Caterer

Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.

A. Most often, I cater dinner parties, hors d'oeuvres, and teach cooking classes for City College of San Francisco. I enjoy the larger parties as well as the most intimate gatherings.

Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?

A. Most of my "insider secrets" are actually recipes. Visit www.chefkerry.com to find out my most popular recipes.

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. The work I do stands out from the attention I'm able to give to each individual client. Often my clients will have specific dietary needs and culinary desires that I can accommodate while larger catering companies have to stick to a rigid menu with inflexible protocols.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. Being present while people enjoy their parties, especially family reunions, bridal showers, weddings, and dinner clubs. Every experience is different and I get to meet wonderful people. The only thing they all have in common is their enjoyment of good food.

Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A. What is your favorite type of party to cater? My answer is usually hors d' oeuvre parties.

Q. Do you have a favorite story from your work?

A. I used to cook weekly meals for a family with a precocious 5 year old. They moved to Georgia and when they moved back to the Bay Area recently they got back in touch. Their 5 year old is now a young man who needs cooking classes to impress the ladies that I'm about to teach.

Q. How did you decide to get in your line of work?

A. When I moved to California from the East Coast I was blown away by the beautiful local ingredients and the passion for all types of cooking. After getting my first job in a restaurant and loving it, I found myself reading cookbooks in my spare time and eventually went to culinary school.

Q. Tell us about a recent job you did that you are particularly proud of.

A. I recently taught a class showing students how to properly handle a chef's knife. It was satisfying watching them go from complete beginners to master chef material in a three hour span.

Q. If you were advising someone who wanted to get into your profession, what would you suggest?

A. Spend some time shadowing an established caterer. Cooking for strangers and very large crowds of people is not quite the same as cooking for your own family. Offer reasonable rates and cook from the heart.