Private chef · Palm Springs · From Thermal, CA to the coast
Chef Tien Tran is the private chef behind Tien’s Table. He learned to cook at his father’s side in California’s Sacramento River Delta, worked his way up through restaurant kitchens, ran banquets at the ACE Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs, and now cooks in clients’ homes and rentals from Thermal to the coast.
Tien grew up in the Sacramento River Delta, where both of his parents worked long hours to build a life for the family. Dinner was often his father’s job, and Tien was usually right next to him. That kitchen mixed Vietnamese home cooking with the All-American food of a California childhood, and his father’s side of the family added a light French touch that still shows up in Tien’s sauces today.
He describes it in his own words on his Take a Chef profile: “Food means family to me, the table should offer solace as well as sustenance.” Everything about how he runs a dinner, from planning the menu with the host to sitting the table himself, comes back to that idea.
Tien still speaks Vietnamese, the language of that family kitchen, so Vietnamese-speaking families can plan a dinner with him in Vietnamese, grandparents included. Đọc bằng tiếng Việt.
Tien didn’t come up through culinary school. He started at the bottom of a national restaurant group, washing dishes, and worked his way to district manager. Along the way he learned from a run of talented chefs who mentored him, and from the unglamorous side of the business: food cost, timing, staffing and keeping a line calm on a busy night.
In 2018 he went back to cooking full time as Banquet Chef at the ACE Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs. Banquet cooking is a specific discipline: dozens or hundreds of plates that all have to land hot, on time and identical. It’s the reason a 24-guest dinner in someone’s home doesn’t rattle him.
More on Chef Tien’s video page and on Instagram at @tiens__table.
Ask Tien what cooking means to him and he talks about the thinking more than the knife work: how to put ingredients together in a way that tastes new without feeling forced. His other rule is simple: “My secret in the kitchen is respecting my ingredients and treating them with love.”
In practice that means seasonal Modern California food with Vietnamese roots, pulled in whatever direction the table wants. A night might be lemongrass, fish sauce and fresh herbs. It might be a classic Italian dinner, Latin American plates or a long brunch by the pool. Guests keep mentioning the same dishes in reviews: his ceviche, a west coast tri-tip, and a bananas foster bread pudding one guest said she’d be dreaming about for a long time.
Every menu is written for the event, but his set menus give a feel for his range. On Epicurate they include From My Roots, an elevated, authentic Vietnamese tasting menu, plus a Modern California tasting menu, a fusion menu, a summer grill, Coachella cocktail hour, Valle-style tacos and a gourmet brunch. On Take a Chef: a six-course Surf N Turf chef’s special, a Brunch Cruise built on local produce, Chef’s Italian Favorites, and a seven-course Holiday Favorites dinner. On that platform those menus start from $135 to $255 per guest. Booking direct, you get a custom proposal for your group, date and kitchen. Browse more ideas in cuisines and sample menus.
The pattern in his reviews is consistent. He plans the details with you ahead of time, shows up on time, cooks in your kitchen, serves the courses himself and leaves the kitchen clean, often with leftovers packed away. One guest put it in eight words: “Just say yes. He will do the rest.” Read the rest on the Chef Tien reviews page.
Chef Tien’s profiles: Take a Chef (289 services, 4.87/5), Epicurate, Call the Concierge and Instagram at @tiens__table.
Home base is Palm Springs, and most dinners happen across the Coachella Valley: Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, La Quinta, Indio and the private country clubs between them. He regularly heads up to Joshua Tree and the High Desert, west into the Inland Empire, and out to Los Angeles and Orange County. From Thermal, CA to the coast, he cooks with passion.
No. He learned at home from his father, then in professional kitchens under chefs who mentored him, and as Banquet Chef at the ACE Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs.
Modern California cooking with Vietnamese roots, plus Italian, French, Mediterranean, Latin American, brunch and plant-based menus. He’ll cook what your group wants, and he shines on the cuisines listed on our cuisines page.
289 private chef services on Take a Chef as of October 2026, plus direct bookings, hotel banquets and private events.
Yes. He speaks English and Vietnamese, and Vietnamese-speaking families can plan the whole dinner with him in Vietnamese. See our Vietnamese-language page.
Call or text 916-479-0287 or send your date, city and guest count through the contact form. You’ll get a custom menu back.
Want Chef Tien at your table? Tell him the date, the city and how many are coming.
From Thermal, CA to the coast, we cook with passion. A private chef who comes to you for in-home dinners, celebrations, team meals and cooking experiences across the Coachella Valley, the High Desert and Southern California.
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