There's so much I can't say. Life as a “celebrity Private Chef” means a ton of NDA’s and protecting your clients name, brand, and lifestyle. Privacy is numero uno and it’s the number one reason why chefs get let go (well.. other than cracking under pressure, because boy is it rough sometimes).
So, while I know you're reading this hoping I'll “spill the tea”, the truth is, I don't have much for you. Working in-home for clients can be really fun most of the time. It's something different every day, and if your clients are anything like mine, their homes are very active with people coming and going all throughout the day. It's busy and fun, but definitely requires good multi-tasking, and the innate desire to host/entertain.
The kitchen is the center of all activities; guests pass through pleased to see little snacks they can snag on their way to another room. Refreshing beverages, little treats, or a fridge full of labeled ready-to-go items they can munch on is standard. People always ask me what I do at my clients house for 12 hours a day. Lol. well..
On top of cooking actual meals, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, your job entails having healthy snacks and fresh baked goods on hand, and making sure the fridge and pantry stay clean, organized, and stocked at all times. You do the grocery shopping for your own meals, and for the house, tidy the drink drawer, and making sure you never run out of anything, ever! Remember, we’re not talking about a home of 4. We’re talking 10-30 people passing through every day!
Typically in these homes there are at least 3 full-size fridges, one for the client with everything beautifully stocked, drinks, fresh cut fruit (labeled in containers), and snacks/light bites⎯this is the “show fridge”. You''' find things such as protein balls, turkey meatballs, crudite vegetables and dips in this fridge. The second fridge⎯the “working fridge” has leftovers, and uncooked items that I use throughout the day to actually prepare their meals. This fridge starts full in the morning, then empties as the day goes by, then fills back up again before the night is over. And the 3rd fridge is my savior. The one in the garage! The back-up storage that saves my ass every time. If you can imagine a day where you’re feeding 10-15 people on average every meal, there's very little time to run to anything but the corner store for missing items. Buying things in bulk and stashing it away has always saved me.
While often my clients are pretty organized, and they try their best to give me a heads up, things often don't go that way. They’ll plan for 15 guests for lunch, and an hour before they tack on 7 more people. Uhm… So… what do we do now ?! The stress sets in that in fact, you don't have enough food to feed 7 extra people, but that's not what your client wants to hear, and frankly- that's why they pay you the big bucks. FIGURE IT OUT!! Lunch is in one hour.
I swear it's because of countless days of being in these types of situations that I did so well on Food Network. Thinking on your feet and under pressure isn't for everyone, but if you can handle the heat, you can stay in the kitchen. The clock is ticking and somehow you've gotta make shit happen, and fast. Luckily you have incredible house staff who also hear the alarm and run to your rescue. “Chef! What do you need? How can we help?” Sending one to the store, or having another help you prep all over again; it's a race against time, but it’s always accomplished by teamwork. In these homes, there's typically 3-5 housekeepers/assistants. There's 2-3 security or groundsmen, and the nanny, of course. So that's an extra 10+ humans.
Lunch is served, the guests and your client have little to no clue about the mayhem that just happened over the last hour to pull that off, but heyyy, we made it! A moment to breathe and reset the kitchen, but wait, remember all the staff? Yea.. they need to be fed too. Somehow in the mix of adding on more guests and keeping a pretty face, I'll have made something for the staff as well. Phew. Now you’re stuck cleaning up the mess of that tornado you just came out of. It's rolling onto 1pm and I've got plenty of time before dinner at 6pm, right? The next few hours give me enough time to clean, re-organize the “show fridge”, make new snacks to replace what’s been eaten throughout the day, bake something new, think about tomorrow, and start prepping for dinner.
Food is much more than nutrition. When you hear people talk about comfort food or request a craving they are having, it’s a moment where they are connecting to a memory, to culture or a loved one. Food is the universal language. It is a very powerful way of creating connection and expressing emotions.
Love what you do, and it’ll never feel like work.
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