A private chef has gone viral this week after sharing a “day in the life” working as a live-in chef in the Hamptons.
Meredith is a professional chef and recipe developer known on TikTok as @wishbonekitchen. In a video that has been viewed more than 13m times, Meredith took her followers through her entire workday as she prepared meals for a family living in New York’s wealthy beach community, the Hamptons.
After beginning her day at 6.45am, Meredith’s workday as a live-in chef didn’t conclude until more than 16 hours later, at around midnight. Throughout the day, she prepared shakshuka and overnight oats for breakfast, a skirt steak dish for lunch, a lavish cheese board, and lamb chops for dinner.
Not to mention she went grocery shopping, cleaned the kitchen, and stayed up until midnight editing a video. Meredith added that she has worked as her employer’s private chef for three years, and sits down with them to eat for every meal.
She also couldn’t start her morning without a “crisp” Diet Coke for breakfast, followed by one more during the day.
In the comments section, she clarified that she pays rent for an apartment in New York City, but stays with the family in the Hamptons on the weekends.
“Cute little 17 hour work day,” she captioned the TikTok video.
The viral video sparked many reactions online, especially from those who were amazed at how long her workday was.
“I hope you’re being compensated really well. That’s a lot of work,” commented one viewer.
“This is why people shouldn’t feel bad that they can’t work, take care of kids, and cook and clean,” said someone else. “This alone is a full time job!”
“Is this everyday???? That many hours,” said another amazed TikTok user.
Meanwhile, others could only focus on the luxury of having a private chef in your home: “The ultra rich are really living completely different lives than us huh”.
Meredith’s comments section was filled with questions from viewers who wanted to learn more about her job as a private chef, so she posted a follow-up video on Monday “to set the record straight” about her long workdays.
“Yes, I get days off,” she said in the following TikTok video. “That was my Saturday schedule. I do that on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, June through September – plus extra days for holidays and stuff. Then, during the week, I’ll go back to the city, take some time to rest, spend some time working on my website developing new recipes.”
“Also, a lot of you guys are really pressed about the Diet Coke for breakfast,” she jokingly added. “Number one, relax. Number two, I’m actually a Diet Doctor Pepper girl.”