Chef Sacha Kupelian

FAQs

• What is your typical process for working with a new customer?

  I like to first have an initial consultation with the client to discuss their event. What's the occasion? Casual dinner party, anniversary, birthday, entertaining clients, girls night in? From there I can give them menu options that fit the occasion based on their budget. After that I'll address any dietary restrictions to fine tune a menu. Once the client agrees that I am the right fit for them I take a 50% deposit a week prior to the event to cover shopping, and the remainder is due the day of the event.

• What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?

  Being a Bay Area native I've worked at a wide range of eateries. Upscale restaurants with white glove waiters and an excessive number of salad forks to your local neighborhood haunts. One of the amazing chefs I've worked under is Howard Ko (French Laundry and Restaurant at Meadowood).

• How did you get started doing this type of work?

  I was a paramedic before I was a chef. As much as I enjoyed the self-satisfaction of helping people and saving lives I felt I needed to make a career change, something I was more passionate about. At times during shift, we would sit in our ambulance waiting for our next call. Sometimes an hour would pass till dispatch gave us a call. During that down time I would be reading cookbooks like L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon or Grand Livre de Cuisine d'Alain Ducasse. Once I got into my first kitchen, I loved every moment of it. The heat, the stress, the yelling... I knew this is where I belonged!