FAQs
- What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
My pricing system varies based on food costs at the time of my quote. It all depends on what menu the client decides to go with. I have, at times, offered discounts on my Facebook page and two for one discounts, if a friend books me also, they would both get me for 25% off my labor costs.
- What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
First, I have the client sit with me to book a date and have them fill out a Client Booking Agreement Policy. Usually I sit with the client then to work out a menu. I also ask at that same time about food allergies. After a rough menu and tentative price is written, I leave to work up the full menu and set price. I then send it to my client for approval. If it is declined, I rework it. (I've never had it declined,) but when it's approved, I go and pick up the supplies and start with the order. A deposit is paid when the work order is approved by the client. The remainder is paid on or before services are rendered.
- What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
I first started cooking and baking at age 3 when my mom sat me on the kitchen counter to make pastry. She and my grandmother taught me well from the beginning on how to cook. My first beginnings started with them and I owe it all to them. But, having a degree in Art helped me clinch my first position as pastry chef in an upscale Ohio bakery in the mid '80's, and I trained under the owner for 7 years, after completing a course in cake decorating from The Wilton School in the '70's. I even made David Crosby's (of Crosby, Stills and Nash) 50th birthday cake in 1991. It was a four layer full sheet torte, filled with pastry cream, strawberries, and frosted with buttercream. (The only reason I remember is because the layers kept sliding!) When I moved from Ohio, I opened up my first business, "Edible Art," in the early '90's and I made cakes and pastries for the Minnesota Twins Minor League Baseball Team on a regular basis. I had to close the business because of illness. I have since gotten stronger and opened up another business in the Green Bay area, "Ann's Around Town, LLC," where I am a private chef and culinary instructor. That's where I stand today.