEFIN’s Christmas buffet catering?
A private chef cooks and serves seven share plates per person on-site — two mains, two sides, two salads and a dessert, designed around a festive menu — with all ingredients, setup and full clean-up included. Dishes are served family-style so guests help themselves.
How much does Christmas buffet catering cost per person?
Pricing is per person and inclusive of GST, with a minimum of 10 guests. Smaller groups can get a custom quote from our concierge team.
Can you cater dietary requirements at a Christmas buffet?
Yes. Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and other dietary requirements are built into every menu — just let us know when you book.
When should I book Christmas buffet catering?
Office and family Christmas gatherings run through November and into late December, and chefs book out fast in that window. We’d recommend securing your date at least a few weeks ahead, earlier for CBD office parties in peak weeks.
Is Christmas buffet catering the same as a Christmas grazing table?
They’re closely related but not identical. A grazing table is typically cold, pre-set food for guests to pick at continuously; this package is hot, cooked-to-order share plates served at a set time, which suits a proper Christmas meal rather than all-day snacking.
What’s the difference between Christmas buffet catering and Christmas canapés?
This package is a full share-plates meal — mains, sides, salads and dessert — served buffet-style for guests to help themselves, suited to a seated or standing Christmas lunch or dinner. If you’d rather bite-sized food for a standing party, see our Christmas party catering (canapés).
What’s the difference between this and Christmas Day catering?
This package is for the broader Christmas period — office functions, family get-togethers, end-of-year gatherings — served buffet-style so a larger group can self-serve. If you’re after a formal sit-down meal for Christmas Day itself, see our Christmas Day private chef catering.
Do you offer family-style share plates outside the Christmas period?
Yes — this menu is built around a festive flavour profile, but the same family-style share-plates format is available year-round through our table buffet package.
Why Choose CHEFIN Over Other Private Chef Services
Beyond Just a Meal: Experience more than exquisite cuisine with CHEFIN. Every dish is a step into a story, creating moments that become memories. It’s not just about the food; it’s about enriching lives through culinary excellence.
Trusted Expertise: CHEFIN Private Chefs™️ are the heart of your dining experience, selected through a meticulous process for their passion and creativity. They’re not just professionals; they’re culinary magicians dedicated to perfection.
Unmatched Safety, Hygiene & Privacy Standards: Your safety is our top priority at CHEFIN. We ensure food safety as a core principle, secure your payments in a trust until the event’s completion, protect everyone involved with $20 million in public liability insurance, and operate under Chatham House Rules for discretion.
Your Event, Stress-Free: From planning to execution, CHEFIN Concierges ensures your event unfolds seamlessly. Enjoy the celebration without the hassle, knowing every detail is crafted to your satisfaction with our 24/7 dedicated support.
Experience Flow
Here’s what happens on the day, from your chef’s arrival to the last plate cleared.
- Your chef arrives roughly 90 minutes before service with all ingredients
- Mains, sides, salads and dessert are prepared on-site in your kitchen or venue’s kitchen
- Dishes are plated as share platters and set down the table, or laid out buffet-style
- Guests help themselves, in whatever portion they like, while your chef keeps the table topped up
- Full clean-up before your chef leaves
Perfect for
This share-plates format suits any Christmas gathering built around a bigger table rather than passed canapés, corporate or personal — good for groups who’d rather graze from a shared spread than sit through set courses.
- Office Christmas parties and lunches
- Extended-family Christmas gatherings
- End-of-year team celebrations
- Client and supplier Christmas lunches
- Christmas in July get-togethers
Where We Cater
CHEFIN caters Christmas buffet catering right across Australia — Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart and Darwin, plus major regional markets like the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Newcastle and Geelong, and the surrounding suburbs of every one of these. CBD offices, function spaces, backyards and homes are all covered. Searching for Christmas buffet catering near me? Tell us your suburb and guest count and our concierge team will confirm your chef.
Booking in Perth, Adelaide or anywhere outside the east coast? The same seven-dish share-plates format applies everywhere we cater, with menus adjusted for whatever’s in season and booking works the same way regardless of state.
Why Share Plates for a Christmas Party
A plated sit-down dinner needs a seating plan and timed courses. Canapés work for a standing crowd but don’t fill anyone up on their own. Share plates sit between the two: everyone’s still seated at a table, but the format is relaxed — no set portions, no waiting for the next course, just seven dishes down the middle and people serving themselves as much or as little as they want. That’s what makes it work for a bigger Christmas table than a formal dinner can comfortably seat.
What Family-Style Christmas Catering Actually Means
Family-style means the chef cooks the full meal, plates it onto shared platters, and sets it on the table rather than portioning individual plates. Guests pass dishes around and serve themselves, the same way a home-cooked Christmas lunch usually happens anyway — just without anyone in the kitchen all morning. It’s the format restaurants call “sharing plates,” done at home or in an office with a private chef doing the cooking.
Not Just a Work Buffet Line
A “buffet” often means chafing dishes and a queue. Cooked fresh on-site by a private chef, this is the opposite: seven dishes plated properly and served at a set time, not kept warm under heat lamps for three hours. A honey-glazed ham is still served buffet-style, it’s just carved and plated the way a chef would do it, not a caterer’s tray.
Why Groups Choose to Eat Family-Style at Christmas
Christmas is one of the few times a year when the whole office or the whole extended family sits down together, and a family-style spread is built for exactly that — everyone reaching across the table, passing plates, going back for seconds without waiting to be asked. It’s less about the food arriving quickly and more about the table staying full for as long as people want to sit at it.