Written by the Only Provence Team • Last Updated July 03, 2026
Only Provence is an award-winning villa rental company with a collection of more than 200 luxury villas and châteaux throughout the Luberon and Alpilles. Combining deep local expertise with personalized service, we craft exceptional journeys tailored for discerning travelers.
For food lovers planning a holiday in Provence, the right villa kitchen can shape the whole holiday, and for anyone thinking about organizing dinner with a private chef, it makes the difference between a good evening and an unforgettable one.
Across our collection of more than 200 luxury villas and châteaux in the Luberon and Alpilles, a handful of kitchens stand out: properties built for cooking, gathering, and entertaining at their best. Here are ten of our favorites for food lovers, home cooks, and private chef dinners.
A great villa kitchen for a private chef combines professional-grade equipment with room to work and a natural flow to where guests gather. The features that matter most are a powerful range and ample oven capacity, generous counter and prep space (ideally a central island), and an easy connection between the kitchen, the dining area, and the terrace. Many of the best Provençal villas also include a summer kitchen: a separate outdoor cooking space, often with a barbecue or wood-fired oven, built for long alfresco meals.
Beyond the hardware, location helps. A villa within easy reach of a great market, like the Sunday market at L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue or the Friday market in Lourmarin, lets a chef (or you) build each menu around the freshest seasonal produce. The best kitchens, in other words, are the ones that make cooking feel like part of the holiday rather than a chore.
A fully staffed 18th-century maison de maître minutes from Avignon, Château Avignon comes with a resident chef and professional kitchens built for everything from intimate dinners to grand events, plus a formal dining room that seats 18 beneath Limoges porcelain. This is private-chef dining at the highest level, in a noble Provençal setting.
Set within two hectares of parkland along the Sorgue River, Mas des Reflets is a 19th-century Provençal estate built for gathering. At its heart is a large, fully equipped kitchen—generous enough to cook for a crowd, welcoming enough that everyone lingers. It opens into elegant lounges and dining spaces that flow onto shaded terraces and gardens.
A traditional 18th-century farmhouse with chic contemporary design, Mas du Cardinal sleeps up to 14, just minutes from the restaurants, shops, and famous markets of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Bright ground-floor living areas flow to shaded outdoor dining spaces in the garden, ideal for a private chef to serve a long Provençal lunch, while an independent guest cottage adds its own kitchenette.
Domaine de Villeblanche is a Saint-Rémy farmhouse treating its kitchen as the masterpiece of the house: state-of-the-art, with three stoves, two dishwashers, and exceptional equipment throughout, exactly what a private chef wants when catering for a crowd. When the cooking moves outdoors, a pool house hosts long, lingering summer dinners beside the heated pool.
Just 3 km from Eygalières, Domaine des Murmures is a secluded, beautifully restored Provençal farmhouse built around its kitchen—a professional-grade space anchored by a solid oak farmhouse table where meals are cooked, shared, and lingered over. It flows into a cathedral-style living room and out to the gardens with ease.
In the heart of Maillane, under ten minutes from Saint-Rémy, Mas du Poète is a beautifully renovated village house where the kitchen and dining space take centre stage—modern appliances, a large table set for shared meals, and doors that open straight onto the terrace for easy indoor-outdoor living.
Beside the Sorgue near Avignon, Mas de la Sorgue is a farmhouse that opens its vast kitchen and dining room wide onto the terrace and pool, with an easy flow for cooking and entertaining. It’s a gift for food and wine lovers: an excellent bakery, butcher, and greengrocer are a short walk away, and the Wine Route’s Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas, and Vacqueyras are all close by.
Mas des Toiles pairs vibrant cultural energy with the privacy of your own elegant retreat. Light-filled living spaces flow seamlessly onto generous terraces, embracing the indoor-outdoor rhythm that defines Provençal art de vivre—ideal for alfresco dinners at sunset and long, convivial gatherings.
Domaine du Lys near Ménerbes earns its place with not one but two showpiece kitchens: a spectacular oversized kitchen indoors, and one of the most impressive outdoor kitchens we’ve seen in the pool house, with al-fresco dining for 16. Surrounded by olive groves, it lets a private chef cook indoors or out and seat the whole party either way.
A historic Mas near Paradou and Saint-Rémy, Mas de Paradis centers its living on a large classic kitchen facing the terrace, with an Orangerie just beyond for more room to gather. The terrace runs the length of the house beneath grand plane trees, an idyllic setting for a private chef to serve long, shaded meals over the fields, in the heart of the Alpilles’ olive country.
Whether you dream of cooking from the market each morning or handing the evening over to a private chef, the right kitchen sets the scene. With a collection of more than 200 luxury villas and châteaux across the Luberon and Alpilles, Only Provence can match you with a home where food is at the heart of the holiday.
Tell us what you’re dreaming of, and our Villa Rental Specialists will curate a personalized selection of available villas that meet your needs, along with the private chefs, market tours, and culinary experiences that make a Provençal table unforgettable.
Look for a professional-grade range and good oven capacity, plenty of prep space (ideally a central island), and an easy flow between the kitchen, dining area, and terrace so the chef can cook and serve smoothly. A summer (outdoor) kitchen and proximity to a good market are valuable bonuses.
A summer kitchen is a separate outdoor cooking and dining space, common in Provençal villas, typically equipped with a barbecue or wood-fired oven, a sink, and counter space. It’s designed for alfresco meals during the warm months and is ideal for relaxed, social cooking and entertaining.
Yes. Through partners such as the Provence Chefs Experience, a private chef can shop the local markets and prepare a multi-course meal in your villa’s kitchen, then serve it at your table and leave the kitchen spotless. Only Provence’s Villa Rental Specialists can arrange this as part of your stay.
Most do not include a chef by default, though some fully staffed estates, such as Château Avignon, come with a resident chef. For other villas, a private chef can be arranged on request for individual dinners or for your whole stay.
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Only Provence co-founder Lydia Dean writes about their experiences raising a family, building a business in Provence, and later combining the love of travel with giving back in "Jumping the Picket Fence". In 2021, she published "Light Through the Cracks," a continuation of her journey, much of which has been based in Provence. Both books are available Amazon, Amazon.uk, and Amazon.Fr.
