Elizabeth Taylor’s Private Chef Reveals the Gift She Gave Him That’s Too Big to Fit in His House (Exclusive)

Elizabeth Taylor’s former personal chef is reflecting on the screen legend's generous spirit and truly epic gifts.

During a recent interview with PEOPLE, Neil Zevnik reminisced on the late actress’ love for gift-giving and her knack for picking out the most thoughtful presents — especially when the holidays rolled around.

“She was lavish and generous, and it wasn't just like she said to someone, ‘Go buy something for them,’ ” Zevnik recalled of the Cleopatra star, who died in 2011 at age 79. “She was completely involved in what it was and the thought that went behind it, and it excited her to give someone a gift that would make them happy.”

He went on to remember the first gift that she ever picked out for him, before they even had the chance to get to know each other.

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“The first gift she gave me was a Valentino Couture V-neck, sea foam green cashmere sweater that had to have cost a very pretty penny,’ Zevnik revealed. “She didn't know me that well yet, and that really isn't at all my style. I suggested to Tim, her assistant, that if she did want to buy gifts of that stature, perhaps I could give him a few suggestions in the future.”

So, the chef ended up with a gift so large that he couldn’t even manage to bring it inside his home. 

“One year, I suggested a wine cellar — meaning a little cabinet that holds 36 bottles of wine to put in a corner of the room,” he continued. But that isn't quite what he ended up with. “I still have the 360-bottle wine cellar that is the size of a large armoire. That doesn't fit through the doors of my house, so it's in the garage, but it has lots of wine in it.”

In addition to the massive wine cellar, Zevnik shared that Taylor, who loved receiving gifts just as much as she adored giving them, had also given him a “custom-made suede and stingray jean jacket from Falconhead in Brentwood, which doesn’t exist any longer.”

On another occasion, she surprised him with the matching belt and a turquoise ranger bell because, as Zevnik put it, “those were the kinds of things I wore then, so there was always so much thought behind her gifts.”

“It wasn't just the cost,” he added. “It was the care that she took in getting something that would make you feel good, that would make you happy.”

The Hollywood icon and Oscar-winner's death was announced on Feb. 22, 2011. Her publicist, Sally Morrison, shared that she had been taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles earlier that week for symptoms caused by congestive heart failure, and around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, she “peacefully died there."

“She was surrounded by her children – Michael Wilding, Christopher Wilding, Liza Todd and Maria Burton,” Morrison, said in a statement. In addition to her children, Taylor is survived by 10 grandchildren and four great grandchildren.