Chris Hemsworth’s private chef spills diet secrets

Chris Hemsworth’s private chef has worked with the star for years, even moving to Byron Bay for him, and he’s revealed the meals behind his ripped rig.

As Chris Hemsworth’s private chef Sergio Perera puts it — “When you’re training to build Thor-worthy muscles, you need to eat well”.

Over the past 10 years, the Spanish-born Michelin-trained chef has played a huge role in looking after the A-lister’s nutrition — ever since he got a call from his good friend and Chris’ wife Elsa Pataky to work with the Hollywood star.

“He had just finished the first Thor movie and he needed someone to help match his meal plan to his physical demands and that’s how I came on-board,” Sergio told news.com.au.

“I would sit with his trainer, who is one of his closest fiends, and we would all work together on figuring out Chris’ goals.”

Elsa Pataky and Sergio Perera. Picture: Greg Funnell

Sergio — who will be showcasing his great cooking skills at Hotel Clicquot in Queensland this month — has helped Chris bulk up or shred down depending on the role he’s about to tackle, revealing the actor’s favourite foods include “good quality beef”.

“Obviously the guy is a big boy,” he laughed. “He requires a lot of protein for the body he has.

“When it comes to building muscle he just keeps it very clean with of a lot of barbecuing — like meats and vegetables — and keeping it Mediterranean which involves a lot of olive oil.”

Sergio said the Aussie star doesn’t consume anything “boxed or canned” and depending on how lean he was trying to get, for the most part his diet would consist of plenty of fresh vegetables and keeping his fluids up.

Sergio began to cook privately for Chris after he was introduced to the star by his friend and Chris’ wife Elsa.

Sergio said Chris loves his red meat and when it comes to building muscle Chris keeps it very clean with of a lot of barbecuing.

“One thing I did religiously with him, was every single day he would have one very large, hearty salad that consisted of raw and cooked vegetables, fermented products, nuts, seeds and a lot of good fats with a piece of steak or a big piece of fish.”

Sergio, who also helps develop recipes for Chris’ fitness app Centr, also revealed details in a blog of what Chris’ diet looked like in the lead-up to the epic back-to-back shoot of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame (2018) — and let’s just say it was all about red meat.

However, he only consumed it in daylight hours as red meat requires more energy to digest.

In terms of what he would start his mornings with — it was a large green smoothie, made up of different types of leafy greens, low-glycemic fruits, nuts, seeds, fats and small amounts of sea salt to aid in electrolyte balance, nerve transmission and glucose metabolism.

Chris has played Thor for more than a decade and has previously revealed the hardcore workouts behind his ripped rig – and his meal plans.

He would then have a protein snack, whether it was a bowl of yoghurt with mixed fresh berries, chia seeds, almonds and honey — or three fried eggs on a slice of wholegrain toast with Vegemite and avocado.

He would train around 1pm for an hour before consuming a post-workout shake consisting of vegetable protein, ice water, BCAAs and 1g of vitamin C.

At about 2.30pm it was more protein ie 8 oz eye fillet with veges, and the same for around 5.30pm.

Meanwhile, 7pm would be his last meal of the day and it was usually a big leafy green salad (as Sergio mentioned previously) with white fish and a side of roasted mixed cruciferous vegetables.

Basically, he would eat roughly every two to three hours and would hit six meals a day while at work.

When it came to training for his Thor roles, Chris said it was all about ‘consistent, targeted work’. Picture: Splash

When it came to training for his Thor roles, it was all about “consistent, targeted work”.

“I was working on a Nat Geo documentary (Limitless with Chris Hemsworth), which included an episode on strength, in early March 2020 when Covid hit. I continued on with the strength training I was doing for that series until June, then we restructured my training towards hypertrophy, or adding mass,” Chris revealed in a blog on Centr.

“I would do nine weeks of training, then deload every 10th week.”

He would also have about six meals a day.

“Over 30 weeks I slowly gained weight – starting at 94kg to weighing in at 107kg when we started shooting in January 2021.”

So, understandably when you’re training that hard (and portraying a Norse God) you need to properly fuel your body.

Chris’ health sparks life changes

While filming the documentary series in 2022, the Thor actor discovered that he had an eight to 10 times higher chance than the average person of developing a degenerative brain disease — and has been doing a lot more meditation and breathing work.

“Now, I’m incorporating more solitude into my life,” he told Men’s Health magazine after appearing on the cover of the October/November issue.

“I’ve always been pretty consistent with my exercise commitments, but lately I’ve really felt the importance of taking time for yourself without any outside voice or stimulation, and making time for stillness.”

Sergio moved to Byron Bay, where the Hemsworths live, after working with Chris for many years. Picture: Greg Funnell

Sergio’s move to Byron

Sergio said he has loved working with Chris and has become close friends with the family — so much so, he moved to Byron Bay in 2016, where he continues to work with the Aussie star.

Prior to that he would split his time between Europe and the US.

“I went there thinking I was only going to be there for a few months but I ended up staying,” Sergio said.

But Chris isn’t the only celeb Sergio has worked with in his 25-year career. His first famous client was Tom Cruise in the early 2000s when the star was filming Vanilla Sky.

Sergio said the opportunity came about by chance.

“I was travelling at the time through the US and got this amazing opportunity to fill in for a chef friend,” Sergio said.

Sergio had no idea who he would be cooking for. Shockingly, his client turned out to be the famous actor.

The michelin-trained chef will be one of three chefs cooking for Hotel Clicquot guests from October 13 to 28.

The eco-friendly hotel is located at Sunshine Beach, Queensland.

He also said he had no clue what to expect when cooking for someone of that calibre, but it helped that Tom enjoyed Mediterranean food — a cuisine Sergio loves to cook.

The chef said from there it was just word of mouth with the likes of Robert Downey Jr and Leonardo DiCaprio also on his database.

Sergio is an alumnus of some of the world’s best restaurants, from Arzak to Mugaritz (both in the top ten on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list), and trained with Albert Adrià at the iconic El Bulli restaurant in Roses, Spain. 

Working in Kyoto, Japan, he was introduced to Kaiseki, a beautiful form of multi-course dining that shifts elegantly with the seasons.

Sergio will be showcasing his skills at the world’s only Hotel Clicquot at Sunshine Beach, Queensland along with five-hatted Peter Gilmore (Quay, Bennelong) and the legendary Martin Benn (ex Sepia, Society).

The trio will cook for guests from October 13 to 28.

The beachside hotel boasts aninfinity pool with ocean, five private guest suites, a cinema, day spa, bar and private access to the beach.