FAQs
- What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
Pricing depends upon what food stuffs are readily available, the client's tastes, diet restrictions, and the weather! I personally try to get as much information as possible from the client then give a price quote so everyone is on the same page. My fee structure is flat - 33.3% of the food costs. So if your total food cost is $100, my fee is $33, etc...I charge to deliver and if we supply tables, linens, plates, etc., that is extra too. But the nice thing is I always get a discount with suppliers and I pass along that discount to our client. I aim to have repeat and referral business so I cook my little heart out and never "nickel and dime" my clients.
- What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
Absolutely. All the time. I am constantly working and listening to other chefs, attending cooking and wine events, and learning from my colleagues through my travels, routinely scouring favorite social media platforms, eating at my friends' new and different restaurants, and listening to pod casts...I love to learn and will never, ever consider myself "fully informed" of all there is to know about glorious food!
- How did you get started doing this type of work?
It came to me naturally. I was raised around relatives who loved to cook and was particularly close to my grandparents who threw fun dinner parties and pretty regularly made complex, gourmet food for "Friday night family meal". I began cooking in earnest for a specific grandfather when I was 11 years old - he was so kind and caring that I was determined to make him a "new and unique" dessert so that it might become one of his favorites. My plan worked! I made him an almond tart which he thereafter asked for each year on his birthday. That was the first time I realized that, at least for me, food really is a form of showing how much I care.