This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Chris Demaillet, 43, who is based in Mallorca, Spain. Business Insider has verified his former employment. This piece has been edited for length and clarity.
Fifteen years ago, if a private chef had asked me what training would be most valuable, I would have told them to go to Tokyo and learn to make sushi.
Nowadays, as the founder of Montclair Chef, an agency that places Michelin-level chefs with ultrawealthy families, I'd tell them to learn about nutrition, calories, and longevity protocols instead.
It's no longer just Californian clients asking for these things. Now, I'd say around 80% of the clients are prioritizing healthy eating, and a growing number are focused on longevity, whether that's by tracking macros, counting calories, or following a Mediterranean diet. It's also becoming more common for chefs to work alongside nutritionists and personal trainers to help families meet their goals.
Here are five food upgrades I've seen ultrawealthy families prioritize to live longer and healthier lives.
1. Use high-quality olive oil
As a private chef, olive oil was always my first choice for cooking and dressings. It's a big part of the Mediterranean diet, which many clients now ask us to follow for longevity reasons. Excellent extra-virgin olive oil is more expensive than sunflower oil or other cooking oils, but I think it's worth it.
2. Choose wild, line-caught fish
We always try to source wild, line-caught fish, such as sea bass. It isn't always possible, depending on where you are, and sometimes it's very expensive, but it's something I consider very important.
We also pay attention to how often we serve certain fish, such as tuna, especially when cooking for children, because you need to be mindful of mercury levels
3. Choose grass-fed and free-range meat
When I buy meat, including when shopping for my own family, I always look at where it came from and how it was raised. You want to go for grass-fed beef and free-range poultry.
It's a small step in the right direction.
4. Buy organic fruit and vegetables that are in season
Organic vegetables and fruit, always. Keeping it seasonal is always better, too. It's often cheaper and riper because it doesn't have to travel halfway across the world.
5. Avoid plastic
For some families, it isn't only about the ingredients. They ask their chefs to avoid plastic containers and plastic wrap where possible to reduce potential BPA exposure.
I learned all this in my 17 years as a private chef on superyachts
I grew up in a small village in France's Loire Valley and started training as a chef when I was 14. In 2006, in my early 20s, I worked at Michel Roux's three-Michelin-star restaurant, The Waterside Inn, in the UK, where I learned to make everything from scratch using the best ingredients.
After a year and a half, I traded restaurant kitchens for superyachts, where I spent the next 17 years working for ultrawealthy families, including the cofounder of Zara, Amancio Ortega.
When catering to the ultrawealthy, you have to be extremely consistent and ready for anything. The amount of stock and provisions you have to keep on a yacht is incredible because you need to be able to cook whatever your clients ask for, no matter where you are in the world.
But you don't need a private chef to live a healthier, longer life. Paying closer attention to the food you buy is a good place to start.
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Joshua Nelken-Zitser is an award-winning Senior Reporter at Business Insider’s London bureau covering wealth, spending, and consumer culture.Through features, on-the-ground reporting, and As Told To essays, he explores how people use their money, from everyday spending to the lifestyles of the ultrawealthy, and what those choices say about modern life. His work focuses on the culture of money: how money shapes places and people, and how the world around them influences how they choose to spend.Joshua previously spent five years on the news desk, reporting from the US, across Europe, and the Middle East. In 2024, he received the Axel Springer Award for Change — Journalistic Piece of the Year and was highly commended at the British Journalism Awards for a multi-year investigation into subsidized gender-transition surgeries in Iran.His debut book (TRAUMA BONDS: How Generational Trauma Shapes, Divides and Connects Us) will be published by HarperCollins in January 2027.Got a tip? Email [email protected]. You can also follow him on X or Instagram.ExpertiseFeatures and reporting on affluent lifestyles, consumer spending, and the culture of money, alongside first-person stories about how people live and spend.Popular articlesWealth and spending:Series: Welcome to the 'Hamptons of England'Series: Living large in tiny homesThe new luxury real-estate agent uniform: Botox, stylists, and designer wardrobesI watched the ultra-rich descend on Venice for Jeff Bezos' wedding — and was shocked by how little locals cared'Clients bring back entire wardrobes': Tailors say Ozempic is reshaping Wall StreetThe new millennial flex: spending thousands on a birthday weekend at a chateauInternational features reporting:Iran will pay for your gender-transition surgery, but it comes with a cost — your dignityShe was killed by a look-alike she met on Instagram, police say. It thrust her family in Africa into a true-crime nightmare.How the trans alpaca ranchers of Custer County, Colorado, are forging a new frontierThe European housing crisis warping millennial life: The average Croatian lives with parents until 33Lithuania is the world's happiest place for under 30s, but it's also Europe's suicide capitalThe 'fairytale' French castles being used to shelter Ukrainian refugeesMost armies ignore autistic people. Israel is calling them up.
