Reviews of Jacob's Personal Chef Services (Catering)

Kasey Cresswell

Absolutely unprofessional! I also was let down in the eleventh hour by Jacob. Unfortunately, I only found these reviews after I was let down by Jacob. I should have never taken him at his word. Jacob was booked over six weeks in advance for my daughter's surprise 40th birthday celebration. Over this course of time it was one excuse after the other as to why he never sent menu options or contract to sign. He repeatedly ensured that above all the date and time was reserved for a cooking class for seven to nine guests on the specified date. At time of booking we had a lengthy conversation regarding the event date and how imperative it was that the dinner/class be the exact date due to various time commitments of the guests, not the least of which was the impending birth of the guest of honour's baby! On the Wednesday before the dinner, Jacob emailed to ask the date be moved to accommodate his desire to attend a community Christmas event with his children (with promise, once again, of sending planned menu or options). Feeling very badly, I responded with a sorry but no (couldn't) to another date. I heard nothing from him til late Friday night at which time he sent another email pulling out of the Saturday night dinner altogether due to family matters but suggesting I consider another time for him to make this "special" event happen. Seriously??!! Luckily i was able to resource a different personal chef on the Friday when my gut instinct finally allowed me to realize Jacob had gone AWOL and my event was heading towards disaster. Not sure why at the bare minimum. Jacob could not have offered a few suggestions or resourced another personal chef to cover for him. And what professional simply disappears for days just before an event? Stay clear of booking this guy for any important event you may have. Not worth your energy or time.

Peter Reaume

He'll cancel last minute, did it to everyone for three years, and won't even call you. Then he'll try to blame it all on some made up hard time, like that makes up for not giving any notice and leaving you high and dry on your wedding day.

Peter Todd

Totally left us high and dry. Booked him more than a month prior to our birthday event. The guy sends my wife a text the day of our event saying he is having car trouble and may not be able to attend? Can't rent a car?? Uber? Taxi??? Friend???? We even offered to pick him up. Then he texts us 3 hours prior to the event that he will indeed will show up. After we have been scrambling trying to find a last minute reservation at a restaurant. Then 15 minutes before the start of our event, he sends another text and says he can't make it. Totally, incredibly unprofessional. Wouldn't call us. Would only text. Save your money and find a real chef.

Nicholas Auld

NEVER EVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BOOK WITH THIS SERVICE!!!!!!!! If you want your event to actually take place dont even bother giving this guy a call. As all of the other reviews stated Jacob left us high and dry in the 11th hour saying his day got too busy and he coudn't put on the event. This business is a joke and completely unprofessional. I had read the reviews before booking and as i was skeptical. Jacob gave me a long winded response as to what was going on in his life at the time and assured my my event was in good hands, going against my better judgement I went forward with booking his service and he cancelled 1 hour before he was supposed to arrive that day. The entire group was let down and I will be sure to let the Niagara region know to never book with this service. - Jillian

Jessica Long

unprofessional services totally waste of time waste of money 0 knowledge about authentic dont ever deal with jacob's personal chef other wise you will be no where...

Hazel Sluymer

CANCELLED LAST MINUTE BY JACOB. We hired Jacob to cook a nice meal for us for 9 adults and 5 children for my parents' 40th Anniversary party. We booked him in May, and the event was this past weekend (July 27th). He cancelled on us almost 1 hour AFTER he was supposed to show up. As you can imagine, this was extremely disappointing and left us having to scramble for last minute arrangements. I had hired Jacob to make the event LESS stressful, and obviously this ended up causing more stress. When I initially contacted Jacob in May, he was very personable and helpful. We spoke on the phone for an hour initially, and he went over everything in extreme detail. He said how he goes to the market that morning to get fresh food, shows up 3 hours in advance to prepare the meal, and will tailor the menu to your liking. I sent him a $50 deposit to hold down the date. Over the next couple of months we went back and forth a bit changing the menu here and there, and Jacob was very accommodating. The couple of weeks leading up to the celebration, Jacob became a bit slower at responding to emails. I asked if we could have a phone call to go over everything again and he said his phone line wasn't working, but he did email me 3 days prior to the event answering questions that I had. He was supposed to show up at 2pm to start cooking, and the 4-course meal was going to be from 5-7pm. We had extended family and friends coming over after 7 for cake and drinks, which Jacob was aware of. Many of us had travelled from out of town. At 2:30, when Jacob had not shown up, I tried to call him, but his phone went right to voicemail. I then emailed him and made sure he had the correct address, as well as my phone number in case he was lost. He emailed back at 2:47, saying that he had a family emergency come up that MORNING and then he had "extreme traffic conditions coming into Niagara" (I thought he was from Niagara, so I have no idea where he was coming from). He asked if we could have the event later that night (he said he could arrive at 5pm and therefore dinner would be at 8) or could we move the event to tomorrow. When I responded upset about this and cancelled with him, he made it seem like I was being unreasonable and that those were 2 very good options. Are you kidding me? We had all arrived for the party by this time, and he knew we had guests coming after dinner. Initially we thought maybe this guy is a fraud, he just takes the $50 and runs? But I really don't think all the back and forth planning this day was worth $50. And he does say that I will be getting my $50 back today, although this has not happened yet. He is going through some personal issues right now is what he says, but I don't think this is any way to run a business. I would advise that nobody books anything with Jacob, because you will be disappointed in the end and be scrambling at the very last minute. I only wish that I had read some of these reviews before booking Jacob, I am honestly not sure how I missed that this is a pattern for him.

Victor Tan

I had a memory come up on Facebook today from 4 years ago about this guy who cancelled a charity event 40 minutes before the event to which people had purchased tickets and were expecting Chef prepared food (His name had been included in all promotional material for the event). A local grocer had even agreed to donate the food, but it turned out that he had never even contacted them about getting the food. The Event ended up out of pocket for food and after more than a month of trying to get some compensation out of him, finally gave up. I was surprised to see he's still operating, but happy that there is now a forum to post reviews about his services. Under no circumstances hire Jacob's Personal Chef Services, he is unreliable, you will receive zero compensation and just a bunch of excuses. Based on the other more recent reviews, nothing has changed in four years. Too bad you can't post a review without choosing at least one star - he is not even worth one.

louise holden

Delicious food and a really nice guy. Put together a really creative and balanced menu for our group, highly recommend! A+++