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Personal Chef Industry

I have been considering becoming a personal chef for some time and this wonderful website has helped excite me into taking action. Here are my questions. I understand that some personal chefs have gone to culinary school and others haven't. I fall into the latter category and am wondering what cooking experience level is acceptible to launch a successful PC business? I would definitely take the APPCA training, but before I do that, should I be looking at chef schools? I am simply a good cook (who loves to cook) and have been serious about meal preparation and nutrition for the past 10 years (usually cooking for 2-4 people). This is a major mid-life career change for me (I'm 52) so my preference would be to embark on something that isn't going to cost a fortune and take years (i.e. Culinary Institute, etc.) Would a community college program be appropriate? I have the financial ability to do whatever it takes but want to take the most efficient path to launching a successful business. Thank you for your help and providing this great resource. I look forward to participating in discussions and offering my own insights on this culinary journey with APPCA as a partner.
(PS My previous career was in corporate H.R., so I am fortunate to have some business skills to help me along)

Sue,

Welcome. You have everything it takes!

I'm in my sixth year of business and all I had when I started was an insatiable passion for food and cooking. APPCA taught me the rest; I did not go to a formal culinary school. In fact, my clients are more impressed that I'm in this business without having gone to a formal school.

It never hurts to educate yourself so take some classes-knife skills, sauces--whatever you find interesting. There are lots of posts in this forum on this very subject to read on.

So..get rolling and we'll see you on "the inside!"

If you can "cook", you're probably more skilled than 90% of your potential clients!

Culinary training may make you "faster", teach you the "classic" techniques, improve your "culinary vocabulary", but your experience "cooking" is probably more valuable, IMHO.

PhD in Avanced Culinary Skills from SHK

Thank you for your prompt reply and words of encouragement. If anyone has any suggestions as to relevant skills/certif./short courses in NYC or NJ (I am still researching online), I would love to hear about them!
Thanks again.
Sue

Hi Sue,

I am also preparing to take the jump into the personal chef business. I am a high school librarian (bored out of my mind!), taught home ec, and also worked in corporate HR, but after being laid off in the previous recession; I went to culinary school. At the time, I lived in northern NJ. I attended the Culinary Arts Institute @ Hudson County Community College. They are the only ACF accredited institution in NJ, offer a stand alone ServSafe course, an AAS program, recreational courses, separate baking, cold & hot food production certificates, recently built a new 20+ million-dollar facility, have top-notch chefs (CIA, J&W, etc. trained and Paul Dillon of Let's Cook on Comcast), and are very reasonable compared to most schools. It is a magnificent program!!! I had more fun there than in all of my educational pursuits. For additional recreational classes, check out Kings Cooking Studio (Short Hills & Bedminster), Adventures in Cooking (Wayne), Viking Cooking School (Fairfield), and Classic Thyme (Westfield). Even though I live in PA now, I still attend them all.

Good luck and I hope to see you "on the inside"!

Chef Nita

As the others have stated, Culinary School is not necessary. A desire to serve people and loving to cook are both required to be successful in this business.

However, cooking is only a part of the job. The ability to market, sell yourself and your services and communicate with people are paramount. That's where our training program comes in. We don't teach you to cook. We teach you to run a business.

Belonging to this associatino allows you to be in business for yourself, but not by yourself. You have a wonderful support group working with you all the time.

We have a weekend seminar, The Business of Doing Business as a Personal Chef, coming up in North Jersey on May 24 and 25. Attending this seminar is absolutely the best and fastest way to get your business kick started and off the ground. I'm sure some other chefs will jump in and support my statement.

Jim

Thank you Chef Nita! Congratulations on your new career.
Fabulous information. My research turned up Kings and Hudson County Community College, but not the others, so thank you so much. I will check them out.
Good Luck to you and I will look for you in my travels. (PS We may also be moving to PA next year so maybe we'll share one more similarity besides HR and Personal Chef-ing.)

