how to survive lockdown 2.0? with a personal chef, of course
In March, Madonna cal l ed COVID-19 “the great equalizer,” from a rose petal-strewn bath in one of the seven bathrooms in her $ 10 million, 18th- century Portuguese palace. Seven months later, it’s still only the super-rich who can take such a rosy view of COVID; for them, the pandemic is a manageable personal inconvenience, not a global humanitarian crisis.
This week, Kim Kardashian was widely criticized for posting pictures of her lavish 40th birthday celebrations at Marlon Brando’s island resort, The Brando, on Tetiaroa. Although technically not breaching any laws, the celebrity’s decision to fly out 30 of her family members and closest friends by private jet to celebrate with a sense of “normality” on a private island was unpalatable to even the most dedicated Kim fans. Because this is a time when, for many people, the only “normality” they dream of is being able to visit their family, or take their children to daycare, or even go back to work in a currently restricted industry, to earn money.
But she’s not the only privileged person who feels entitled to “normality” — one that takes the form of champagne, luxury interiors, a personal chef, a nanny and a private jet.
Kyra*, a fashion designer who pivoted to produce protective gear and masks for health-care and frontline workers during the pandemic, has been “shocked at how many of my friends simply see lockdown as an ‘opportunity’ to take up a new hobby, like ceramics, or work on their golf swing or surf skills, or do a juice cleanse and lose (weight),” she says. “Every day, someone cheerfully tells me they’re treating lockdown or quarantine as a ‘ kundalini yoga retreat’ or a ‘digital detox’, or tells me how excited they are to finally have a chance to ‘reset’ and ‘redecorate’ their farmhouse in the Cotswolds.”
Nadine* is a personal trainer and massage therapist who has been working for the same wealthy sports mogul and his family for five years. At their winter home in Megeve, southeastern France, she is still expected to give massages and treatments to the family’s regular stream of guests — including A-list celebrities. Temperatures are taken at the door, as if peace of mind can also be purchased for the price of an infrared thermometer gun.
The market for private chefs, too, is booming, and among the superrich, the gossip is that it’s possible to hire top chefs who would normally be working in the world’s top restaurants, or in the employ of entrepreneurs. Laurence* normally works at a central London hotel’s Michelin- starred restaurant but, since March, has been making cash offering COVID- compliant vegan catered gigs for fashion and beauty photoshoot crews.
“Then I got a call from a wealthy friend of the creative director on one of my shoots, saying I came highly recommended, and inviting me to join his ‘ household’ for the next three months and work as his personal chef,” he says.
Laurence was tempted by the monthly salary of $8,600, at a time when the hospitality industry is woefully uncertain. “But I realized I would be selling my own right to see my own family and friends,” says Laurence. “At the moment, this matters more to me.”
Laurence knows the 30-year-old Welsh chef who wound up taking the gig; he’s living in a six- room private chalet in Gstaad, where every visiting guest is issued with a fully-sanitized electric scooter, so they can dart around town without coming into contact with other, potentially infectious, mortals.
On the subject of transport, a private jet, naturally, is a must-have for any self-respecting pandemic party jet- setter. “As the world began to lock down, we experienced our biggest ever surge in enquiries,” says Colin Baker, executive chairman of private jet rental company 365 Aviation. “We expect to see increased use of private air travel as clients allocate a higher proportion of their budget to an aircraft shared only with those they are holidaying with.”
Naturally, there’s been a parallel spike in interest in private islands on which to land these private jets. Jimmy Carroll, founder of Pelorus Travel, says: “We’ve seen an increase in clients wanting to travel to remote destinations, travelling by private yacht, or helicopter or private jet, and a lot of enquiries from clients wanting to stay on private or small islands.”
According to Spaseekers, in the UK, interest in “private islands” spiked 320 per cent over the past year; in August, there were over 8,100 searches for “islands for sale.”
Private jets, while they don’t permit this odd pandemic jet- set to circumvent quarantine laws when they land, do allow canny travellers to dodge restrictions in different destinations.
But when you’re destined for a private chalet with a chef, personal trainer, cinema and the rest of your bubble, what is quarantine anyway?