Privet: For those just discovering Hediger Hospitality, tell us a little about what you do and the experiences you create for your clients.

MH: Hediger Hospitality is a private culinary and hospitality company based in Palm Beach, with a seasonal presence on Nantucket. Food is at the center of what we do, but the real business is taking care of people.

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I came to this work through years spent inside private homes, learning how households move, how people entertain, and how much the little things matter. I realized pretty early on that what I loved wasn't just cooking, it was anticipating what people needed and making their lives a little nicer.

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Today, that can mean stocking a client's refrigerator for the week, cooking an intimate dinner with friends, or producing a full-scale celebration. The longer we work with someone, the better we know them, and that's when the work becomes really special. We become a trusted part of how our clients live and entertain.

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To me, the best hospitality is incredibly personal, but never intrusive. Our job is to pay attention, take care of the details, and let you enjoy your own home and the people you've invited into it.

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Privet: You've built your business between Palm Beach and Nantucket—two destinations synonymous with entertaining. How is your approach to hospitality shaped by each location?

MH: They have more in common than you might think. Both are places where people really entertain at home, and many of our relationships actually travel between the two.

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Palm Beach has a wonderful sense of tradition and polish, but it also has this increasingly relaxed energy that I love. Nantucket is naturally a little more casual: people come off the beach, there are kids everywhere, someone has brought over six extra people for dinner. You learn to be nimble.

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Both have taught me that the best hospitality responds to the room. Sometimes that means beautiful china and very precise service; sometimes it means lobster, bare feet and 12 people squeezed around a table. Neither is more special than the other if people feel genuinely taken care of.

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Privet: How has the Palm Beach dining and entertaining scene evolved since you first arrived?

MH: Palm Beach has always understood entertaining, but I think it's become much more relaxed and personal. There is still tremendous appreciation for beautiful service and tradition, but people don't necessarily want everything to feel formal anymore.

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I'm also seeing a younger generation bringing their own interpretation to Palm Beach. There's more curiosity around food, design, wellness, and where things come from. At home especially, people want dinners that are beautiful but still feel like their house. (Not a restaurant temporarily installed in it.)

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That shift really resonates with me. I love the traditions of Palm Beach, the beauty, the theater of it all, but I also love that there's room now to play with them.

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Privet: You've worked with private clients as well as brands. How do those experiences differ, and what ties them together?

MH: Private work is incredibly personal. You're in someone's home, you know what their children eat, how they like their kitchen left at the end of the night, what wine they love, who always wants a little extra sauce. Those relationships are built over years, and they're very important to me and everyone on my team.

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Brand work starts from a different place because we're helping someone tell a story. I enjoy figuring out how food and hospitality can make that story tangible without turning the evening into an advertisement.

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What ties them together is that people know when something feels genuine. Whether we're cooking dinner for six people or creating an experience around a brand, my first question is usually: how do we want people to feel?

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Privet: How would you describe your cooking philosophy in just a few words?

MH: Abundant, seasonal, unfussy. Made for the people eating it.

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I want beautiful food, but I never want anyone to wonder how they're supposed to eat it.

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Privet: When you're designing a menu, where do you find inspiration first?

MH: The people, always.

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Before I think about dishes, I think about who is coming, where they're eating, what they've been doing all day, and what kind of evening we're creating. A dinner after a day on the beach should feel different from a wine dinner in January.

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Then I look at what's good right now. I'm happiest cooking with ingredients that don't require much convincing: great tomatoes, beautiful fish, summer corn, herbs, citrus. From there, the ingredients start to boss the menu around a little bit.

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Privet: Do you have a signature touch or "secret weapon" you pull out in the kitchen?

MH: Acid! Almost everything needs more acid..

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Lemon, vinegar, pickled vegetables, something bright and sharp at the end. It wakes everything up. I'm also a big believer in having one really good sauce on the plate. You can keep the rest incredibly simple if the sauce is great.

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And good salt. Always good salt.

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Privet: What's the most memorable event or dinner you've ever cooked?

MH: One that really stayed with me was a wine dinner for one of my longtime clients. A close friend of theirs was visiting who also happens to be an extraordinary winemaker, and my client essentially handed me the evening. From the menu and design to coordinating with the wine house, that level of trust was incredibly exciting. I had the resources and the opportunity to make it amazing, and I really didn't want to let them down.

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I brought in my event designer, Mia, and my executive chef, Christina, and what we created was actually quite simple. Nothing was competing for attention. The food, the wine, the candlelight, the music, the guests, our team…it all just worked. Those are the nights when I remember that hospitality is so much bigger than what's on the plate.

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But truthfully, some of my favorite dinners are much less grand. They're the nights with my regular clients who trust me completely. I know when they're up for trying something new, and I also know when someone just needs the chicken parm that night. I can come into their kitchen without a million questions, understand the rhythm of their day, and just take care of things. Sometimes that means dinner; sometimes it means leaving a little unexpected quiche in the refrigerator for the next morning.

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Those are the evenings I leave feeling the most fulfilled. There's something very special about being trusted enough to simply know what someone needs.

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Privet: If someone gave you 24 hours to experience Palm Beach like a local, where would you send them?

MH: If it's a leisurely day, I'd spend some time buzzing around the antique and plant shops along Dixie Highway. I get a surprising amount of inspiration there: for tables, colors, ingredients, all of it.

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I'd have that Buccan sandwich order dialed in ahead of time, and I'd pick it up on my way to the beach. I splash around any chance I get!

I'd make time for a late afternoon stroll through Show Pony; I could look around Michael's collection for days. Endless inspiration.

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After getting cleaned up, I'll head over to Oceano Kitchen or Blue Door. I'm partial to serendipitous bar seats, and from there we'll decide what kind of night it's going to be!