And thank you, Jim. I am in the process of clearing my schedule to attend the May Seminar in Jersey. Hope to meet you there.
Sue

ONe thing I forgot to mention above. As you have discovered, there are a lot of part time and hobby type cooking programs around. If you are an accomplished home cook, the kinds of courses you really need to look for are things like Knife Skills (will make your job so much easier you won't believe it?), Stocks and Sauces, Braising and Roasting, Vegetarian Cooking and etc. These one-shot classes will help you step up your skills so that your job will become much easier.

Jim

Sue, I graduated from the school of hard knocks, mentored by chefs that earned their culinary degrees and time put in. About 8 years ago, I learned about this awseome industry & decided to go for it. I was on a very tight budget, so I started with the videos. 9 months later, I had a few clients, but I just felt stuck b/c my head was mush. (going through a lay-off, then a divorce will do that) So, I attended a seminar, and I can't tell you how much it motivated me & how it gave my business the jumpstart it needed. I highly recommend that all aspiring personal chefs attend the APPCA's seminar. You will absolutely love it, b/c you will find out how much you learned & revel in the fact, that you're in great company! Make Jim earn his "keep" & have him do his dance for you!

You will also find that your education & training with APPCA doesn't stop at a seminar or any of the training packages available. The members forum will provide you with major valuable information based on experiences, advice, suggestions, feedback, and never ending support. You will find that you have an extended family that will make you wonder how you lived without them this long!

Also, don't forget about our annual convention (the Summit). So much can be learned by even the most experienced personal chef.

I remember when I went to my first Summit about 6 mths after the seminar, wow! I really could SEE a much bigger picture & was thinking outside the box that much more! This is just one of the great things about being an APPCA member...we NEVER stop learning b/c this association will not let it happen.

So....dive on in! The water feels just great!

Welcome Sue-

As you are one of those lucky enoough to have some resources currently to look into this field I would say as soon as you possibly can become a member of The APPCA. I was a professional Chef prior to becoming a member myself. There are quite a good number similar to this than there were when I first became a member, being skeptical of this, at first I have now seen many others believe in the power of our membership and commaraderie. International recognition via ACF certication, for example. The mentoring of one another and those hesitent because of their lack of professional background or education. I actually, as do many other members enjoy helping out those starting out and seeing they become superb representatives of the APPCA to which we are all proud of and represent our professional and nationally recognized organization confidently and on par with our high standards of service.

Your being from a Human reources and corporate background, I know you can appreciate the value of superior training and quality mentors. You've found us all for this endeavor now. I can tell you working for yourself and utilizing your food passion and current skill will be a relief with none of the stress involved with corporate life around NYC and HR issues which accompany this. Congratulations.

I can, very honestly suggest to you to become a member on Monday or order a package today through this website and find the first seminar you can possibly attend. I'm yet to hear anyone in 10 years even hint at not thinking it was a phenominal choice and had a " return on investment" that was rivaled by no other educational opportunities available.

I would be more than happy to speak with you to convince you of this fact our organizations' strengths and the growth potential for you during your transition. 52? huh, I love to see you enthusiastic kids full of such, energy, life and dreams. It simply makes me tear up!! Lol

Go for it Sue! I'm not in sales though I hate to see someone pass up a sure thing with so much BS out there to consider thank you to the internet and SPAM! None of that here.

This is the REAL DEAL, honestly, I promise you.

Best wishes to you. - John

Hi Sue,

All of the schools that I listed offer hands-on courses that run the gamut of the culinary world including knife skills, stocks and sauces, braising and roasting, vegetarian cooking, grilling, etc. Whatever you are looking for, one if not all have inexpensive courses to meet your needs in addition to officially getting started with APPCA.

Viking Cooking School
http://www.vikingcookingschool.com

Adventures in Cooking
http://adventuresincooking.com/

Classic Thyme Cooking School
http://www.westfieldtoday.com/classicthyme

What part of PA are you considering? I'm in the Lehigh Valley area. I'm glad the info was of use to you. I'm planning for the Oct seminar so hopefully sooner than later; we'll be colleagues.

