Personal Chefs

Anybody here ever hired one before?I need to get out and find a real job now that my restaurant is closed,But I dont think the people around here are ready to pay those kind of bucks for a service like this.My wife says I am just afraid of failure or rejection.I have been out of work for over amonth now and Ive got to do something quick to make a living!What do you think?

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Originally posted by jellybear

Anybody here ever hired one before?I need to get out and find a real job now that my restaurant is closed,But I dont think the people around here are ready to pay those kind of bucks for a service like this.My wife says I am just afraid of failure or rejection.I have been out of work for over amonth now and Ive got to do something quick to make a living!What do you think?

I've read stories about thriving personal chefs in the Columbus, Ohio area, but I've never hired one. However, I know of one who used to live here, but now is in Washington State. You might find this website helpful: http://www.personalchef.com/

Take a good look at your demographics........can the area where you live afford you? If so, go for it because it's very, very lucrative. I have several friends in Boston that do it.......they don't work very hard, have only three or four clients and make a good buck. I considered doing it here in Alaska where there is a ton of oil money, but found that in-flight catering suited me better.

We got a personal chef though a silent auction for one week and for my one exp. I wouldn't do it again. The food was not that good but the lady herself was really nice. She was a mother and decided she would do this as her career. First she brought over sample menus then we picked which menus we liked. She came over to the house for a full day and cooked all the meals for a week. I think it was a meat, veg and starch for each meal no dessert.
I don't know if she had any formal training...

I did some personal chef stuff as an extention of my catering business a while back. As long as you are really organized and you are in an area where there are those who understand and can afford the service,I think it's a good idea. Figure out your client. There are a lot of working yuppies who love this type of service. Some want some sort of specific "diet" whether it is Atkins or South Beach.Make sure you are okay with local catering license etc. Usually you are better off preparing at off site (client's home) if you don't have a licensed place of your own. I think you could make this work--good luck!!

Thanks!I do live in an area where there is a lot of money,young professinals,yuppies,old people and working families.So do you think if I can only get a few Clients to start off with it would be better?Should the meals be prepared and frozen or made that day for supper that night?Five days a week or a couple nights a week?I dont want to srew anybody but to make it worth my while!Thanks

My neighbor's daughter is a personal chef on a client's private yaught. She stays with the boat as long as the owner needs her which seems to be 6 to 8 months a year. He has another chef at his home so she has a lot of free time when in port. I get the feeling that she's getting tired of being away so much, but she likes what she does and she gets paid a ridiculous amount of money to do it.

I was a private live-in chef for a very, very wealthy French couple in Paris and spent the winters in Paris and the summers at the chateau in Bourgogne. The pay was outrageous. I had Picasso sketches in my bedroom. The private chef biz is very nice!

jellybear, get a few clients to start off with. Prepare the food in their kitchen. They may want you once a week for 7 meals to be frozen, or three times a week for freshly prepared meals. Depends on the client. And DO NOT BE AFRAID TO CHARGE FOR YOUR SERVICES!!!! The lasagne that I serve on my in-flight catering costs me $1.90 to make......and I sell it for $22 a portion. It's a .08% food cost. How do I sleep at nights?? Just fine, thank you!!!!

Jellybear, just ran across this story... Not sure if it would be of any intrest with you, but thought I'd share it anyway...

http://www.mlive.com/business/grpress/index.ssf?/base/business-2/110002967952040.xml

Thanks,Im on it!