Effective: August 4, 2026
FindLocalChefs is an introductions platform. We connect chefs, foodies, and businesses. What happens between members after the introduction — pop-ups, hires, meals, deals — is between them. These terms explain what that means in practice and the small set of rules we do enforce.
FindLocalChefs is never a party to any transaction, arrangement, or payment between members. We charge no fees on member-to-member activity, hold no escrow, and take no share of any pop-up, hire, meal, or exchange arranged through the platform. Ever. Membership subscriptions are the only thing we charge for.
Any rates, prices, or availability displayed on a chef's profile are set by that chef, and any bookings are arranged entirely between members. FindLocalChefs is the introduction, never part of any transaction. Reservation links point to the chef's own booking system.
Chef membership tiers (Weekend Warrior, Working Chef, Veteran) are billed by Stripe on our behalf. Cancel anytime; you keep access through the end of the paid period. We never sell anything between members — you're paying us for platform access, nothing else.
Business accounts (restaurants, hospitality operators, investors) may only reach chefs on behalf of their own establishment or investment activity. Acting on behalf of a recruiter, staffing agency, or outside client is a terms breach and results in termination without refund. This matches the consent you sign at business application. Hiring or investing for a business requires a verified business account — no exceptions.
Zero tolerance, no appeals, for any of the following:
Doing any of the above ends your account permanently. We don't debate this one.
When you claim a pop-up spot, accept a family meal, or agree to a Hail Mary delivery, you've made a commitment to another human. Breaking commitments (no-shows, dropped deliveries, canceled attendance without notice) affects your account standing. Repeated pattern → we ask you to leave.
Comp codes and invite codes are revocable gifts, not purchases. They carry no monetary value and can be revoked at any time for any reason (typically: abuse of the code, or the recipient breaking the rules above).
You keep ownership of everything you upload — photos, bios, reviews, videos, timeline entries. You grant FindLocalChefs a non-exclusive license to display that content on the platform and in reasonable platform surfaces (search results, feeds, chef cards, discovery pages). This license ends when you delete the content or your account.
FindLocalChefs does not vet, certify, or guarantee any member. Ratings, badges, endorsements, assessments, and test results reflect user activity and knowledge checks — they are not our endorsement. The chef test measures baseline knowledge of the trade; the culture check informs our understanding of our community and is never a factor in approval or anything user-facing. Business verification confirms a real phone-listed business exists at that number — it doesn't certify their honesty, quality, or fitness to hire.
Members deal with each other at their own judgment. Do your own diligence — meet in person, check references, ask questions — the same way you would with anyone you found outside our platform.
Once two members exchange contact info and take a conversation off FindLocalChefs, what happens is outside our reach. We can't mediate off-platform disputes, refund deals struck privately, or enforce agreements we weren't part of. That's the trade-off of an introductions-only model.
Every photo uploaded to FindLocalChefs must be a real photograph. AI-generated imagery, AI-modified imagery, and AI-enhanced imagery beyond ordinary color/crop adjustments are all prohibited — no exceptions, no “just this once.” Every upload requires a checked consent box attesting to this rule; the checked copy is stored on the row as a receipt.
Reported photos are reviewed by hand. Upheld AI reports result in a permanent account ban — insert-only at the database level, no unban path anywhere in the product, no appeals. This is the same seriousness we apply to harassment and status-weaponization: we respect the craft here, we don’t pretend.
You must be 18 or older to use FindLocalChefs. If we learn a member is under 18, we remove the account.
The chef test questions, culture check questions, badge catalog, endorsement scoring logic, and other original content of FindLocalChefs are our intellectual property. Don't reproduce, republish, or reverse- engineer them.
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Washington, USA, without regard to conflict of laws principles. Any dispute is resolved in the state or federal courts sitting in King County, Washington.
We may update these terms as the platform evolves. Material changes will be posted with an updated effective date at the top of this page. Continuing to use FindLocalChefs after a change means you accept the updated terms.
Questions about these terms? Reach us through your inbox on FindLocalChefs, or at devonfarina@gmail.com.