Christmas and New Year chef cover
Party nights, Christmas Day lunches and New Year’s Eve, with agency chefs booked now and held for the dates you need. Chefs de Partie, Sous Chefs, Head Chefs and breakfast chefs for hotels, restaurants, pubs and caterers across Northern Ireland and the UK.
The December calendar, covered
Every kitchen runs the same season: office parties from the last week of November, full bookings every Friday and Saturday to 23 December, Christmas Day and Boxing Day lunches, a quiet week, then New Year’s Eve. Permanent teams want their holidays in exactly those weeks. Zolt supplies the extra pairs of hands so the rota holds and nobody works a six-day week with a double on Saturday.
What venues book
- Party-night section chefs for Friday and Saturday service, booked as a run of dates with the same chef back each week
- Christmas Day and Boxing Day cover so the permanent brigade can take the day
- Breakfast chefs for hotels full from the week before Christmas to New Year
- New Year’s Eve dinner and function cover
- Care home cooks over the holiday period, with the records kept
- Sous or Head Chef relief for the whole season where a kitchen is a senior chef short
How December bookings work
Send the dates through the booking form or ring 07459 445282. The chef is named and the rate confirmed in writing before any shift, every booking is a minimum of six hours, and hours are signed off by your head chef or manager each night. Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day carry a festive premium that is stated on the confirmation, never added afterwards. Chefs are employed and paid by Zolt; you receive one weekly invoice.
Chefs for the season
Chefs who want December work can register in two minutes or see the shifts on the board. Pick your nights, see the venue and the rate before you accept, paid weekly.
Questions venues ask us
How far ahead should Christmas cover be booked?
Party-season Fridays and Saturdays from late November fill first. Book the dates you already know now and the chef is held for you; add or change shifts later with the notice in your confirmation.
Do you cover Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve?
Yes. Those dates carry a festive premium on top of the bank-holiday rate, confirmed in writing when you book, and chefs are offered the shifts on the same basis so the ones who work them want to be there.
Can one chef cover the whole of December?
Yes. Block bookings for the season are arranged with the same chef wherever possible, with accommodation for venues away from the chef’s base.
What is the minimum booking?
Six hours per chef, per shift. Party nights and Christmas lunches are normally eight to ten.
Book your December dates now
The earlier the dates are in, the better the chef you get for them.