Love people, and feed them

by Meredith Antunez October 08, 2015

When people find out that I am a professional chef, one of the first things they ask me is, "do you cook for yourself at home?". I always thought that was a little odd- I mean, I love to cook, I'm good at it, and I love to eat! So, even after cooking for 50 hours a week at work, I always happily made time to prepare food for myself, husband and friends, experimenting with new recipes or indulging in some old favorites. But an interesting thing happened as the years went by…we got busy. Two kids to juggle, activities and commitments, houses to clean and yards to mow and that same lightbulb has been out for a week and I really need to change that, too. I rarely had time to prepare an elaborate meal just for fun. Luckily, this happened around the same time that I realized that working in a restaurant might not balance so well with raising a family, so I redirected my efforts toward being a personal chef, working with individual families. The bonus for me is that I can cook for my family at the same time (which reminds me of that old hair club for men commercial-I'm not just the president, I'm a client!). But really the best part of my job is the feedback I get from the families I cook for- people who go from eating greasy take-out or cereal for dinner (true story!) to eating a healthy balanced meal with their kids and feeling really good about it. Hearing that a client looks forward to dinner all day or getting a hug and being told that I'm like a part of the family. For me, cooking is personal. At my culinary school graduation, the speaker told our class, "Love people. And feed them." I really can't think of a better motto than that.