Today we’d like to introduce you to Sheela Rodrigues.
Hi Sheela, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My journey has always been at the intersection of entrepreneurship, food, marketing, and creating experiences for people. I have an MBA in Advertising & Marketing and have spent more than a decade building my career as a real estate entrepreneur in Austin, Texas. But food has always been one of my biggest passions. I’ve been a food blogger, trained as a pastry chef, and I absolutely love cooking and hosting friends and family.
Platesfull was actually born from that love of hosting — and the frustration that came with it. Whenever my husband, Sharon, and I hosted dinner parties, we would spend so much time planning menus, shopping, cooking, serving and cleaning that we often missed the very experience we were trying to create with our guests.
We once tried to hire a private chef and realized how fragmented the process was. It was difficult to compare chefs, understand pricing, find menus that fit our preferences and feel confident about inviting someone into our home. We felt there had to be a better way.
That idea became Platesfull — a technology-enabled marketplace designed to make discovering and booking private chefs simple, transparent and personalized. We started in Austin, Texas, and have since expanded into multiple markets across the U.S., including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, San Diego, New York, Nashville and other cities.
One of the most rewarding parts of building Platesfull has been seeing it work from both sides of the marketplace. Guests can create memorable experiences in their own homes, vacation rentals and Airbnbs, while independent chefs get access to new customers and opportunities to grow their businesses.
We’re still early in our journey, but our vision is much bigger than simply booking a chef. We want Platesfull to become the platform people think of when they want to celebrate and create memorable experiences at home.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road — but I think that’s true of almost every startup.
One of our biggest challenges was building a two-sided marketplace from the ground up. You need great chefs before customers arrive, but chefs also want to see booking opportunities before committing to a new platform. Building trust on both sides takes time.
Another challenge has been growing while staying bootstrapped. We’ve had to be very thoughtful about where every dollar goes — whether that’s technology, marketing, customer acquisition or expanding into a new city. It has forced us to experiment quickly, learn from what doesn’t work and become very resourceful.
There is also a huge technology component behind making something that looks simple to the customer. Matching guests with the right chefs, creating transparent pricing, managing menus, payments and communication, and making the booking experience seamless requires constant iteration.
But perhaps my biggest lesson has been learning to be comfortable with uncertainty. As a founder, something is always changing — customer behavior, technology, marketing channels or even your own assumptions about the business. You have to listen, adapt and keep moving.
Those challenges have actually helped shape Platesfull into a much stronger platform and have made the journey incredibly rewarding.
We’ve been impressed with Platesfull, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Platesfull is a Texas-born, technology-enabled private chef marketplace that makes it simple to discover and book private chefs for celebrations, dinner parties, vacations and special occasions. What started in Austin has now expanded into markets across the country, including Miami and South Florida.
In Miami, we see a natural fit for private dining because so much of the city revolves around food, hospitality, celebrations and group travel. Whether someone is planning a birthday dinner at home, a bachelorette weekend, an anniversary, a family gathering or staying in an Airbnb or vacation rental, Platesfull allows guests to bring the restaurant experience directly to them.
What makes Platesfull different is that we’re building technology around what has traditionally been a very fragmented process. Guests can browse chef profiles and menus, understand pricing upfront, or submit their requirements and receive customized menu proposals from chefs based on their occasion, preferences and budget.
At the same time, we want Platesfull to be a platform that works for chefs. Chefs maintain control over the opportunities they accept, their menus and their pricing, while we invest in the technology and marketing that connects them with customers looking for private dining experiences.
What I’m most proud of is that we’re not simply helping people hire a chef — we’re helping create experiences. Some of the best celebrations happen around a table, and our goal is to make those experiences easier and more accessible, whether you’re at home in Miami or visiting South Florida for a special weekend.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I think one of the most interesting shifts over the next 5–10 years will actually be a greater desire for human connection and real-life experiences.
We are living in a world increasingly driven by AI, automation and online interactions. Technology is making our lives more convenient, but I believe that convenience will also make genuine human experiences more valuable. Food has always had an incredible ability to bring people together, and that is why I believe private dining and in-home chef experiences will grow significantly.
At the same time, AI will make accessing those experiences dramatically easier. Finding the right private chef today can still involve searching multiple websites, exchanging emails, comparing menus and trying to understand pricing. I see AI changing that entire journey — helping customers discover the right chef, personalize a menu around their preferences and budget, and complete a booking much more seamlessly.
That is very much the philosophy behind Platesfull. We use technology to simplify everything around the experience, but the experience itself remains deeply human. The chef coming into your home, preparing a meal, interacting with your guests and creating memories around the table is something technology cannot replace.
We have already made that journey significantly easier, but we are constantly improving the platform based on feedback from both our customers and chefs. For me, the future isn’t AI versus human interaction. It is using AI to remove the friction so people have more time and opportunities for meaningful human experiences.
Pricing:
- Casual Dinner – $90-$120 per person
- Elevated Gourmet – $125-$175 per person
- Signature Luxury – $175+ per person
Contact Info:
- Website: https://platesfull.com/private-chef/miami
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.platesfull/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Platesfull/61561139441687/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/102727752/admin/dashboard/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@platesfull
