Personal chef experiences

[Jolly Roger]

I'm new to the personal chef buisness. I have five regular clients and word is getting out. I was wondering if there are any in this forum that have in the past, or are currently running their own buisness as a personal chef and what obstacles you have faced in your start up and also what "unseeable" problems you may have encountered with clients. I wil be glad to share some of my experieneces as well.

[shroomgirl]

one of my favorite stories.....I was personal cheffing, one hot summer day I had potpies in the oven, shrimp on the outside grill.....earlier in the day I took off my coat and was working in a t-shirt. So this house had fancy locks, it did not matter that you unlocked the doors from inside they still locked after you went outside. NOT GOOD> the next door neighbors were mowing their lawn, I asked to use their phone. When I went into their kitchen it was mid-70's Spainish decor...very basic not alot on the walls nor on the cabinents. Though there was an 8x11 framed photo of a group of people with James Beard. "Um, excuse me...I see you have photo of James Beard...". She was Judy Rodgers, Zuni Cafe chef/owner's mom. I got the story of Judy going to France as an exchange student Living in a 3* restaurant family's home.

Nothing burned but man it's a great story! A couple years later I organized booksignings and media events for Judy when her cookbook came out.....


Over and over again selecting the right clients is as important as anything else. They have to have expendable income so that your service is not a strain on their finances. Like most things startup takes more energy/time...to maintain a consistant client roster is important for those of you making your income from this business. Treat it as such and relay that info to your clients. Inconsistant pay does not work well. Thus getting paid for their vacations......you've reserved that time for THEM, transitioning to something else or someone else while they are away is just not feasible.

[shroomgirl]

no one else have stories?

um ok.....for 6 years I cooked for the CFO of A-Busch, it was facinating seeing all of the samples of beers that were coming out on the market.

As my second client, (first was an outrageously wealthy elderly couple) it was a breath of fresh air cooking in a gorgeous kitchen with loads of windows overlooking their backyard that had flocks of wild turkeys wandering around.
It was a joy to go to work and create. They were receptive to my play and man oh man I wish I'd kept notes on some of the dishes/pastries created there.
I remember a pecan meal jelly roll I formed into a bowl and filled with Grand Marnier barvarian type filling....no recipe just Oj, white choc, gelitin, Grand Marnier, eggs (I believe) and cream.

[Jolly Roger]

Nice, shroomgirl! I hope to land some high brow clients so I spread my wings a bit. Right now my primary client has me making soups and "freezable" pasta dishes for her and catering lunches for her office. I've had some other gigs where I was able to do some nice hor de ourves, but it's been slow going aside from that. I've been doing research on how personal chefs have gotten their start and how well this buisness is catching on. Seems like it's a growing interest in the midwest, the Western states have a lot more activity. Any thoughts?

[cakerookie]

Checkout this link it might help http://www.personalchef.com

[shroomgirl]

Jolly,
not sure where you are located.....
There are as many ways to work personal cheffing as there are types of restaurants. Design something that works for you. If you've not looked through Cheftalk's archives on personal cheffing I strongly recommend it. 3-4 years ago we went into great detail about various aspects of PCing.

Years ago I made some calls did a bunch of research and came up with the concept that worked for me. I work fast, need to be creative and don't want alot of hassles.....several families were long time clients.....

[Jolly Roger]

Cake and shroom...thanks for the info. I'm located in Columbus, Ohio and I'm eager to "get a leg up" on what ever is brewing in my neck of the woods. I'm going to Chicago for the weekend for a little R&D and a bit of fun. Hopefully I'll come back with a couple of restaurant reviews too.

Peace and bacon grease!

[shroomgirl]

one client wanted salmon every week.....52 weeks a year....with different sauces......oh man I don't even LIKE salmon. So for several years I became proficient in sauces for salmon.

[Jolly Roger]

Shroom...Do tell of your saucy extravegancies (Is that a word, or did I just make that up? Quick! Somebody call Steven Colbert!). Did you come up with anything that did not involve a buerre blanc? I've been acustom to use sweet wine reductions like a merlot honey with a hint of soy for "salt", I'm also a big fan of using different types of mustards for bases as well as binders for butter sauces. What'cha got?