Q&A

I thought I would answer a few questions/comments I have received from readers....

Q: What is a Personal Chef?

A: Personal Chef: (definition) Similar to a private chef, but instead of cooking solely for 1 family as staff, on a salary, they cook for numerous clients on a part-time basis, usually compensated on a per meal basis.

Q: What kind of personal chef are you?

A: I am a personal chef, I cook for up to 3 clients/day, in their homes, personalizing, preparing and packaging their daily meals for their to heat at their leisure. I shop for their meals, right before I head to their house to prepare them. My favorite and most visited grocery stores are Balducci's, Whole Foods Market and Mom's: My Organic Market. I prepare only 'fresh meals', meaning nothing I make is intended to be frozen - clients usually enjoy the meal sometime in the next few days after I have prepared them. I provide fine-dining meal services, meaning that the types of dishes I prepare for my clients are (equal to or better than) the majority of 'fine dining classified' establishments in the DC metro area. I like to let people know that if you are looking for frozen casseroles, my personal chef service is not the service for you. Sometimes for clients or special occasions, I will do private cooking classes, seated formal course dinners and pro-bono work.

Q (kinda): I need recipes that I can prep a day or so ahead of eating them.

A: Unless I say otherwise (meaning I cook it for myself or it is a picture/description of a restauant dish) all the pictures, recipes and cooking comments are from my daily personal chef escapades - meaning dishes that are prepared ahead of time - for my clients to heat and enjoy up to 4 days after I prepare it. Some weeks I can make up to 80 dishes (not including sauces, salads, sides, etc.) and so what I post is a small portion of what I am doing. If there is a specific question about how a particular dish can be prepped ahead of time - I'd be happy to help out at shanna/at/finediningsolutions.com.