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Private Chef · Greenville, South Carolina

The restaurant experience,
brought to your table.

Chef Bear creates personalized private dining experiences designed around your guests, your occasion, and your table — from intimate dinners to milestone celebrations.

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Chef Curtis "Bear" Hillard

A chef's table,
without leaving home.

With a career built across fine dining kitchens, resort culinary teams, and private events, Chef Bear brings a professional kitchen's precision into your dining room — without the formality of a restaurant.

"Every table tells a different story. My job is to cook the one you're trying to tell."

How It Works

Booking Chef Bear, simply.

01

Tell Us About
Your Event

Share your date, location, guest count, occasion, and vision for the evening.

02

Create Your
Experience

Chef Bear works with you directly to develop the menu and shape the experience.

03

Confirm The
Details

Finalize the proposal, guest count, and booking details before the big day.

04

Enjoy The
Experience

Chef Bear handles the kitchen so you can spend the evening with your guests.

Why A Private Chef

No reservations. No crowds.

Skip the wait list and the noise of a restaurant. Your evening happens on your schedule, in your space, exactly the way you imagined it.

A menu built for your table.

Every dish is developed around your guests, from dietary needs to favorite flavors, rather than pulled from a fixed restaurant menu.

Professional kitchen experience.

Fine dining, resort, and event kitchens shape how Chef Bear plans, times, and executes every course — brought directly to you.

Kind Words
★★★★★

Chef Bear turned my husband's fortieth into the best night we've hosted in our home. Every course was a surprise.

Private Birthday Dinner · Greenville, SC
★★★★★

We hired him for a small client dinner and it felt like a five-star restaurant took over our dining room for the night.

Corporate Dinner · Spartanburg, SC
★★★★★

From the first call to the last plate, everything was thoughtful. He asked questions no one else had thought to ask.

Anniversary Dinner · Greenville, SC
★★★★★

Our guests are still talking about the short rib course. Booking him again for the holidays without question.

Dinner Party · Greer, SC
Ready When You Are

Let's design an evening
worth remembering.

Start Your Inquiry
About Chef Bear

Curtis "Bear" Hillard

A chef whose path through fine dining, resorts, and private events led him back to the most personal room in the house — your dining room.

Chef Bear, Curtis Hillard, portrait Chef Bear plating desserts in the kitchen

Bear's kitchens have ranged from high-volume fine dining lines to resort culinary teams responsible for feeding hundreds of guests a night. Somewhere along the way, he noticed the moments he loved most weren't the busiest ones — they were the quiet check-ins at a table, the reaction to a dish someone didn't expect, the story behind why a couple was celebrating.

Private dining let him chase that feeling on purpose. Instead of a fixed menu built for hundreds of strangers, Bear builds one dish list at a time, for one table at a time, shaped by conversations about who's coming, what they love, and what the night is actually for.

"I'm not trying to impress a table. I'm trying to understand it, and then cook for it."

That approach comes from years in culinary leadership and hospitality — managing kitchens, training cooks, and running events where the details mattered as much as the food. It's the same discipline, just aimed at a much smaller, much more personal room.

Today, Chef Bear brings that experience directly into homes and private venues across the Greenville and Spartanburg area, creating dinners, celebrations, and events built entirely around the people at the table.

Plan Your Experience
Private Dining Experiences

Every experience
is built around you.

Pricing is never one-size-fits-all. Each proposal is shaped by guest count, menu, location, service requirements, and event complexity — discussed with you directly before anything is confirmed.

Plated lobster tail, private dinner course
I. Private Dinners

A restaurant, without the reservation.

A personalized dining experience prepared in the comfort of your home or a chosen location. Menus are built course by course around your preferences, with Chef Bear cooking and plating on site.

Start Your Private Dining Inquiry
Tuna tartare course for a special occasion dinner
II. Special Occasions

Milestones, done properly.

Birthdays, anniversaries, engagements, and meaningful gatherings deserve more than a reservation. The menu, pacing, and presentation are all shaped around the people being celebrated.

Start Your Private Dining Inquiry
Beef carpaccio board shared at a dinner party
III. Dinner Parties

You host. Chef Bear cooks.

Chef-prepared, multi-course meals designed for you and your guests. You get to actually enjoy the evening at your own table instead of running back and forth to the kitchen.

Start Your Private Dining Inquiry
Plated course served at a corporate dinner experience
IV. Corporate & Private Events

A memorable alternative to catering.

Custom culinary experiences for teams, clients, and organizations who want a dinner that stands out from a standard corporate meal — without sacrificing polish or professionalism.

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Custom plated short rib course
V. Custom Experiences

Bring the idea. Build it together.

For unique locations, formats, or occasions that don't fit a traditional category. If you can describe the evening you're picturing, it's worth a conversation.

Start Your Private Dining Inquiry
Pricing & Availability

Every proposal starts
with a conversation.

Start Your Inquiry
Inquire

Start your inquiry.

Tell us about the evening you're picturing. Chef Bear or a member of the team will follow up to discuss availability and your event.

Submitting an inquiry does not automatically confirm your booking. Chef Bear or a member of the team will follow up to discuss availability and your event.

Thank you.

Thank you for your inquiry! Chef Bear Cooking has received your request and will be in touch soon.