Best regards,
Waunita

And no, culinary school IS NOT required. I was blessed with the opportunity and love learning!

Ciao

Hi Sue,

I agree with Chef Carol completely. I just started the business and did my first paid event. I made dinner for 27 people in my clients' home, it was nutty, but highly successful. Everyone was impressed that it was my first event and how delicious the food was. I've been stressing about not having a culinary degree as well, but I really think if you have a passion for food and the ability to cook well and be versatile with your repertoire, you will be successful. Don't make having a culinary degree a prerequisite to becoming a personal chef, if at some point down the line you really want the diploma for your own peace of mind, go for it, but it really isn't necessary. I definetly suggest you take the seminar offered by the APPCA, it will fast track you on your way to being a successful business owner. Good Luck.

Chef Liliana

So, Chef SUE C. "to be" -

I haven't seen any response from you as of yet. I know you probably wish to dwell on your options, which is great and important .

I do think many of us may like to know where you stand right about now. Perhaps even suggest a bit more.

That's what this TEAM does...forever. YOu'll see.

Good luck and don't fret, you'll be fine.

Promise. - John

Hi John and all! Thanks for the posts.

I spent last week researching and talking to people; networking with current PCs, looking at classes to take now, etc. One local PC graciously shared her insights and inside perspectives on the business. She is a professionally trained chef and recommended getting chef training . . . but I have pretty much ruled that out for me, based on cost and time commitments.

Chef Nita, the Hudson Community College program is impressive but quite expensive for out of county residents. But I did sign up for a knife skills class in two weeks at Classic Thyme in Westfield. And I'm waiting for the schedule to come out for the Kings Diploma Course "Intensive Principles of Cooking" which is going to be offered in July, I believe. Five weeks/4 hours each session (20 hrs. total), learning about proper stocks, sauces, roasting, broiling, braising, etc. After that, there's a more advanced series I can take with them too. Can't wait! So, my current plan is to get these classes under my belt, continue talking to PCs, take the APPCA class in October, and launch my business as soon thereafter as possible. I would also love to find a PC who is looking for an assistant so I could experience this business up close and personal, while honing some skills. Anybody know of any websites I might look for such a job? Oh, and the PC I talked to also mentioned something about getting my NJ Safe Food Handler Certificate, so I'm looking into that as well. Is that required for all PC's?

Thanks again for all of the support and input. I'll be checking back in regularly!
Happy cooking **
Sue

Hi, I too would like information on classes. I live in the Atlanta GA area. I am a pretty good cook naturally coming from a large family and having to cook! I am currently enrolled at the Culinary Institite of Chattahoochee Tech but having a hard time attending classes there. They are only offered during the day, and I have to work full time.
I would like to know if anyone has information on knife skills or other cooling type classes offered in my area.

Thanks

Sue,

I am still in HR as a primary job, but I supplement with doing my Personal Chef work on the weekends. In between jobs, I fall back to Full-Time Personal Chef and Catering services.

My family owned restaurants and franchises, so I grew up around restaurant cooking. I did go to Culinary School and The French Pastry School.

While my clients love the diversity of what I offer, many tend to request the passed down family comfort food recipes that I use over and over. Take the best of what you know, research recipes on the web...Food Network, Epicurious, etc.

A good knife skills class is definitely helpful. Sur La Table, offers short classes for a reasonable price. You can take other classes with them as well. Ask about becoming a Kitchen Assistant and you can get the recipes free if you assist with the class.

Sur La Table
1468 Northern Boulevard
Manhasset, NY 11030
516) 365-3297
Cooking022@surlatable.com
http://surlatable.turnstilesystems.com/LocationDetail.aspx/Manhasset

Community Colleges also may have some classes.

You can also try the Institute of Culinary Education at 50 West 23rd St, New York, NY.
https://web.iceculinary.com/icereg/calendar.asp