the Personal Chef experience
There are so many reasons to hire a personal chef. A messy kitchen renovation is more manageable with cooking help. During a busy work schedule, their services provide crucial extra hours. Parents of newborn babies adore them and new parents also adore friends who give the gift of a personal chef. Many people simply depend on them to break up the monotony of cooking dinner night after night.
Some personal chefs cook in commercial kitchens and deliver a week’s worth of meals to your door. Others bring groceries to your home and cook in your own kitchen. In their wake, they leave instructions for reheating and serving from the beautifully packaged and labeled containers filled with all your favorite meals—whether you prefer
vegetarian fusion cuisine or
low-cholesterol, low-salt, and heart-healthy fare. Some chefs list upcoming meals on their websites, others tailor meals directly to their clients’ requests.
And the best part is, unlike a private chef that caters to one family, personal chefs are not just for the wealthy. The cost of having meals prepared for you exactly as you like them, using ingredients that match your lifestyle, is comparable to take-out.
Gail Bradney is a full time freelance writer in New York. Her husband owns and operates his own business, and on weekends their home is overrun with packs of hungry teenage boys. Bradney hired Holly Shelowitz, of Nourishing Wisdom, so that at least a couple of days a week she could be free of cooking. Shelowitz cooks such delicious entrees as salmon puttanesca, curried coconut chicken, and always an incredible soup. “Holly has creative ideas and makes great things. She’s my stand-in mommy,” says Bradney.
Personal chefs often advertise their services in regional publications. Or search online at www.personalchefsearch.com and www.hireachef.com.
—Jennifer May
